Charles Ubah (ANLCA, Tin Can)
Charles Ubah (ANLCA, Tin Can)
The APMT are not ignorant of what they are doing, they know what they are doing, what they do is extort Nigerians and give us services that are not up to the standard of what we want, they cannot do all these in Denmark, they cannot even operate this way in any part of Africa, they are also in Benin Republic, so why is Nigeria different? It is because of this issue of commercial regulator that we don’t have in Nigeria, they believe that they are untouchable, you cannot be suffering Nigerian importers and agents and at the same time be milking them dry without rendering services. As far as I am concerned, the threat by the customs CG is belated because they ought to have given them that threat before now because repeatedly ministers have been there; the National Planning Minister, the Transport Minister, The ministers of finance and they have given APMT ultimatum to improve on their services, but nothing was done, because of the people that are behind them. The CG did well by giving the threat, but following it up is another issue; APMT ought to have been taught a lesson before now.
Sir John Ofobike (ex-chair, Apapa ANLCA)
The port is a Customs port, the Act that established the port also made it clear that it is a Customs port. You can never clap with one hand, if you want to clap and be heard then you must clap with two hands, the customs are putting everything in order to make sure the international best practices are upheld at the port as it concerns 48 hour clearance of cargo. I think Nigeria cannot be left behind, if the customs are bringing innovations that cargoes are moved within the available hours and somebody is bringing delays somewhere, definitely you know they will not be happy, this is where the customs is getting angry. It is not all about boasting that you have this and that, these are propaganda, the CG is a practical man who believes that things must be done well. We have been privileged to travel and visit other port of the world and discovered that the APMT that claims to be the best in the whole world is all lies, but because Nigerians are accommodating; we accommodate everybody, all these cannot happen in other countries. So if the customs can close the port for it to bring sanity to operations in the port, then I think it is a welcome development, because as it is, we seems to be captured in our own land.
Comrade Reuben Onyejike (Port Activist)
The problems of the port encompasses all units of the port officials, customs have their own problems, coupled with the terminal operators, what the customs ought to do is to liaise with them and hold meetings with APMT, he should ginger them on how to facilitate trade by being more efficient in their service. It is not by locking up a concessioned terminal, this is too much a talk for the CG. I don’t agree that the way the custom is going about it is the best way. If your colleague in the service is not performing well, go to him and sit down with him and hold meetings. The ministers that have visited the terminal, nobody can say the terms of their visitation, most times, ministers visit to see what is going on and not to dabble into operational lapses, it is the customs that is supposed to do that, they are in charge and the next partner to the APMT, it is not the minister.
Oladipo Bolade (Asst. Nat. Sec, ANLCA)
There is misconception on the part of some of us in the maritime industry, when you look at the technical regulator, there are people that must regulate certain things, if you are having hitches in APMT and the only person saddled with the responsibility is the customs by the Act of CEMA, at the end of the day if the customs through its officers agreed that their problems is coming from APMT, there is nothing stopping them from issuing a threat in order to make them buckle up. If you now ask me, because some people may not know, do custom have powers to close down the terminal? Yes they do, because by their laws, they can close down the place, their duty is to facilitate trade and anything that will negate this role becomes a problem, the custom also have their target and if they feel the technical hitches in APMT will affect their revenue, they do not have a choice than to close the place.
Increase Uche (Sec. Gen NAGAFF)
I wouldn't say that the customs is wrong although they are entitled to their opinions and moreover customs formalities are very strategic in supply chain management, so if they have discovered any flop in the operations of APMT, they can always make their observations known. The operational efficiency of APMT is questionable because if you look at it now, there is congestion already; when you book a container for examination, it takes about one week or their about for them to position your container for examination. The scanning section takes about two weeks or more to get your container scanned. So you find out that port operations as at today is nothing to write home about and the truth is that they have not lived up to expectation.
Comrade Steven Ibeh (Port Activist)
As far as freight forwarders in Apapa down to Tin Can Island ports are concerned , we commend the CG’s action of lambasting APMT, because the truth must be told. The new CAC also did something similar to that of the CG because he knows things are not well structured at APMT. The new CAC is a man who heard the voice of freight forwarders and took it upon himself to check what is going on at APMT. We have been crying over what APMT is doing to Nigerian importers and agents and gradually the government is getting information about their exploits and very soon the table will turn. I thank God that the CG has seen for himself what is obtainable at APMT. So the customs is fair in their judgment on APMT. They are enemies to our nation and federal government should do something about it fast.
Prince Offiong Emmanuel (NCMDLCA)
Customs is fair by telling APMT the gospel truth about their operations and going by the statutory law which is CEMA, customs can really shutdown APMT because they are the eyes of the government in ports operations, and if not for the fact that it is highly politicised, APMT is supposed to be under the supervision of customs despite the concession agreement. What APMT is doing to us is not fair, they are milking importers and at the end, the masses suffer, so what the CG and CAC did by lambasting APMT is to let them do things right.
Ismail Aniemu(Maritime Journalist)
I think what the CG expressed was also buttressed by the CAC of Apapa, who took reporters on a guided tour of APMT and reporters saw the muddy terrain, they saw the indecent office accommodation provided for customs officers; that even level 13 officers of the customs, that is Assistant controller by rank were placed in offices that were not decent enough for a level four officers and we also saw containers being placed on muddy ground for examination. This is a concession regime which has gone close to a decade, so there is no excuse why a proper examination bay will not be put in place by now and our ears have been filled with the bogus amount APMT claimed to have spent in Nigeria. So in my view, the CG of customs was not unfair to APMT, because facts are there for everyone to see.
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