ANLCA President Raises Alarm Over MASECA Bill

….Says Agency May Be Brought In through Back Door     
Even as stakeholders in the nations’ maritime sector are still apprehensive over the fate of the controversial Maritime Security Agency (MASECA) Bill, national president of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu has alerted that the bill may eventually find its way into the nation’s already long list of agencies.
Prince Shittu raised this alarm last week at a seminar organised by the Maritime Reporters Congress of Nigeria (MARCON) on the controversial bill which is currently before the Senate, after being passed by the House of Representatives. 
He predicted that MASECA may enjoy the same questionable ride as the equally controversial Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) which even though was roundly condemned by members of the shipping community, sill found its way back into the system.
Underscoring what he referred to as the questionable motive behind the MASECA bill, the ANLCA president remarked that: “MASECA bill wouldn’t have been a problem if not because it has been recognised as an opportunity by its initiators to meet certain objectives, its only in his country that certain people will get together, move an idea, (and not minding whether its in the general interests of Nigerians, create jobs for the boys) and rail-road through the system provided they get what they want”.  
And drawing a similarity between the way the MASECA bill came up and how the CTN emerged, Prince Shittu said “the same thing repeated itself when we had the Cargo Tracking Note, which today no longer attracts noise because the objectives had been achieved”.
MASECA bill will also be rail-roaded; it will be a unit of its own and probably be funded through the same system that has continued to fund Cargo Tracking Note and nobody will make any noise”. 
He lamented that the fight for relevance is not unusual among the various government agencies and that the underlining factor is who controls the largest purse.
The ANLCA president never-the-less submitted that the MASECA bill is not well thought- out and that many people are yet to be convinced about its advantages. “Is it going after sea robbers, is it because it can go up to 200 nautical miles and fight pirates or are they going to wear uniform and lord it over the people?” he asked.