Participants at the recent Maritime Seminar for Judges which held about three weeks ago in Abuja rose with a suggestion that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) should transform to National Transport Commission (NTC).
Their position was contained in a communiqué that was circulated to the media. The participants who were mainly legal practitioners also opined that, in enacting the NTC Act, due consideration must be given to the history, legal functions and legal contents of the Nigerian Shippers Council.
According to the communiqué, in consideration of the National Transport Commission (NTC) Bill before the National Assembly, regards must be made to
The seminar participants also said that the Federal Government should, as a matter of urgency, consider the enactment of the Ports and Harbour Authority Act.
But, coming from an assemblage of eggheads and upscale stakeholders didn’t make the call novel or new.
As a matter of fact, as far back as about almost seven years ago, it was almost a done deal, until some interests truncated it. At a point, most stakeholders became expectant of the transmutation.
We remember that a couple of years back, words filtered in that the Federal Government had given approval to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to take on the role of the commercial regulator of activities in the Nigeria port system. The Council had since then been performing that role very creditably even in the face of stringent and deliberate moves by private terminal operators to confront the Council. There are about three court cases to prove this.
Even though a commercial regulator ought to have been an integral part of the port concession deal, stakeholders, including the Nigerian Ports Authourity (NPA) and the concessionaires have had to make do with a largely unregulated system since the ports were concessioned 10 years ago.
Everyone had hoped that the Port and Harbour Bill would be passed since the concession was flagged-off in 2006, we were hopeful, even up to the last weeks of the seventh session of the National Assembly, but we were shocked that the session ended without the all-important bill being attended to.
Even in the midst of the anxiety and the high expectations, the then- minister of transport, Senator Idris Umar also convened an inter-ministerial retreat, purposely for harmonization of all transport sector bills; especially the Port and Harbour bill and the National Transport Commission (NTC) bill.
Even though everyone was assured that the retreat enjoyed the support of then-President Goodluck Jonathan who reportedly gave a December, 2011 deadline for all pending bills to be brought before the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the retreat ended as a mere talk show.
From all indications (even though no one was willing to admit), the stumbling block on the way to the passage of the Ports and Harbour bill is the conflict of interest between its proponents and those who have been pushing for the National Transport Commission (NTC).
No doubt, the NTC is a creation of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). From all indications, the BPE has succeeded in convincing the FEC to take another step backwards in the quest to ensure that the nation’s port system is governed by a set of commercial and technical regulations ‘midwifed’ by the BPE.
We are strongly of the opinion that the National Assembly deliberately delayed the passage of the Ports and Harbour Bill, for reasons best known to it.
We are however glad that the role that has been given to the Shippers Council as the Economic Regulator is being performed creditably, as evident by the activities of the Council and its acceptability by stakeholders.
If the plan sails through and the Council transmutes to the National Transport Commission, it then means that the council will have a new name and a new face.
Those who had against the creation of a National Transport Commission should a pause and ask themselves if it will benefit the maritime sector or the transport sector in general. As a leading media outfit in the Nigerian maritime industry, we maintain that if the NTC is as conceived in other countries, then it is going to be to the advantage of all.
Yes, the Nigerian transport system is so complex; it is (at different times) controlled by at least two different ministries and several agencies. Sadly, it is anything but intermodal; it has never been united, neither has it ever been inter-connected.
The question may be asked: How then can we (on account of having concessioned the ports) force the three modes of transport to ‘cohabit’; all in the name of having one regulator? In other climes; especially in Europe and America and some parts of Africa where a single regulatory agency exists for all modes of transportation, the principle of intermodalsim is well in place; hence it is convenient for all the modes to be independent and still be interconnected.
Stakeholders have long lamented that the bane of the Nigerian transportation system is its non-connectivity. We think that one of the things that the NTC will achieve is interconnectivity among all the modes.
As for the Shippers’ Council, it is gradually metamorphosing from its small enclave of being ‘the protector of Nigerian shippers’ to a more engaged agency; working for all. Transmuting to NTC is in furtherance of its current assignment as the Economic Regulator and we are for it.
However, we advise that, ahead of the passage of the NTC bill and its eventual transmutation, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council will need to carry out a sincere S-W-O-T analysis of itself vis avis the expected new role.
We quite support Barrister Chibuzo Ekwekwuo who in his paper at the seminar posited that more powers will enable the Nigerian Shippers Council to make strong regulation and issue guidelines and regulatory notices for economic regulation without incurring the inconveniences of going through unnecessary litigation.
It is significant that, the proposed NTC Bill prescribes similar functions for the NTC as those being currently performed by the Shippers Council.
The position of the Council’s executive secretary; Mr Hassan Bello is also credible. He says that it would be more reasonable and economical to transform the NSC into the NTC instead of creating a new agency which would amount to unnecessary duplication.
According to him, what the NSC needs at the moment to reenergise is to effectively perform its role in the industry within an appropriate legal framework
We think all said, what is required of the National Assembly is to look into the needs and come up with the envisaged permanent legal framework to support the performance of the council’s additional role of economic regulation in the maritime industry and transport, through transmutation of the National Transport Commission.
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