Chief Afam Chukwuma is the Deputy President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the International Supply Chain System. In this interview with our correspondent, he bares his mind on the just concluded International Customs Day celebration, B’Odogwu and so much more. Excerpts:
The World Customs Organization members administrations celebrated the International Customs Day yesterday (Sunday) but Nigeria Customs Service is celebrating its own today (Monday). Do you think there’s anything for NCS to celebrate?
First of all, let me say that Nigeria does not exist in isolation and the Nigeria Customs being one of the very important agencies of the government, is not on its own either. The Nigeria Customs Service is a member of the World Customs Organization, they are part of the treatise and charters and therefore, when every other Customs administrations in the world are celebrating a day announced by the WCO, Nigeria Customs Service should be part of that celebration.
And this year 2025 alone, the World Customs Organization which is WCO had chosen the theme as “Customs Delivering On Its Commitment To Efficiency, Security and Prosperity.” For us in Nigeria, the Nigeria Customs Service has consistently said that they have made significant progress from where we were in the 80s, 90s and towards mid 2000 when we started receiving innovations principally because of the policy of the then federal government on Destination Inspection in terms of technology and ICT.
I think the Nigeria Customs Service has done great, they have moved from analogue to digital, even the digital has progressed. There were sometimes in the past when if we want to access customs server, you need to mount a mast, buy router and all of those very expensive signal gadgets similar to what we had with the service providers. But today, all you need is just your internet and you connect to customs server and you begin to trade with them. So, they have progressed from then to ASYCUDA, from ASYCUDA to ASYCUDA++, to NICIS, to NICIS ll and currently, they have just developed a very robust, wonderful technology software which is known as B’Odogwu.
This is where we are now. That is to show you how they have been improving on using technologies to trade and I make bold to say that among all the government agencies, the Nigeria Customs Service is the best when it comes to deploying the use of technology in their activities. So, for that, I think there’s something for the Nigeria Customs Service to celebrate in this 2025 in line with theme chosen by the WCO.
But that’s not to say that it is yet Uhuru. That’s not to say there are no challenges, amidst all this technological developments, we still face the challenges of server failures and other technological glitches which usually should happen at the initial stage but I expect that as they improve, things will get better. The B’Odogwu was only introduced towards the end of last year and up till now, it’s not in all commands. I am sure that as at today, the 27th of January, there’s no B’Odogwu in Apapa command. I know they used PTML as a pilot command, I think they are progressing to Tincan now but yet to come to Apapa and maybe to other commands.
So, that’s to tell you that it’s work in progress but I believe, what we want to see as stakeholders and freight forwarders is for B’Odogwu to solve all the challenges associated with the server failure. It’s a huge problem to us because we lose time, we lose manhour, we lose revenue because you cannot go to a shipping and terminal operators and make a case that because there’s no network for you to work, that’s why the goods delayed and that you cannot pay demurrage. For instance, you are supposed to take your goods out of the port on Friday and for server failure, you are not able to do that, maybe you have to wait till Monday afternoon because Saturday and Sunday may not be a day to connect work in certain ports. So, you have three days to pay demurrage because you have to pay for Saturday, Sunday and Monday when eventually if the server cooperates, it’s taken out. So, those are the issues.
But I know the CGC is someone that is vast and committed to the growth of Customs activities and I am sure he’s, we have made this complaint and I have personally written, NAGAFF has written and we have said it in several fora, I know he’s listening and we know he will work on it. In fact, the day we visited him in November last year, we also made this particular complaint to him, I remember that he said that day that the Egyptians that you see today, you will see no more, because I remember him using that word. So, he is working on it and we want to believe that before they deploy the B’Odogwu in all the commands, and stabilize, everything will be well.
Do you think that with the deployment of B’Odogwu, using the same internet provider, in this case, Webb Fontaine, would bring an end to persistent server failure?
Sincerely, I don’t have information about which ISP is behind B’Odogwu except you are telling me it’s Webb Fontaine but whoever is behind it, I want to believe the person runs an IT company and he should have learnt from the existing platforms and the reason you are migrating is because you want to improve, you want to do things better. If you are on 2.0 bandwidth speed and your trade volume is increasing, you would want to increase to 3.0 or 4.0. That’s what it should be.
So, I want to believe that whoever is the ISP behind B’Odogwu should deploy a better service than what we have under NICIS ll which is what we have currently. But like I said, it’s still being deployed, it’s not fully operational. I don’t think I have even used it in Apapa or Tincan. So, I have never had the opportunity to use it myself but those who have used it said it’s good while some say it’s failing. Of course, you should expect teething problem initially, that is natural. That’s why I said, we will not be able to judge until it is fully deployed and stabilized.
Even in banks sometimes, they used to have network failures, even the network providers themselves, the communications service providers that we use to make GSM calls, they too used to have network failure. So, it’s a national thing though but I believe that if customs should have the best ISP running this and they are true to their job, minus little national issues, it should, in the overall, be 90 to 95 percent efficient.
