George Okafor (Freight forwarder)
George Okafor (Freight forwarder)
SON and NAFDAC have been operating even before coming into the port, when you have a cargo for them to check you call on them and they will come to inspect it, but their coming inside the port to stay is just to jam-pack the port, they are not helping matters at all, what they do is to come inside the port and check every container even though it’s not within their area, what does NAFDAC have to do with imported television? I believe the government will not allow them to come back because their coming here is of no use, it will not help us, we don’t support their coming back and I don’t think government will allow them to come back because they will have to explain what they are coming to do that Customs are not doing.
Simeon Olua (National Treasurer, NAGAFF)
Actually, SON is supposed to be in the port because we Nigerians are very fraudulent, most of the items that are imported into this country are substandard items, and if this is not checked, Nigeria will become a dustbin to other western countries, imagine when you buy an electric bulb and it just blew off without even working for a day, or an electric iron that you will buy and after plugging it to electricity it starts smoking. I am in support that the government should return SON back to the port as well as NAFDAC, they both have a role to play in the port, if you allow Nigerians to import whatever they like, they will bring in fake drugs which will affect you and I.
Eugene Nweke (National President, NAGAFF)
From the beginning, we believed that there was no due consultation, and what we had wanted is that there should be due consultation with the lawmakers who passed an Act that enabled these people to be in the port, so if that be the case let them be in the know and be consulted, and today you can see the lawmakers are already asking the agencies to go back into the port. For you to embark on certain policies, the executive arm of government should consult with the law makers who have passed a law which is an Act of parliament approving certain functions and area of jurisdiction for the agencies, it is good that the minister asked them to operate only when they have cargoes to examine at the port, but what does the law say? If you look at the Custom law section13, it says the port has been classified as customs port and that agencies inside the port should be given an accommodation. It is in order to avoid situations like this that we advised that there should be due consultations between the executive and the law makers, any policy that will work for the interest of this profession and sanitize this industry is welcomed, but let us do it in a way that there will be respect of principles and functions.
Olu Olasore (Gemtrade Int’l Limited)
The first question we should ask is whether their being in the port is enhancing the 48 hours cargo clearance or hindering it? I will say they are adding more to the problem, but at the same time, we have to look at their importance, for example SON and NAFDAC they are there to regulate the influx of fake products into the country, but in doing this, the only problem we are facing in the industry is that of corruption, if you are able to remove corruption, there is nothing bad in a regulatory body being inside the port to regulate what is happening inside the port, but unfortunately many of these agencies are there not to work but to get something into their personal pocket.
Chief Osita Chukwu Patrick [Coordinator, SNFFIEC]
What Dr Okonji Iweala and her team have done for the port is the best thing that can happen in any port in the world. NAFDAC and SON are redundant as far as port operation is concerned. In the world over there has never been anywhere such agencies operate in the port even though Nigeria is still a developing nation. In some of the countries all over the world, police are not located in the port. Government is in the right direction only for some set of people that are trying to thwart the effort of the government. The agencies are only disrespecting the order of the president which I think is not good for the port and the economy.
Osisi Tico Philip [NAGAFF chieftain]
Yes, I support the move by NAFDAC and SON to come back to the port because their absence from the port has created a lot of problems especially in the areas of goods that are not supposed to come into the country in term of standards. SON for instance is saddled with the responsibilities of quality control of goods that are imported into the country, but when you look at the situation of things, at least since their exit from the port, a lot of substandard goods have flooded the Nigerian market; this is a problem to the economy. It is said that somebody that throws stone into the market arena never knows if the stone will hit the mother or brother, so things like that need to be controlled by a body because when you leave it uncontrolled a lot of fake items will flood the market and it is detrimental to either our own usage or to the economy. On that note I truly support their coming back to the port and NAFDAC also have a critical role to play in our port because when somebody import something that is not worthy for consumption there is need for that agency to monitor or check what such items contain.
Rev Cole Chiori [C.E.O.Oceanglory]
The government agencies at the port were just too many and government have been streamlining them but for them to come to the port on my part is disrespectful to the government. The proliferation of the government agencies led to the traffic gridlocks we have in port and also outside the ports. So I do not support them coming back to the port. Those that are legitimate to stay in the port should stay and those that have been ordered to leave the port should leave .These agencies we are talking about have created the bottleneck in the port and it is not the best way to run the port.
Mr. Joseph Nnamocha [Apapa PRO,ANLCA]
I do not support SON coming back to the port, but for NAFDAC I can support because they are very genuine in their operations, the mode of operation is very transparent, this one of the government agency that do not exhort or collect money from you illegally, but for SON, they became a problem here, even when you have an issue that can be ignored they will over blow it for you to go to their head office in Lekki. For SON to make their way back to the port means we are going back to the dark days because their presence at the port is a big headache to all of us. I endorse that of NAFDAC because it has to do with health, but for SON a lot of agents have died as a result of accident and what have you even most of the problem for them to refer the agents from the port to their office can be treated in the port premises, but they will prefer to send the clearing agents to back to their office and I will say that no agents will agree for SON to come back to the port. Government should re define the mode of operation of some of the agencies at the port because SON is truly not relevant.
Prince Obums Anene [Deputy Nat President, NAGAFF]
I support SON and NAFDAC stay in the port because of the nature of their job because it is every relevant and I think that the federal government that made such statement that they should leave does not mean that they should leave just like that. They can be in their office and based on the invitation they can come to perform their duties. We are Nigerians and the average importer will always like to maximize profits, So what goes on in the port we have to think back for the benefit of our children who go out to buy drugs, what would happen if they buy fake drugs, nobody will be happy. NAFDAC is there to control and check the goods for the sake of our health, while SON is to check the standards of goods that come into the country they are important in the port to regulate.
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