Isiaka Olalere (Chairman RTEAN TCIP)
Isiaka Olalere (Chairman RTEAN TCIP)
The maritime sector has fared better since 1999 because in the past when the Nigerian Ports Authority was in total control, there was a lot of hiccups in the ports to the extent that containers take a longer period to leave the ports, but today things have changed. Now we have 48 hours cargo clearance and the authorities are working towards achieving even 24 hours cargo clearance. As it is now, all the terminal operators have their various modus operandi which has improved the system unlike when NPA was in charge. Before now we would load our vehicles inside the terminals for days without leaving the ports but it’s no longer so, thus there have been tremendous changes.
Babatunde Samuel (Registrar, POTEMAN)
Just like any industry ,the maritime sector is slowly moving forward since democracy, though we have not seen much changes except for the fact that there has been some changes in government policies most especially in destination inspection . Secondly, the industry has also witnessed some dramatic changes by the legislature putting across the need for a commercial regulator for the port and terminal operations which is still in contention between some of the government agencies like NPA and Nigeria Shippers’ Council. But in a nutshell, we can summarise that the industry is gradually gathering its momentum to witness a dramatic change since democracy, but we still have a long way to go to achieve that.
Mazi Joseph Anabaraonye (Registrar, FFAN)
Perhaps, we can say that recently the industry is getting some democratic elements though still be clouded with military tendency. The ports are federal government property, thus the state and local government have no say but outside the country, there is what we call a municipal port which is more or less, controlled by the local government, but in Nigeria it is not done. In other words, as at today the ports are being run for commercial purposes unlike before when it is for national interest and this has made our ports the most expensive in the world. We can also say that the concessioning has improved ports activities because the bureaucracy of the government was removed. Again in terms of security, the ports are better secured compared to military rule. However I can say that what we have on ground is better than the military regime.
Chief Osita Chukwu Patrick (Coordinator SNFFIEC)
I will say that there have been tremendous changes in the maritime sector since democracy was reinstated because the government is eager to transform our ports but the arrow heads are not making it to work out the way it ought to. However in the area of policy making, I think since inception of democracy in 1999,it has not fared better for the industry because stakeholders are not carried along by our government; but the sector has actually improved compared to the military rule; again government needs to consult stakeholders before coming out with policies.
Prince Olayiwola Shittu (President, ANLCA)
If it has been so good, then we don’t need to ask again, we all know that for the past six to seven years of concession we have not been seeing what we expected to see. But most importantly, the greatest thing that the government needs to do to mark our democracy is to convert the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to become a commercial regulator of the port, we need somebody that can be an arbiter between the Nigerian shipper represented by the agent and other operators in the port so that areas of friction will be eliminated. Every time we accuse the NPA, the shipping agent, the terminal operators, and government, but we do not accuse ourselves because there is nobody to accuse us, but a commercial regulator will be able to define the role of each person and at what cost, this is when it will be obvious as to who should be blamed, this is the only thing I expect from democracy. The maritime industry has become an experimental area whereby they bring outsiders to come and do the job of the professionals, there is no area of the industry that does not require the practitioners to handle things, but because they bring a person from outside that is why nothing works. It is the responsibility of the executive, represented by the ministry of transport; if they know their onions, but because politics is always part of them, this is why the maritime industry may not grow.
Otunba Kunle Folarin (Chairman, Port Consultative Council)
Democracy means a greater flexibility in government administration and an open door policy that will make it possible for the industry to have a closer and better attention, I will say that in the last 12 months we have had an increase in government’s relation with the organized private sector, but within the maritime sector we are hoping that government will conclude on those matters that will make it easy for shipping development to take place and to deal with other outstanding issues like the improvement in port infrastructure which is ongoing. We have seen some activities but we want to see it accelerated. We also hope they will increase the effort they are making to build capacity in the maritime sector, for example the training of seafarers, dockworkers and other categories of port workers.
Barr Osuala Nwagbara (Maritime Lawyer)
Democracy has no doubt created an enabling environment for the maritime industry, certainly when you compare it with a lot of things under the military regime you will see that today the economy is growing in bounds and the maritime sector is not excluded, investors in the maritime sector are now interested in investing in Nigeria, the country has now become an investment destination. In the last seven years, the democratic dispensation has enabled the commercialization of the port, and there are many foreign business interests in the sector, more shipping companies are coming into the country, terminal operators with foreign financiers are coming into the country, these are some of the fallouts of democracy. You recall that during the military regime, there was a time that Nigeria was a pariah state such that the government had to promulgate a decree to assure investors of their investments, but yet this did not open the border of the country to investors, they did not see the decree as an appropriate window to begin to invest, but with democracy, something is assured, rule of law is in place and the constitution is supreme. So I will say that democracy has impacted positively on the maritime industry and we are looking forward to a more robust development.
Oladipo Bolade Lawrence (Asst. Nat. Sec. ANLCA)
We can say it categorically that the worst democratic setting is better than any military rule, this is an era where you can advocate for your right and do a lot of things, you can kick against any of the government policy as per the maritime industry and even express how you are faring as an individual, this is why it is called government of the people by the people and for the people. Sincerely speaking we can say that since there has been stability in governance things have been working well in the maritime industry and this is why you see that policies are being pursued in the right direction without changes. During the military era you can wake up and find out that many things have changed, but now we see that there has been stability in government policy as per the maritime industry. If we now narrow it down to the freight forwarding sector, we can say that the freight forwarders are benefitting more, the emergence of the CRFFN came about during the democratic rule, this is a plus and it has also given us direction in the freight forwarding industry and we really appreciate it.
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