Otunba Frank Ogunojemite is the National President of African Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON). In this interview with Oluyinka Onigbinde, he talks about sundry issues bothering on cargo clearance, delivery and trade facilitation
Can you give us an insight into APFFLON’s mission and appraisal as a freight forwarding association so far?
You see, the agenda for APFFLON is standard, and it is all about continuation. Whoever comes on board will follow the vision of APFFLON. The vision of AFLON is to create an environment that positions Nigeria prominently in the committee of maritime nations, ensuring we operate at an international level. APFFLON is not just an association; it is an advocacy platform dedicated to maritime advocacy and national economic development. We are not limited to maritime issues alone. We speak about the welfare of the people, the economy, and policies that impact Nigerians as a whole. We have worked with the House of Representatives and the Senate to address major industry concerns. Our role is to continue engaging the government, pushing for reforms, and ensuring that trade facilitation is not just a concept, but a reality.
How does APFFLON aim to achieve this?
One of the key ways we pursue this is by addressing the targets set by the National Assembly to the Nigeria Customs Service. We understand that when customs’ revenue targets are set arbitrarily, they end up impacting businesses negatively. The reality is that customs’ targets are actually targeted at our clients. This is different from what happens in other countries. If there’s an increment in tariffs, to be honest with you, the prices never come down in this country. It’s always about increments upon increments. Take, for example, in 2019 when the IMF visited Nigeria. Many economic concerns were raised, and if you check the statistics, the situation has remained largely the same.
Could you give specific examples of the challenges faced by stakeholders in the maritime sector?
We have longstanding issues such as obsolete equipment used by shipping and terminal operators. At times, we have to pave our own way just to get things done. The inefficiencies extend to cargo handling. You pay to drop your container, you pay to move it, and even if customs call for a re-examination, you bear the cost. Is it supposed to be like that? No. It is different in the Western world, where you don’t even know when your container is being examined because the process is seamless and handled with scanners. Here, you are subjected to additional scrutiny, and if you question it, you pay more rent. This makes doing business in Nigeria unnecessarily difficult.
Comparatively, how does Nigeria’s system fare against neighboring countries?
Look at Ghana, Togo and see how close are they to achieving 24-hour clearance. In Nigeria, we talk about it, but is it achievable? No. The issues of security and the lack of modern equipment remain a big challenge. By now, we should be talking freely about multi-modal transportation in this country, but we are not. The National Assembly is not prioritizing it, yet they could bring up policies that will increase costs and inflationary pressures affecting the country. Part of APFFLON agenda is to refute anything that will create an impediment to the ease of doing business in the country. We are not going to take that.
What is AFLON’s stance on the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)?
The African Free Trade Agreement is not a new initiative in Africa. If you remember, in 1993, and 1994, African treaties were implemented. If you examine the AfCFTA agreement today, you’ll see that it is simply a replication of those earlier agreements—covering single currency, marketing, movement of goods, and people. That is exactly what AfCFTA is about. However, the same obstacles that prevented those earlier treaties from thriving could also affect AfCFTA if care is not taken. Nigeria is a target market for all of Africa. How do we ensure that we benefit rather than being exploited? If we allow things to continue as they are, the principle of “charity begins at home” must apply. We need to address these challenges internally first. Constant increments are going to discourage investors in the country.
Given the challenges of trade facilitation, what role should the government play?
Trade facilitation is a priority, but it must be approached correctly. Take, for instance, the recent Single Window Summit where the Minister spoke about a 25% reduction in port operation charges to make Nigerian ports more competitive. Now, the question is, will this initiative truly make the ports friendly? There’s a clear discrepancy between what the minister is saying about the Single Window system and the actions of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Customs. APFFLON will always seek clarification on these issues because if we don’t, how do we educate our clients? A lot of businesses are being discouraged from engaging in exports and imports due to policy inconsistencies. How will we continue under such conditions? What impact will this have on our currency and our ability to trade globally? Nigeria cannot operate in isolation; we must address these fundamental issues.
