Olusegun Ologbese (NUJ life patron)
The maritime sector in the outgoing year has been interesting despite the turbulence within some of the agencies, particularly what happened to the Nigeria customs with the discovery of arms, ammunition, cocaine and so on. But aside this, there have been improvements generally; importations are coming in, revenue generation is high and government is happy with the Customs. This year seems to have many challenges, but the overall result is better compared to last year. Looking into freight forwarding sector, one of the significant points that one can record for them is the amalgamation of the associations vis-à-vis ANLCA, NAGAFF, Council of managing directors and so on. Another major point is the removal of some items from the import prohibition list, that of the car is good but for the clothing and the rest, I think we have these things in the country, other advanced countries no longer depend on duties from imports anymore, rather they protect their factories that are producing such goods and empower them to do more.
Comrade Leke Sani (President, NPA branch, MWUN)
The maritime sector has not done badly, but the problem now is that the revenue that is supposed to be accrued to the government for the benefit of the generality of Nigerians is now going into individual pockets in the name of concessionaires and private ownership of the terminals. The terminal operators are making almost 500 % gains on all their charges, the much promised development and facilities upgrading in the port are yet to be seen. They promised heaven and earth before the concessioning, but we have not seen anything and they are there making money; the much promised job creation by the time they were coming in is not there. But despite these, one of the score for the sector this year is the quick turn -around time of vessels, it will encourage other port users to start looking at Nigerian ports as a friendly port, another is the adjustment in the age of vehicles coming into the country, this is a welcome idea because the chunk of these vehicles are coming in illegally while some people are feeding fat on it.
Captain Abiodun Omotesho (Master Mariner)
As far as I am concerned, there has been no stability in the implementation of maritime policies, when we set up a pattern to follow, someone else comes and terminates it, if there is no stability there will be no progress. All that we believe in is to set up committees and task forces and by the time they submit their reports, events have overtaken it, and every committee wants to last long so that they can get the benefit of being a committee member. We can say that there has been a decline in sea robbery and this can be traced to federal government’s efforts in the ex-militant programme. We can only say we are gaining in this regard, but this is not peculiar to Nigeria.
Mr. Omotayo Segunmaru (PRO, ANLCA PTML)
The maritime sector is not doing bad at all, but the area that still needs attendance is the attitude of the Nigeria customs, the customs of today is becoming something else, they want to push the licensed agents out of business, they are now in the habit of indicting the agents against the importer and reporting to government that agents are the bad guys, they do all these in order to get the jobs, they are the ones doing the job of clearing now which is against the law. Apart from lifting of the ban on some items by President Goodluck Jonathan, there has been no major success in the sector, let me tell you that; I as a PRO of this chapter, I have consignments at TICT and for two weeks now, I have not been able to position my containers, the terminal operators do not have equipment and they are now block- stacking containers, we have now gone back to the era of NPA.
Major Henry Ajetunmobi (Rtd) (MD, Haulage and Logistics, Sifax.)
I want to say that the maritime sector in year 2010 has been a year of gains and losses, pluses and minuses. I think year 2010 has been very turbulent, ranging from importation of dangerous weapons to wrong declaration and violation of the import prohibition guidelines, vessels are also at one time or the other being attacked due to high rate of piracy on our waters, we have had very serious cases of work stoppages as a result of strike actions especially by sensitive stakeholders. The effect of the commercial bank reforms has also tended to impact negatively on the level of importation; most Nigerian importers find it difficult to access loans. Of course there have been a few gains too; by and large, the terminal operators have been able to consolidate not necessarily in profit emergence but what to pay as royalty, there has been no reduction in what is expected of them, but yet they have been able to manage the terminal. I am not too sure if there has been new ships as expected from the Cabotage Act, but there has been some very bold steps taken by government especially with the introduction of CVFF which should boost indigenous capacity ship owning, that is, if all other things fall in place. Generally there has been gains but if one is to summarize it all, the challenges has been fairly many in the outgoing year, the sector has continued to be impacted by forces beyond it, the sector has not provided jobs for more Nigerians which naturally is expected.
Alhaji Auwalu Ilu (Master Stevedore)
I think port operations has been successful this year, other than these arms importation into the country which has affected and tasked the security of the port and made the clearing process a little bit too slow because extra security measures are now being put in place. Apart from this incidence, I will say that it has been a very normal year for the maritime sector and there has been improvement in terms of cargo throughput. There has been acquisition of equipment; for example the TICT that brought in cranes which have improved the delivery system, most of the quay aprons has been renovated and upgraded, generally there has been a lot of investments compared to the other years.
Mr. Demola Irinyemi (Registrar, IFFN)
To be very honest with ourselves, I think we have really improved by my own assessment, based on some of the reforms carried out and some of the policies implemented and the good heart of the present leadership. Most importantly, what I will like to add is that the politicians should allow the industry people, those at the helm of affairs of our different agencies particularly the maritime industry as well as other organizations; they should allow them room to work. A good example is the incident that happened at NIMASA, these people want to work, they should be given the chance to work, and they should be supported so that the industry can move forward. Another thing is that I want to commend the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria for what they are doing; they should work towards actualizing their desire to develop capacity in the maritime industry. I believe the industry has not done badly, but emphasis should be that professionals should be given room to carry out their duty so that we can move ahead.
Mr. Ekene Obeleagu [Auto dealer]
With the new policy by the Federal Government the sector will reap its fruit in 2011.So far, 2010 experienced a mix feeling of good and bad. The D.G. of NIMASA should be allowed to complete his tenure without interference as NIMASA is a major player in the maritime sector and there should be stability. The items that were unbanned by the Government is also a very good policy; the common man can be able to buy whatever he wants , the seizure of ammunition in the port also tells where are improving in terms of security in the maritime industry. The automobile industry too, has benefitted from the sector the policy will
Discussion about this post