Customs Agent Says Unsteady Power Supply Affects 24-Hour Port Operations

A licensed Customs Agent, Chief Ozo Chukwurah, says unsteady power supply has been the major impediment to 24-hour port operations in the country.
Chukwurah, Chairman, Anti-smuggling and Corruption Unit of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), made the remark at the recent election of the Igbo Maritime Forum (IMF) in Lagos.
“The first and major problem is energy. We cannot operate in darkness and expect things to work properly,” he said.

A licensed Customs Agent, Chief Ozo Chukwurah, says unsteady power supply has been the major impediment to 24-hour port operations in the country.
Chukwurah, Chairman, Anti-smuggling and Corruption Unit of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), made the remark at the recent election of the Igbo Maritime Forum (IMF) in Lagos.
“The first and major problem is energy. We cannot operate in darkness and expect things to work properly,” he said.
Chukwurah, however, noted that other problems militating against the possibility of round-the-clock operations at the ports were man-made.
The clearing agent cited the absence of manpower and lack of security at night as other problems militating against 24-hour port operations.
He said in a post-election interview that customs agents were still experiencing delays in cargo clearance, adding that 80 per cent of the problems were, however, man-made.
“We are facing delays in cargo clearance because the shipping companies and the terminal operators are benefiting from such delays
“Every little delay, be it one minute or a day, is to their benefit, because they still continue to collect storage charges,” he said.
The clearing agent commended government for taking proactive action in trying to harmonise the arbitrary charges by shipping companies.
“Government is doing what it ought to do by checkmating the shipping companies and we also need to ensure that these concessionaires and shipping companies are doing what they are supposed to do.
“The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) should play the role of a regulator, but they are just waking up to their responsibility.
“By the Act that created the council, they should do their work,” Chukwurah said.
Another licensed Customs Agent, Mr John Ofobike, told NAN that the NSC should be given more powers to protect the shippers and that the body should not only play an advisory role.
He said that the Igbo Maritime Forum was an organisation which came into existence to ensure unity among Igbo people working in the Maritime sector.
“Igbo people constitute a large number of those working in the maritime sector, as 90 per cent of imports into the country are brought by the Igbos.
“The Forum is to make sure that when government has a policy, we sit down and analyse it and then advise our members on it, so that they can properly key into it,’’  Ofobike said.