Oluyinka Onigbinde
Clearing agents operating in the nation’s maritime industry have kicked against the recently signed $3.2 billion Customs modernization project. The clearing agents stated that the concessioning will lead to abject poverty for Nigerians, while also adding that Customs concessioning is a threat to national security.
Although the federal government had stated that the 20-year project will generate $176billion, stakeholders including clearing agents have expressed worries that neither Customs officers nor freight agents have an understanding of how the Customs modernization process will function.
The clearing agents noted that there aren’t clear economic projections via increased imports or other indices to support the postulations that the Service would earn around N5.28trillion ($8.8billion) annually for 20 years; when Customs’ highest annual revenue earning was N2.3trillion attained in 2021 as the economy was stretched severely, adding that freight agents were allegedly arm-twisted to part with funds.
In a chat with our correspondent, the President of the African Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON), Mr. Frank Ogunojemite warned that the concessioning is a threat to national security, adding that the long-term impact of the project will be a consistent devaluation of the naira with imports prioritized over exports.
He said: “We need to ask two questions; first is that what is the rationale behind the concession, the second is that why is it done in secret, it ought to have gone through public hearing, they need to clarify what they want to do
“I believe it is another way to cast capital flight out of this country to repatriate money abroad. I will definitely not support and if at all they want to concession why 20 years, why not five years or seven years subject to renewal. I see it as an indirect way of selling Nigeria.
“The concession is also a threat to our security, because they (Customs) do not only generate money, they also secure borders, so if foreigners are now part of our border control, you know the implication. Because without concession we are having a lot of ammunitions coming into the country; insecurity and all that, so imagine having foreigners what do you think will happen.
“This development will lead more Nigerians into abject poverty. I’m worried about this choice and the statements of the Minister of Finance on this project. It seems like she doesn’t have a clue as to the grave implications of this concession. Customs concession shouldn’t be likened to the seaport terminals because the government gave out the land but in the case of Customs we are talking about national security and government revenue.”
“Several freight forwarders have been shouting that we were left in the dark about this project since 2019. The Finance Minister confirmed that the concession stalled because the parties had a conflict in the sharing of the stakes”.
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He asked: What was this conflict about? Why the secrecy? Why wasn’t there a public hearing on this project? Haven’t we learnt from the conflict and protests that followed the initial implementation of the VIN valuation without stakeholders’ engagement?”
Speaking also, a former president, the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF); Chief Eugene Nweke, challenged the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMOF) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), to mention any Customs Service around the world that have outsourced its IT infrastructure to Huawei Technologies Limited.
In a press statement made available to Shipping Position Daily, Nweke alleged that the $3.2bn e-Customs modernization project was skewed to favour Huawei.
Nweke explained that the only flaws in the Customs system are human integrity questions, including human corrupt practices and distortions which can be improved upon by other considerate enhancement alternatives or further value-added tools, instead of concessioning.
“It was noted by NCS that only companies like Huawei have the technological backbone, to mitigate the aforesaid challenges? Could the FMOF or NCS tell Nigeria at least two countries in the world, where the Huawei has undertaken or is undertaking such magnitude of tasks, for reference purposes.
“Equally, apart from the claims that Huawei is one of the world’s best providers of ICT applications and services, the NCS should state further the Huawei operational pedigree in their chosen area of specialization in relation to the concession agreement. Hence, this is a technical related contract and not just a purchase and supply contract (or acquisition)”, he said.
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