Mr. Olufemi Olabanji is the Chairman of Tin Island Port 2 Chapter (formerly Lillypond) of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA). In this interview with Dapo Olawuni of Shipping Position Daily, he spoke about the recent re-branding of the terminal by the Nigeria Customs Service and why the effort is yet to yield fruits for clearing agents and the customs. He also spoke on the challenges associated with export business in Nigeria.
How do receive the news of the change of name at Lillypond terminal?
It is good news which I would describe as the favour of God, when we had a meeting with the Comptroller and he announced it to us, we knew right away that it will give glory to God in Lillypond. Now if you destine your cargo for Tin Can 2, it will come down straight to Ijora, the Tin Can 2 is a command on its own, it is not a terminal under any other terminal. I believe that when importers begin to understand the value of that name, things will change. I want to appreciate the Comptroller, Mamud Dalhat for this good initiative and I pray God will bless his family and increase him, he is a man that has future that people that can rely on. Tin Can 2 is a command where you can clear your cargo faster, normally it is a place where if you give genuine declaration, you can take delivery of your cargo under 24hours. The Comptroller has taken the command to this stage, he is somebody that has served in Apapa port for six years as the admin officer, he worked with so many Comptroller, so he knows what it is to be a Comptroller.
Do you think the re-branding to Tin Can 2 can yield fruit?
I see it working in the spirit and I know God will manifest it, because if you destine your cargo for Tin Can 2 and it is delivered, you will not pay extra charges, there is no transfer charge or extra cost, once you have submitted your documents, the cargo goes straight to the examination bay and it would be examined.
Who pays for the transfer of the Cargoes?
When we had our stakeholders meeting, I purposely asked the question about the transfer charges, but the terminal operator assured us that there would be no transfer charges and that they know what to do, they assured that everything is under control. What Maersk Line did with the Customs at Lillypond is a very wise decision, Maersk line in the code of shipping has about 300 containers to be delivered to Tin Can, when they get these containers, sometimes they take it to PTML, Ports and Cargo or TICT, they normally share the cargo with these terminals, but now that they have their own Tin Can 2, the delivery will be very okay and all the cargoes will now come to Lillypond, we are going to get more customers by the time it is well implemented. By the time all the Maersk Liner cargoes going to other terminals now come direct to us, there would be no complaints or additional payments.
How ready are your members to assist customs in this, in order to boost revenue collection?
I am speaking for all the agents and I can assure you that we are ready, the customs are also ready, what remains now are for the cargoes to start coming. The Comptroller has appealed to everyone on the need for genuine declaration and he knows what he is doing, but the problem we are having now is the terminal operators themselves, we as the agents have been selling this new name to our customers, you need to market the new name, people over the years have been saying that Lillypond Terminal is a bad place, but I know that it is the best place. The role we expect the terminal operators to play is to market this new name to Shipping companies to bring their vessels to Lillypond.
The customs Comptroller is proposing an export bay at Tin Can 2, how workable is it?
I believe there is a great chance for export to thrive here, I do export mostly and I know that in Apapa port for instance, if you take your container from Lillypond, you go out and load your container, you cannot bring it back to Lillypond, because there is no seaport there, and if you decide to take it to Apapa, you pay more money. So what you can do now is to take an officer down to Apapa to examine your container. You have to bring your cargo to Lillypond from where it would be loaded and sealed, and once this is done, it cannot be opened at any other command, but you cannot take your container out of Lillypond, load it outside and take it straight to Apapa, they will not release for you. So Lillypond is good for export, if you have bulk cargoes that you want to load at the port, there is enough space which is not available at other terminals.
What are the challenges to export?
Government is not encouraging exporters at all; they are killing the country with different policies. Shipping companies have killed the export system in Nigeria, and government needs to see to it immediately. If you take a container from the port, you pay N60,000 for terminal charges, N20,000, by the time you take it out and come back, if the ship comes and the cargo does not go with it, you will start paying demurrage for the cargo until ship comes back probably in another 20 days. Despite all the cost we are incurring here, the price of the goods we are exporting has not changed abroad. Nigerian exporters are not making any profit, customs too are causing confusion.
What is your message to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council?
My message is to the ministers and the government is that, on exportation, they should sit down and data it, terminal operators cannot be collecting different charges on export. As for the Export Promotion Council, I have not seen their impact, but I have compiled a list which I intend to send to my President and I will copy the Export Promotion Council and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, these are the agencies that should table this matter and present our case to government. The way people see importers and exporters in Nigeria is that they are making so much money, but what we do is buy and sell.
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