Are there any policies APFFLON is pushing for to ease business operations?
One of our major concerns is the lack of compensatory laws. For instance, when there is banking network failures and businesses cannot process transactions, who bears the cost? We do. But when the delays affect our shipments, we still pay penalties in the form of demurrage. We are calling on the government to establish compensatory laws that protect businesses in such cases. Furthermore, the Ministry of Finance needs to be more business-friendly. Take the issue of opening bank accounts, for example. Despite having the BVN and NIN systems in place, businesses are still required to provide references to open accounts. Why should this be necessary? So, when are we going to move from analog to digital? When it comes to collecting taxes and imposing financial obligations on businesses, the government is swift, but when it’s about facilitating ease of doing business, we remain stuck in outdated procedures.
What is APFFLON’s position on the role of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in the recent port charges increments?
The issue is not about whether an agreement has lasted 30 years. It is about necessity, which is the mother of invention. What contributions has the NPA made to the industry? If you recall, a few years ago, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council was excluded from the port concession review, yet they were supposed to regulate port economic activities. How does that make sense?
As the landlord of the ports, the NPA must take strategic and conventional decisions. However, at the moment, stakeholders are dissatisfied with how port operations are being managed. There is no clear direction, yet they are talking about increasing fees. For instance, the Cargo Tracking Note used to be handled by the NPA, but it was later handed over to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council. If NPA couldn’t handle the mandate that was given to them before, how can they now justify their role and performance in the new increments? We need transparency and stakeholders’ engagement. We need to tell them at this particular time that they cannot emphasize any increment because of the current economy. Given the fragile state of the economy and rising inflation, we cannot afford decisions that further burden businesses. The inflation as already gulfed off the purchasing power of the people.
How do you see the server breakdown concerns affecting business operations at the ports?
Regardless of who’s behind the Web Fontaine, when the server goes for two, three days, you bear the consequences. And that’s why I always emphasized the competitive law. Apology doesn’t do anything for business people. It’s only passing on money to educators, which is you and I, of this country.
What is your perspective on the introduction of B’Odogwu by Customs and its impact on business operations?
Now, the evolution of B’Odogwu has come about in PTML. My expectation for Nigeria Customs is having an arrangement with shipping and terminal operators. When we have delays, when the rent is paid, I expect Nigeria Customs to have the shares too.
Are there concerns about cost implications regarding B’Odogwu?
Now, I cannot capture the cost. We expect that to be an issue in the production of B’Odogwu. When we expect that to be an issue, what are the provisions to deal with the problems that is passed on freight forwarders and importers? That’s where our anger is high when you are coming with the introduction of B’Odogwu, when B’Odogwu is already giving us its own tough time. We accept B’Odogwu more than Web Fontaine because it is our own. But the customs should look into it to ensure we have some relief in terms of demurrages at the port.
What are your thoughts on the port pass issue at Tin Can Island?
If you go to Tin Can Island today, you see NPA security just by the gate, stopping people, asking for port passes. You have your port pass, and every Tin Can Island, you are asked for a port pass. These people, I don’t know whether they’ve forgotten that they concessioned the port far back. Five Star Logistics is there. Ports and Cargo is there. Other terminals are there. So, if you want to do business with these people, they stop you at the gate, despite the port concession. These are one of the shenanigans of NPA that need to stop. They need to stop embarrassing people by asking for port passes.
What is your opinion on the implementation of ICTN?
The ICTN is a good development. It was introduced by the Americans. That’s when this thing came about. Before now, we do have a manifest sent to Customs for consignments to be tracked. I think this is being taken to an advanced level and it is for security purposes. But the key issue is the implementation. As far as I’m concerned, I support it, but implementation is what really matters. It has happened before and was handled by NPA and now it has been given to Shippers Council. It is a good development but we do not want anything that will bring addition cost because we have to ameliorate additional costs from the ports.
