Author: Saint Augustine

The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has registered its displeasure with the constitution of the Committee to oversee the distribution of seized goods by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) which left out the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), NAGAFF and the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA). It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier ordered the NCS to release all seized goods in the custody of the Service for onward distribution to the IDPs in North-Eastern part of the country in particular…

The inaugural edition of a continent wide forum for maritime journalists, content owners and publishers based in Africa, tagged Africa Maritime Journalists Conference (AMJOC), will hold this January in Accra, Ghana’s capital city. Under the theme “Building Effective Communication Infrastructure for Africa’s Blue Economy, the conference will take place on the 29 and 30 January 2016, at the Coconut Groove Regency Hotel. Aside members of the maritime media fraternity, other participants expected at the two day event are maritime industry corporate communication and information officers, advocacy groups, trade and professional associations, non-governmental and civil society groups etc. Special Guest of…

…As Seafarers Thumb Down NIMASA, Navy Over Poor Responses To Attacks Daredevil sea pirates last week kidnapped two crew members on a trawler vessel at Dodo river in the Niger Delta region of Bayelsa State, South – South Nigeria Shipping Position Daily has confirmed. Sources disclosed to our correspondent that the fourteen crew member trawler named MV KULAK IX was attacked by armed sea pirates. Even though the cargoes were not stolen by the pirates, the Captain and Chief Engineer of the ship were abducted. Although no ransom has been demanded by the captors from the owners, our correspondent gathered that the trawler belong to…

General Manager Western Ports, Nigerian Ports Authority [NPA] Chief Micheal Ajayi has urged jetty operators in the Tincan Island axis to support in concrete terms the Federal Government efforts to solve the perennial Apapa gridlock. Chief Ajayi, on behalf of the Management of the Authority, appealed to the jetty operators to put in place enduring and lasting measures within their operational areas to ensure smooth traffic flow along the Apapa-Oshodi Express Way . The General Manager was speaking while exchanging views with some jetty operators during a familiarization tour of the Kirikiri Lighter Terminal [KLT] on Thursday. He reiterated that…

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Italy Chapter has boosted the empowerment programmes of Caring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFÉ), the NGO of the Wife of the Governor of Anambra State, Chief (Mrs.) Ebelechukwu Obiano with a donation of ten sewing machines. The eight-man APGA Italy delegation presented the manual and electrical sewing machines to CAFE recently at the Office of the Wife of the Governor in Awka, Anambra State. Presenting the sewing machines, leader of the delegation and Chairman of APGA Italy Chapter, Ogbuefi Raphael Obadiegwu said that their mission was in recognition of the selfless work of the wife…

The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has called on the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeoshun to tackle the issues surrounding customs examination, value assessment, abuse of alert as a risk management tool and stoppage of released and exited goods from Customs control at the exit gates of the ports. The National President of NAGAFF, Dr. Eugene Nweke who made this call in a letter he addressed to the Minister of Finance recently said the call became necessary as the abuse associated with these cargo clearance procedures engender and breeds corruption at the nation’s seaports. According…

By Prince Chris Agba The adoption of the Common External Tariff (CET): One of the major components of the ECOWAS Customs Union, was decided upon as part of the integration process of ECOWAS by the ECOWAS Heads of State in the 1975 ECOWAS Treaty and again in the 1993 Revised ECOWAS Treaty.  To reinvigorate the process, the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government agreed in December 2000 that the Common External Tariff of the West African Economic and Monetary union (WAEMU) would form the basis for the ECOWAS Common External Tariff.  The Federal Government finally gave the consent for the…

…Allows all onshore employees to work 20% less at contractual full pay for up to six months after returning to work over the first year after birth or adoption. …Introduces minimum of 18 weeks maternity leave to all employees on full contractual pay and one week of paternity leave. Moved by the need to retain talented women working in the Group and also attract even more to gain access to future and wider talent pools, the Maersk Group, the global leading shipping, logistics and oil and gas conglomerate is set to implement a new maternity policy that offers improved benefits…

As part of measures introduced by the present Customs Management to tackle smuggling in all fronts, the Headquarters Compliance Team, Idiroko axis headed by Assistant Comptroller of Customs, Shittu Ajibola made a startling seizure of an izuzu mini truck with registration number LSR 22 XQ, suspected to belong to Fedex Courier Express conveying one hundred (100) cartons of smuggled frozen poultry products. According to an authoritative source, the team shortly after inauguration, embarked on heightened intelligence gathering network, aimed at unraveling new strategies employed by smugglers to beat security Agents. This latest approach which is a paradigm shift from the…

Sequel to the remarkable achievements recorded by the Federal Operations Unit as hub and flagship of anti-smuggling, the Nigeria Customs Service hierarchy for the umpteenth time commended DSC Jude Ohagwu for outstanding performance. The former Controller, Federal Operations Unit Zone A, Ikeja Lagos disclosed this as part of eulogies on performing team leaders, during his valedictory speech with senior officers. He recalled that the same team made similar exploit which prompted the first letter of commendation to the Unit by the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Ibrahim Hammed Ali (Rtd) shortly after taking mantle of leadership as the Comptroller-General of…