A chieftain of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Mr. Ojo Peter Akintoye has called on the personnel of Nigeria Customs Service to re-channel the energy that they dissipate in blocking properly exited cargoes from the seaports and chase and stop imported used vehicles on the Lagos metropolis to curbing the activities of smugglers who are having a field day at the nation’s porous borders.
Akintoye who made this call in an interview with Primetime Reporters in Lagos recently decried the multiplicity of customs check points from different units of the service on the highway, all in attempt to frustrate trade in the country.
He noted that the most painful aspect of it all was that the operatives of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Ikeja would arrest some goods based on value question even as he wondered whether they were valuation officers who can interpret value.
According to him,” The CG Monitoring Team will intercept a container based on value. We know that we have bad people in this country that may in one way or the other still want to bring some items that is not good for the consumption of the citizens but if you identify that, why can’t you deal with it accordingly?
“Nigeria Customs is seeing all the Nigerian importers as being fraudulent, does it mean that it is true? Don’t we have those that do their businesses legitimately as importers? And the most challenging issue is that all the used vehicles are their problem. 2019 model of vehicles are out now, they would not focus attention on those ones rather they will be placing alerts on the vehicles of 2004, 2008, 2009.
“It means that we should cover our face in shame; it means that we still have a lot to do within the Nigeria Customs Service. There is the need to change the orientation of the officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service. They are not facilitating any trade especially in Tincan Island because it is one of the most difficult commands you can work in, in terms of alert but we had a meeting recently with the command and they are looking for a permanent solution but it hasn’t come”.
On the porosity of the Nigerian borders, he said,” Customs cannot be efficient because the Nigerian borders are too porous. I was privileged to travel to the north; Zamfara, Kebbi, there is little man can do because of the porosity of the area linking to the neighbouring countries. So, if government wants to do it, first, we need more of customs in the border side than in the areas they are pursuing containers up and down. The Nigeria Customs needs collaboration in Nigeria to manage our borders. Nigeria Customs should stop pursuing used vehicles, used containers outside Lagos metropolis; they should go to the borders”.
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1 Comment
WCO is primarily more concerned with global genuine trade facilitation and not revenue generation.
Government as a signatory to the Statutes ,therefore must abide by WCO convention on trade facilitation or quit the World body to enable us fight corruption well well.
Government,s policy summersault on arbitrary high Customs duty rates , port charges and
ambitious Revenue Target to Nigeria Customs Service is a major problem militating against importation by genuine importers many of whom are forced to flee to neighbouring Countries from where they now resort to smuggling with little or no resistance due largely to our porous borders.
Every Customs Area Comptroller therefore devices every devious means to meet “ALL THE REVENUE TARGETS” outside WCO,WTO,CEMA,ASYCUDA +++++,NICISS 1,2 +++and even their own PAAR,the “HARD-WORKING”field officers are having fun meeting “ALL THE TARGETS TOO ” thereby making a mockery of Government,s Ease of Doing Business policy-what a Country😂
We can as well ban all imports,fence the seaports with Dangote, s latest designer cement and thereafter redeploy all Customs officers and other security agencies to patrol our beautiful borders FOR A MEGA N10 TRILLION DUTY REVENUE GENERATION.
What a Country,bravo Nigeria.