Author: Saint Augustine

The Managing Partner, Indo Marine Nigeria Limited, Engr. Emeraku Ijioma has identified the attitude of talking less about the important position occupied by the maritime industry in the country by the maritime professionals as the bane of the industry. Engr. Emeraku who was speaking with newsmen recently in Lagos said that the Aviation industry doesn’t contribute up to one-tenth to the Nigerian economy as much as the maritime industry do yet much attention was being paid to the sector by the government attributing the development to serious advocacy embarked by the stakeholders in the Aviation sector. Emeraku who is also…

The Joint Council of Seaport Truckers (JCOST) has recommended the re-introduction of weigh bridges in the nation’s seaports as well as on the nation’s highway as part of measures to curtail incidences of truck accidents on the nation’s highway in which cases many lives are lost. A chieftain of the Council and Chairman of the Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Tincan Island Chapter, Alhaji Isiaka Olalere who made this recommendation in a chat with Primetime Reporters in Lagos recently said the weigh bridges if re-introduced would help check overloading on the part of the truckers which in most…

The Chairman, Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Tincan Island Chapter, Alhaji Isiaka Olalere has called on other terminal operators operating at the nation’s seaport to emulate the management of AP Moller Terminals (APMT), Apapa and put in place test kits that would enable them to test every truck driver coming to load containers from their terminals for alcohol and drug before allowing them in to load their trucks. Speaking in an interview with Primetime Reporters in Lagos recently, Olalere believed that if this measure which he said was in place at the APMT Apapa was introduced in other…

The Concerned Accredited Freight Forwarding Associations (CAFFA) has said that the mandate given to the new Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd.) by President Muhammadu Buhari which are to reform, restructure and improve the revenue collection of the Nigeria Customs Service would be jeopardize if he (Ali) continued to confer only with the customs officers. The Association which made this known in a press release it issued on Wednesday in Lagos stated that it had expected that Ali should start by conferring with the stakeholders with a view to obtaining firsthand information from them. The association in the release…

The Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, has said that his administration will not tolerate vandalism of power lines in the state by hoodlums. The Governor gave the warning Wednesday while on inspection of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)/National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) in the State. The Power projects inspected include Agu-Awka, Enugwu-Ukwu, Awkuzu, and Fegge -Onitsha. Reacting to the complaint by Dr. Chris Imoka, President of Chris Ejik Engineering, the contractor handling the 132/33KVA Power Station at Agu-Awka who claimed that the cable lines from Awka to Awkuzu sub-station were completely vandalized,‎ the Governor said that there…

The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has chided the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) over its inability to evacuate consignment from the nation’s seaport to other parts of the country by rail years after the railways had been rehabilitated. Recall that about two years ago, NRC and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) entered into strategic partnership aimed at evacuating containers from the Lagos ports to the northern parts of the country by rail where it was hoped that the development would impact more on the ports as well as ease congestion on the Lagos roads. However, two years…

…Wants him to visit the ports The founder, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam has said that the inability of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col Hameed Ali (rtd.) to visit the nation’s seaport 35 days after he assumed duty posed a lot of questions over his willingness to execute that job. Speaking to newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday, Aniebonam stated that one should have expected Ali to have visited the port to confer with the stakeholders so as to get first hand information which would enable him plan his administration effectively. While he okayed the…

The Customs Area Controller, Apapa Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller Eporwei Charles Edike has called on the exporters and intending exporters of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) regulated products, processed and semi-processed food commodities to stop cutting corners by avoiding NAFDAC and other government agencies that had to do with regulated products. Edike who made this know at a one day sensitization workshop for exporters and intending exporters of NAFDAC regulated products, processed and semi-processed food commodities organized by NAFDAC in conjunction with the Apapa Area Command of the Nigeria Customs…

A foremost maritime practitioner, Rear Admiral Godwill Ombo (rtd.) has scored the Nigerian maritime industry very low in comparison to its contemporaries in the West and Central Africa even as he said that the industry was ailing in several ways. Ombo who made this observation while speaking with newsmen in Lagos however stated that the only way to reposition the sector to become a hub in the West and Central Africa was to put maritime professional at the critical areas of the industry so as to turn the industry around. He said,” if you have maritime professionals in critical areas…

The Legal Adviser, Shippers’ Association of Lagos State (SALS), Barr. Osuala Emmanuel Nwagbara has said that they were making efforts to ensure that the trial date for the case between the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) on one hand and between the Nigerian Shippers’ Council and the Association of Shipping Line Agencies (ASLA) on the other hand was brought forward. It would be recalled that STOAN and ASLA had both filed for an order for stay of execution and also filed notices of appeal against the Federal High Court judgment which dismissed…