In 2012 during the sensitization for the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report, PAAR, we were meant to believe that PAAR will solve all the problems associated with cargo clearing as it was supposed to be a final document. Eventually, they now said PAAR is no longer a final document but advisory. Now, everyone is praising B’Odogwu as a game changer and everything good. How sure are you that we won’t have the same experience we had with PAAR as it relates to B’Odogwu?
Well, you can only keep trying but I beg to disagree with you that PAAR was supposed to be the final document. Don’t forget that before PAAR, we used to have RAR which means Risk Assessment Report whereas PAAR means Pre-Arrival Assessment Report. However, as far as I am concerned, they practically mean the same thing. The only thing that changed between RAR and PAAR were the people issuing those documents. Under RAR, it was being issued by the service providers. They we had Cotecna, Globalscan and SGS. These were the three service providers then and they were doing it in behalf of Customs. So, customs felt they could do it, they have matured after the initial contract and took over the platform and a fee was added to it and they changed the nomenclature from RAR to PAAR. It’s essentially the same thing that is being done only that customs was now doing it.
So, it was never meant to be the final document because whether RAR or PAAR, they were issued based on documentation. Nobody has gone for examination, nobody has seen what you are carrying, in fact you are even supposed to have your PAAR before the vessel arrives. That’s why it’s pre-arrival document, so that you get ready so that by the time the vessel arrives, and you are ready for examination, you make your declaration, you use that PAAR that you have gotten to make your declaration, pay your duty. Then, the customs officer was supposed to match what you have declared versus what he has seen and if everything tallies, then he releases you to go. But if it doesn’t tally, then, he refers you to the appropriate office; whether it is valuation in terms of value or Query and Amendment CPC in terms of maybe classification or otherwise.
So, that’s how it’s supposed to be. So, PAAR was never meant to be the final document, it has been advisory from day one. But as long as your documentation tallies with your physical inspection or scan inspection, then, that is when PAAR can be agreed with.
Yes, it’s advisory but it’s also a very powerful document because by your declaration in the system, by your submission if documents, you submit your invoice, you submit your parking list, you submit your bill of lading and the PAAR officer looks at it, and say based on documents in front of me, I hereby give you so and so assessment to make and you make your assessment, the man in the field looks at the assessment and say based on what I have seen, and the PAAR you have, I think you are in order, I hereby release or I don’t agree with this and this. I am seeing this against this, so go to the Query and Amendment and have all the necessary amendments in your declaration.
And then, whether the B’Odogwu will experience the same fate as PAAR, like I said earlier, we can only be optimistic, we sincerely hope and we are willing to support the customs and the government at large to achieve because it is good for us if they succeed. Trade will be seamless, time will be saved, we won’t pay unnecessary bills, we save denurrages which is also profit for us as freight forwarders. We want to deliver our cargo under 48 hours to our clients and we want to make profits because this is our business.
And if B’Odogwu succeeds, it’s going to help us. I want to assess job by 9.00am and I can assess it without having network glitches that will take me till afternoon or the next day. That’s a lot of waste. So, let us hope B’Odogwu works well but I think on my own, I am a bit more optimistic that it will work, my reason being that whoever is the service provider should have studied coming from ASYCUDA to NICIS and now to B’Odogwu, he should have reviewed all the experiences and under a completely new administration in customs, and you want to do the same thing, or do worse than you met, come on, I don’t think CGC Adeniyi is that kind of person because he’s someone that wants to succeed, someone that wants to take customs to the next level. So, I have so much confidence in him and I believe he will do much better with B’Odogwu.
In line with this year’s International Customs Day theme, we have discussed the efficiency of the Nigeria Customs Service in the introductory part of this discussion. How do you think the customs will assist the nation in terms of security and prosperity?
The duty of the customs is very sensitive and delicate to the nation. In some countries, it is customs and border control not minding that we also have Immigration Service which also man the borders. Customs also man the borders. While the Immigration man the borders as per human movement, customs man the borders as per movement of goods and services.
Talking about security, if your borders are porous, anything can come into your country including things that can even destroy you. But if your borders are tight, in terms of security network, if customs don’t allow any illicit drug to come in, if they don’t allow illegal arms to come in, then, criminals don’t have things to do. And these are the things with a revamped customs service, using every means that they can in terms of human training, in terms of deployment of technology, in terms of Enforcement through border drills and what have you, If you are able to secure our borders.
For prosperity, if we are secured, that is only when businesses can come. Nobody wants to invest in a place that is volatile and if there’s peace, if there’s security, then prosperity comes naturally because investments will come and people will see the place as a tourist destination. People will have confidence to stay and when they stay and make investment, the economy will naturally grow, jobs are created, security is guaranteed, GDP will grow, there’s turn around in the economic activities and naturally, the country will grow.
So, the theme for this year’s International Customs Day is very timely, coming from the WCO for all customs administrations in the world. For Nigeria, it’s very important that this theme is not just rehearsed but also practiced in all fairness and in all faithfulness and by the grace of God, things will be fine.
Photo: Chief Afam Chukwuma, Deputy National President, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF.
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