Shipping Position Daily correspondent; Dapo Olawuni recently caught up with Sir John Ofobike- immediate past chairman of Apapa chapter of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), and incumbent Western Zone Coordinator of the same association. He talks about the port, his association and of course, the Nigeria Customs Service.
What are the duties of a Western Zone Coordinator of ANLCA? It appears too ceremonial.
Shipping Position Daily correspondent; Dapo Olawuni recently caught up with Sir John Ofobike- immediate past chairman of Apapa chapter of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), and incumbent Western Zone Coordinator of the same association. He talks about the port, his association and of course, the Nigeria Customs Service.
What are the duties of a Western Zone Coordinator of ANLCA? It appears too ceremonial.
Before now there was nothing like Zonal Coordinator, we called it Zonal Chairman which was not constitutional, it was later agreed that we should have a Zonal Coordinator, somebody has occupied it before, but this time around I offered myself during the election and people voted me in. Again, our constitution is very clear, you said it is ceremonial, but it is for the interest of the association, whatever name you call it, the duty of the Western Zone Coordinator is to assist the President on the day to day running of the association and to interface between the chapters and the National President. When you are the president of an association like ANLCA you have so many functions you need to be attending to and if the President is loaded with activities and complaints from the chapters, I don't think he can move ahead. Also, the constitution has made it clear that there must be a Zonal Coordinator and I don't think this is wrong, I want to tell you that it is not ceremonial, and even if it is ceremonial, as far as it is ANLCA and for the good of the association, I think I am happy occupying it.
What measure of support are you getting from the Chapter Chairmen under you?
The support has been overwhelming, I want you to know that I was a two-term chairman at Apapa Chapter and my colleagues at the various chapters are doing their second term or their first term, when I came around they knew me because I have worked within their circles and I am here to assist them, I am having their hundred percent support.
Do you have ambition to become ANLCA President?
Every pupil in class one will ambition to be promoted to class two, somebody who has a master's degree would like to have a doctorate degree, it is not in my character to say that I must lead, most Governors in this country today would like to become the President of this nation, Chairmen of local governments would like to be members of assembly and Governor; so, in every human being there is aspiration, I am a grass root ANLCA member, I was a task force Coordinator, from this position I did well and I was promoted to be chairman of the task force in Apapa for a period of seven years, people see me as someone who can solve their problems and from there I was elected as chairman of the Apapa Chapter. At that time, I became one of the best chairmen in the whole of the association; not only in the West, I got back for my second tenure and I completed it, when I was leaving office, I handed over to the next set of executives who are there today. God has been the lamp at my feet guiding me and I have not fallen into a pit, I have ambition, but I cannot be over-ambitious, being over-ambitious becomes a problem, every customs officer wants to become the Controller of a command and every Controller wants to become the Comptroller General, if tomorrow God says I will be ANLCA President, then I will be there, Ofobike has ambition of going to the next step by His grace to lift our association to the next level, but I am not over-ambitious to be there, you know that when somebody is a Corporal, the next desire is to become a Sergeant, from there he goes higher.
What was your role in the acquisition of the national secretariat of ANLCA?
I played my own part, we have to be grateful to the founding fathers of ANLCA, they called God and they used God to anoint the association from the beginning in order to become a sellable product anytime it is mentioned. Today, I am zonal coordinator, the child that is given birth to was not conceived overnight, I have contributed in so many ways and to God be the glory. Today we have a national secretariat and our president is the man that God used to bring us to this level, but I can say that by his grace, I contributed but I cannot quantify it, and I will still continue to contribute.
Are you still in touch with the chapter you left behind in Apapa?
First and foremost, before I became a Coordinator I had a chapter which is Apapa chapter, this is where I served and handed over to the guys that are there now, definitely there is no how you will build a house and just abandon it, you must watch over it and see how it is being maintained. I handed over to them and they are doing it well, I am a leader and they have accepted me as a leader, I have finished my tenure peacefully in Apapa and handed over to people that deserve it, and I am watching from behind to see if their step is not in the right direction, if it is not then I will advise them accordingly, they cannot leave me and I cannot leave them, we are working together.
Do you think our ports are functioning optimally?
In some areas, the port has improved especially in terms of cargo throughput, but in terms of operations, regulations and implementation of policies, nobody is there to implement, there is a breakdown of law and order in term of making sure that things work out well, nobody is there to regulate and enforce. Nigerians have lost their positions to port reforms and concessions, now, some few individuals are now making illegal millions on daily basis to the detriment of Nigerians and nobody is there to say anything. My conclusion is that most of the people operating at the port have been captured, just the way the Boko Haram have captured people in the North, this is how we have been captured by the concessionaires and we cannot talk. Haven said this, the port itself will continue to increase in cargo throughput while Nigerians are being milked in the area of charging people unnecessarily, they are smiling to the bank to the detriment of Nigerians, they continue to charge for services not rendered.
Which of the terminal operators is most notorious for this?
When you are talking about Apapa port then you are talking about APMT and all their container handling, you also talk about the ENL where there is so much corruption, no equipment, and people are being charged for service not rendered.
How will you rate Customs in terms of their operations?
The Nigeria Customs Service has done so much in improving the service and taken it to international standard like other nations of the world, there have been training and retraining of officers, promotions and incentives for officers, but we have the Nigerian factor, Abdullahi Dikko Inde has done much in revenue generation, but they have not done much to curtail the excesses of the officers in terms of monitoring them and ensure that they follow the civil service ethics, resuming for duty at the right time and knowing when they are supposed to close, they should know they are civil servants in their operations and service to Nigeria just like any other government agency, they should be trained to know that the moment an importer brings in a cargo and they discover that the cargo meets all the standards, they should allow the cargo to leave the port. The Nigeria Customs Service has to do more in terms of making people know that they are civil servants, they should be civil in their operations, there is supposed to be a resumption time for civil servants and a closing time, the management from the top might not know, but there must be sanctions.
What about PAAR?
PAAR is working, it is something that is barely one year and they have achieved much success, we must accept that what is good is good, the service providers were not more qualified than customs. And again people keep asking why should customs query PAAR, it is the document you gave to them that they used to give you PAAR, but it is the man on the field that can tell you if your PAAR is correct, the PAAR is not a final document, if it is not accurate, then they give you the appropriate duty to pay, we should just accept that we have got this right.
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