The National President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Chief Increase Uche has said that rising insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea is politically created in order to divert the Nigerian bound cargoes to the ports of neighbouring countries.
Uche who made this disclosure in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos added that the idea behind the act was to put fear in the minds of the ship owners in order to force them to increase their freight charges as well as for them to go to Cotonou to discharge the cargo meant for Nigeria.
He noted that once the plan succeeds, cargoes meant for Nigeria would no longer pass through the Nigerian seaports as they would pass through the border and still get to the Nigerian market, ultimately shortchanging Nigeria as payment of duty becomes non-issue as some of the goods would be smuggled into the country.
In his words,” The insecurity we experience at the Gulf of Guinea has some political undertone because once this insecurity is created, whether artificial or real, it is meant to divert our cargoes because that is to put fear in the minds of the ship owners forcing them to increase their freight charges.
“Again, they will prefer to go to Cotonou, then the cargo meant for Nigeria will not pass through the Nigerian seaports, it will pass through the border and still get to the Nigerian market, by so doing, we are being short changed.
“And once they pass through Cotonou, it will be cheaper and people will prefer passing through those areas and most times even payment of duty is avoided because some of them are smuggled in”.
“So, government will not get it right. In the maritime transportation today, with the use of these bigger vessels, what is required is modern port operation in the sense that the terminals will operate optimally as to handle these cargoes and not only operating optimally, they must do the needful. Cargoes must not overstay at those terminals”, he added.
He however lauded the provision of inland container depots (ICDs) by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council adding that in modern shipping practice, the use of ICDs was being encouraged as according to him, the moment those cargoes were coming in, they don’t need to waste time at the port but were moved to hinterlands so that the ports would not be congested.
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