As a result of the efficient and prompt attention it accords to clearing of consignments, customs area command at the Ijora (Lagos) Lillypond terminal says that it has gained the confidence of most importers as majority of them now prefer to use the terminal in receiving their cargo.
This development according to the Nigeria custom command in the terminal is as a result of its determination in actualising the forty eight hour cargo clearance vision of the Nigerian customs service even as it says that no cargo currently stay in the terminal beyond five days without release .
According to the Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the command, Mr. Olu Ogunojemite who confirmed the development, if all necessary documentation and requirements are met perfectly on time, goods are usually released within two days even as he says that this is in collaboration with other relevant government agencies in the terminal.
Ogunojemite who has hitherto spent over 18 years in the Automated System of Customs Data (ASYCUDA) unit of the customs service also confirmed that importers now struggle to use his command as port of landing, disclosing that no less than four prominent companies whose container imports runs into hundreds per shipment each, had approached him for that purpose.
“You can imagine somebody whose container transfer alone, say from Tin Can or Apapa port in one shipment to here, could cost over N1.5 million asking that he still be allowed to use our command. He knows what he is to gain by using our command irrespective of what he spends in container transfer”, the CAC said.
He however admitted that transfer of containers from either Apapa or Tin Can Island port added extra cost to an importer but pointed out that “what the consignee loses in such transfer cost, he gains by having his goods released promptly”. He also explained that what an importer gains by not incurring demurrage at the other terminals surpass whatever he might have lost in transfer cost.
Mr. Ogunojemite however made it clear that his command is not a seaport but an off-dock facility that depends on other ports for survival; and that this is why they have devised an enticing strategy to remain afloat.
On the possibility of some security agencies sabotaging the prompt release of goods in the terminal, the Customs chief said, “on assumption of duty here, we identified how best to attract patronage in the area since we are not a sea port command”.
“So, I invited all agencies and laid our cards on the table and pleaded for their cooperation and this has been working fine. I can tell you that during examination any agency that is not there, even if it is Customs, has no choice than to abide by whatever decision reached by others”, he added.
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