The last may not have been heard about the ongoing rush by the port operators in the Nigerian maritime industry to increase their service charge as the terminal operators and the shipping lines agencies have joined the fray.
Recall that the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, last week, indicted its intention to increase its charges by 15 percent across board in order to ensure competitiveness and infrastructure upgrade at the nation’s seaports. That same last week, the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS introduced a new levy known as 4 percent Free On Board, FOB levy to finance its operations citing Section 18 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act, NCSA 2023 to back up its action.
However, at a stakeholders’ meeting convened last week Friday by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, NSC to tackle the
escalating costs affecting the shipping industry, the terminal operators and the shipping line agencies also indicated their intentions to increase their charges citing rising operational cost as the reason for their intending action.
The Chairman of the Shipping Lines Association, Boma Alabi, acknowledged the crucial role of the Council and urged swift intervention regarding new tariffs and charges that may impact service delivery.
“The Council’s intervention is critical in addressing the challenges facing the industry”, he said.
Speaking with our correspondent on the outcome of the meeting in Lagos, the Senior Special Assistant to the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA National President, Mr. Suleiman Ayokunle observed that the demand by the terminal operators and the shipping lines to increase their charges may have been informed by the action of the Nigerian telecom operators and the Nigerian Ports Authority who recently announced their intentions to increase their charges by 50 percent and 15 percent respectively.
Ayokunle maintained that, aware that the economy was not friendly at this point, operators must contribute to make it survive as according to him, if the maritime sector didn’t survive, the economy itself would not survive as well.
While calling for all stakeholders to be patriotic in their actions, he said, “If there’s need for increment, they should be very transparent and it must not be a sledge hammer increment. They should be patriotic and open because it is a regulated sector.”
On the position of the NSC after such request was made at the meeting, he said, “The Executive Secretary of the the Nigerian Shippers’ Council agreed with them but said that everybody should go back and send in their position paper on the issue because that was the first meeting.
“Those asking for increment should put it up in writing and be transparent and those who said no, not this time, should also advance their reasons for opposing the increment so that all of us will be in the same page.
“The stage we are now is that there’s no agreement on any increment but how to move the sector forward and to submit position paper by all the critical stakeholders.”
Speaking on the Stakeholders’ meeting summoned by NPA last week, he said, “NPA called meeting yesterday (Thursday), of course, to present the 15% increment across the board. We get to know that what NPA has done is not to call stakeholders to ask them for their input but to inform them that they have done their increment.
“Government agencies are like Lords to themselves but they should remember that they are civil servants. We are the taxpayers, we pay their salaries, the uniforms and other things that some of them wear are from the taxpayers money but what they do is with impunity sometimes, they will only push it to you, like it or not, you swallow it.”
On the implication of increased port charges, the SSA said, “It will come back to all of us. If you like, put hundreds of taxes on import, if it’s raw materials for production of biscuits, you will buy for your children because the Importers too will recoup. So, what they think they are doing today, very soon, you will start seeing the multiplying effect.”
On other issues discussed at the meeting, Ayokunle said, “We were able to discuss how best we can relate with ourselves. We were able to discuss openness, transparency in whatever we do. We were also able to discuss this overlapping functions of government agencies. They need to be streamlined.
“What would have been best for us, if not Single Window, there is a pool where you can get information. Whatever you think you are, on any importation, if you are NAFDAC, SON, go there and pick what belongs to you, don’t disturb the consignment. The document is there, but don’t overlap.
“You can imagine if you import tomato paste, the content is supervised by NAFDAC while the packaging material is regulated by SON and even NESREA will tell you that even the chemicals that they used in preserving the tomato paste as an additive. All of them are working for the federal government, why is it that there’s a breach of trust that will make the federal government to allocate three different agencies?
“What we are saying is that every well meaning practitioner in the sector should come together. We should forget our differences, even associations, to make sure that whoever is creating a clog in the wheel of progress in this industry, we will expose them and make sure that things work. There’s nobody that will do it for us, it’s our responsibility and our liability. If we want to convert that liability to asset, it’s in the hands of the practitioners.”
Photo: Mr. Suleiman Ayokunle, Senior Special Assistant to ANLCA National President.
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