Author: Saint Augustine

…As National leadership of Freight forwarding associations meet to assess situation After about ten days of dramatic withdrawal of Services from the AP Moller Terminal (APMT) and ENL both in Apapa Lagos by the Freight forwarders under the aegis of Apapa Joint Association (JAC), the management of Lagos Port Complex (LPC) of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has cleared the blockade mounted by clearing agents and re-opened the nation’s major seaport for business. JAC which comprised of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria…

The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi has stated that the Agency is up-to-date in making remittances to the Federation Account and has so far remitted over Nine Billion Seven Hundred Million naira (N9.7b) only, being operating surplus in 2013 alone. He therefore averred that the figures in recent media reports are not in consonance with what has been recorded with the Federal Ministry of Finance. The DG stated that “NIMASA is mindful of the critical role of financial resources in actualising the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan and has therefore…

The former Chairman, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Tincan Island Chapter, Dr. Kayode Farinto has described the withdrawal of Services by the freight forwarders working at Apapa port from AP Moller Terminal and ENL shipping as long overdue. Speaking in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Thursday, Dr. Farinto expressed his happiness over the ability of the various associations to come together to protect the interests of the freight forwarders and the entire citizens of Nigeria. He lamented that APMT was in the habit of extorting and exploiting Nigerians as a result of the support it enjoyed…

As the withdrawal of Services embarked upon by the Freight Forwarders operating at Apapa port enters its fifth day, stakeholders are already counting their losses. A cross-section of stakeholders who spoke with newsmen on Thursday on the action said APMT, ENL and freight forwarders had lost between ten and twenty billion Naira within the last four days. However, the former Chairman, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Tincan Island Chapter, Dr. Kayode Farinto stated that the Federal government had not lost anything to the crisis as according to him people were still able to pay their duty irrespective of…

The Chairman, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Mr. Olumide Fakanlu has assured of the freight forwarders’ readiness to return to their duty posts if the Management of AP Moller Terminal (APMT) and that of ENL were ready to meet about fifty percent of their demands. Fakanlu who made this known while speaking with newsmen in Lagos on Thursday said that on meeting their demands by fifty percent, they would resume work while discussions on others continues as all their demands may not be met in one day. He said, “Yes, if they can do two or three, that…

…Says withdrawal of service a collective decision The Freight Forwarding associations under the aegis of Joint Association Committee (JAC) Apapa has said that the decision to withdraw services from the AP Moller Terminal (APMT) and ENL all in Apapa, Lagos Nigeria since on Monday this week was a collective decision of all the associate members of the committee. You may wish to know that JAC comprises of all the Freight Forwarding associations operating at Apapa Port namely; the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), the National Council of Managing Directors…

The atmosphere was that of praises and commendation at the Rockview Hotels Apapa, Lagos venue of the 3rd Year Anniversary of the Ports Gist and Events on MITV organized by Dr. Kayode Collins Farinto as the stakeholders in the Maritime industry gathered to assess the performance of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). Going by the level of complaints and condemnations in some cases that greeted the introduction of PAAR especially in the first three months of its operation, one would have thought that the same would have been the case at the event as…

…Decries poor road network The National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, on Tuesday lamented the traffic situation of the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Lagos saying that it was impacting negatively on cargo clearance and trade facilitation. Shittu who made this known when he led members of the National Executive Committee (NECOM) of the association on a visit to the Customs Area Controller (CAC) of KLT/Brawal Command of Nigeria Customs Service, Mrs. Frances Enwerenuzor also observed that the absence of cargo in the command had rendered the facility was almost comatose. He was however pleased with the…

The two frontline freight forwarding associations in the maritime sector, the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) had threatened to withdraw their services from the nation’s seaport if the government failed to do something to check the activities of some port operators in the sector. In a press release jointly signed by the President of ANLCA, Prince Olayiwola Shittu and the President of NAGAFF, Dr. Eugene Nweke said that the two associations had viewed with dismay, the series of actions being undertaken by the terminal operators, Standards Organization of…

A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos will on Monday continue hearing in a case filled by the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) and the Association of Shipping Line Agencies (ASLA) against the had Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC). STOAN and ASLA had separately sought the injunction of the Court restraining the NSC and/or its agents from implementing an order reversing storage charges at the nation’s seaports. It would be recalled that the NSC had on Wednesday last week published a notice announcing the reversal of storage charges at the nation’s seaports to what it used to be…