The recent ban on importation of vehicles through the land borders has been described as a n attempt to favour some powerful individuals in the country who have presented their interests to the government.
Such policies have also been described as the bane of the economy especially as it affected the maritime industry in 2016.
The Federal Government has therefore been advised to shun advice that will prompt it to formulate policies that will be beneficial to few persons in 2017, if it doesn't want to see a repeat of the drought of 2016 in the maritime sector.
This advice was given by Dr. Eugene Nweke, immediate past national president of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), in a chat with newsmen in Lagos, last week.
He said that policies should be formulated after consultations with critical stakeholders as well as reconcile such with statistics to ascertain its impact on the economy.
Dr Nweke averred that most of the policies made by the government in 2016 represented the interest of few people in the society , hence the problems in the industry.
He said: "Formulation of policies should be after due consultation with reconciliation with statistics to measure whether it will have negative or positive impact on the people before coming up with deliberate policies.
"Stop making policies because some people have met you to canvass their interest, that does not help in nation building.
"Most of the policies we saw last year represented the interest of some people.
According to him, the ban on importation of both new and used vehicles through the land borders could engender smuggling which he said would endanger the lives of officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service.
"You don't make policies that will indirectly push up smuggling activities and men exposing the officers and men of Customs to unnecessary risks.
"Some people in government are beneficiaries of these things; how many poor men go to bring vehicles that we use? he queried.
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