Recently, news broke that the National Assembly is tinkering with another legislation to breathe life into the Nigerian Shippers’ Council.
The new legislation is called “Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill”, and it recently scaled a mandatory Second Reading at the House of Representatives.
According to its sponsors, the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill 2023, is aimed at repealing the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) Act Cap N133 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) and introducing the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Act to fully empower the Council for its regulatory role.
Instructively, it is being pushed by the Chairman of the House Committee on Shipping Services, Hon. Abdussamad Dasuki. While presented the bill at the House, he highlighted the historical context and emphasized that the government designated the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as the Port Economic Regulator in 2015.
Dasuki had shared insights from the government’s gazette in 2015, emphasizing the objectives of creating an effective regulatory regime for Nigerian ports following their concession. The scope of the regulation covered all port stakeholders, controlling tariffs, rates, charges, and other related economic services.
Without doubt, the birthing of an alternative Bill means the abandonment of the controversial National Transport Commission (NTC) Bill, which has failed to become a law since it was passed by the National Assembly.
We recall that in 2018, former President Muhammadu Buhari declined to assent to the National Transport Commission (NTC) Bill, which the Senate had passed in March 2018.
From all indications, the promoters of the new Shipping Bill, had seen the hurdles which the NTC failed to cross and which led to its premature death in 2018.
The fact is that the NTC Bill had enemies and was seen as a threat to already existing Empires and Emperors. They fought to ensure that it was killed before birth, and they succeeded.
By killing the NTC Bill, Nigeria lost an opportunity to have a well-thought-out professional agency that would have ensured that Nigeria had a semblance of a transport sector that is governed by corporate ethos.
The NTC Bill was to establish the National Transport Commission as an economic regulator of all activities undertaken in Nigeria’s transport sector. The NTC was set to replace the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, and operate as an independent regulator to promote multimodal transport and boost private sector participation in the provision of transport services. It was envisioned to be be responsible for creating equitable access to transport services; and regulating the tariffs, rates and charges paid by transport service users.
Sadly, President Buhari refused to assent the Bill on three grounds including the removal of safety issues because the bill is purely economic regulations. Secondly, the President also said that the royalty to be paid to the commission as source of funds which was pegged at 10 percent should be reduced to five percent.Thirdly, Buhari also asked the National Assembly to look at the freight stabilisation fee, which was put at three percent to be reduced to one percent just like it is in the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) Act.
All that is history as the new Shipping & Port Regulatory Bill is set to test its luck, and it is our prayer that it scales the hurdles, both at the National Assembly and in the Presidency.
For many years, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council has battled for relevance in the maritime industry, it has watched helplessly as providers of shipping and auxiliary services challenge its authority. For years, the Council has been taunted as a toothless bulldog, largely because it could not assert its authority over actors in the Nigerian port system. Its designation as the Port Economic Regulator did not help much.
So, we are in full support of any law that will enable autonomy to the Shippers’ Council. This is not about relevance, it’s about the prospect of such a law enhancing revenue generation for the Federal Government.
We hope the Bill clearly demarcates the responsibilities of both the Nigerian Shippers’ Council and that of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)
Unlike those who have contrary views about the creation of a National Transport Commission at that time, we do not think the fears they nursed are necessary under the new Bill.
If the Shipping Bill sails through and the Council transmutes to the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency, it then means that the Shippers’ Council will have a new name and a new face. We think the Nigerian maritime industry will be the better for it.
The new Bill is far more realistic than the contentious National Transport Commission Bill. As a leading media outfit in the Nigerian maritime industry, we maintain that if the new Bill sails through, then it is going to be to the advantage of all.
As for the Shippers’ Council, it is already gradually metamorphosing from its small enclave of being ‘the protector of Nigerian shippers’ to a more engaged agency; working for a wider spectrum of stakeholders.
Transmuting to Shipping and Port Economic Regulator is in furtherance of its current assignment as the Economic Regulator of the port and we are totally in support.
However, we advise that, ahead of the passage of the Bill and its eventual transmutation, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council needs to carry out a sincere S-W-O-T analysis of itself vis avis the expected new role.
