Akanni Balogun (Agent)
There is no saint among all the agencies in the ports, but one thing leads to another, hence corruption is a vicious circle in the port environment. It is actually difficult to pin- point a particular agency as the most corrupt.
What we can advise is for the government to put her mechanisms to check corruption in the country, not only in the ports but in Nigeria as a whole.
Socio- economic problems as a result of harsh government economy measures that are anti- populist and anti masses are factors encouraging corruption.
Every worker needs extra money to cushion the effect of these harsh economic measure
Lukman Abayomi (Agent)
Customs officers are the most corrupt official in the ports, they collect bribe and extort importers and agents, though some importers and agents encourage the act too. The customs are the main cause of corruption because they believe in the “pay small amount, so they can get the rest amount to them selves” idea and this is very obvious and known to those that have transactions to do in the ports.
Segun Agbolade (Maritime Journalist)
Corruption itself has become an endemic disease that we all have to eradicate in the society. A lot of things give birth to corruption, from the high to low calibre of people and from leaders to those being led, and the inherent community we try to grow from.
The basic task line is for everyone to wake up and see to the end of corruption in the society.
In our ports one cannot harp on a particular agency as been corrupt because it’s like a football field where every player plays to score a goal for survival.
One basic thing to note in the act of corruption is he/she who strike first, it might be an agent, customs, immigration, NDLEA and other Para military agencies in the ports.
Chidi Ugboma (clearing agent)
Every body in the port system is corrupt, all the agencies including even the clearing agents because it is a give and take thing and it is very rampant in our society today. There are multiple agents in the ports and all of them want to take something from you, if you don’t do what they ask you, you don’t get out.
These agencies including DNI, SSS, NDLEA, Quarantine, and so on, the government should flush them out of our ports because they are all corrupt. Government should also direct the customs not to delay clearance more than 24 hours unnecessarily.
Jimoh Alani (Importer)
When as an importer you bring in consignments and right from the shipping company you start to pay one charge or the other to Customs, NDLEA, etc. at the end of the day you calculate the money you used for clearance of goods alone and it affects the price at which they will be sold at the market and people will start to complain about the pricing, but I tell you, all these boils down to corruption and every body is involved in it; even the customs and the agents.
However, it is something that can be curtailed, that is why I think that the introduction of e-payment should be commended; when everything is done and processed on- line, there will be less human contact and corruption will be minimized.
Bode Adewunmi (civil servant)
When it comes to corruption at the ports, you can’t really point accusing fingers at any agency. But the fact is that not just an agency is involved but all the agencies in the ports are responsible for these menace as well as some agents and importers who feel that if they don’t go through the back door, their goods won’t get out of the ports.
To make our ports free of corruption, all hands must be on deck to fight it, no giving of bribes, no excess charges or cutting corners to clear your consignments, and above all, alertness to work and discharge of duty diligently will help tackle the issuer.
Ganiyu Agbeti (Agent)
SON and the Police are the most corrupt agency in the ports. As for SON, before its presence in the ports, Customs officers do their jobs and discharge their duties easily, when goods are brought into the country. Now that it’s done by SON, once the sample is collected, you won’t see them again, the sample they collect you don’t even know what they do with it, yet they demand for more money than customs officers.
As for the Police, they have too many arms of Nigeria police force at the terminal, so all so at the entrance of the ports to extort importers and agents.
Government should try to do something to solve these problems.
Akadiri Francis (Fin Sec ANCLA TinCan)
People point accusing fingers at customs because there is no division of labour; you see a CIU officer doing what a Valuation officer should do, so also a documentation officer at the CPC doing the job of an examination officer without seeing the goods. All these make people believe they(Customs) are corrupt.
They delay the job in the process and until you part with some token to them, you can’t go, every table is autonomous, no division of labour in any manner and until this is done sanity cannot be brought back into the port environment.
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