MULTIPLE GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN THE PORT

The general belief is that Nigerian ports are the most expensive in the West African sub-region, obviously, not because of cost of stevedoring, but largely because of the activities of the several government agencies that are a regular feature of the port system.

The general belief is that Nigerian ports are the most expensive in the West African sub-region, obviously, not because of cost of stevedoring, but largely because of the activities of the several government agencies that are a regular feature of the port system.
At a point, the list included: Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and its several units, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Plant and Animal Quarantine and State Security Service (SSS), the Police and its many units and NESREA. In all, these agencies have subdivided themselves into splinters and they are all involved in the cargo delivery process.
Virtually, all administrations have made futile efforts to streamline the presence of these agencies; perhaps the most daring was during the regime of former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), which reduced the agencies to five. At the end of the intervention, only the Nigeria Customs Service, Police, State Security Service (SSS), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) were left in the ports.
This effort was not allowed to yield any positive result as the remaining five agencies divided their operations into units. At some point, there were at least 18 such units in the Nigerian port system.
The units are as ridiculous as their names, for instance, the Customs had Valuation Unit, Enforcement, Customs Investigation Unit (CIU), Gate, Task Forces; which included until lately, the Comptroller-General’s Task Force, CAC’s Task Force.
Not only do these ridiculous creations interfere with the cargo clearance and delivery process, they were also avenue to enrich their operatives.
And when in 2011, the minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala  first made the disclosure that the federal government was planning to take action on the number of its agencies in the ports, not many gave it a chance. She was reported to have expressed dismay at the plethora of these agencies and the effects of their presence on the nation’s economy.   
Also thinking in the same direction was the Senate which also condemned the presence of multiple agencies operating in Nigerian ports. This position was made public when the upper chamber’s Ad-hoc Committee on the activities of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) visited the ports in Lagos.
The committee which was headed by Senator Ahmed Lawan was responding to complaints by concessionaires at the Lagos Port Complex and Tin Can Island port that there about 25 government agencies in the ports. They had told the senators that these agencies work against t international best practice and that the lawmakers should request for the recommendation of a sub-committee of the Presidential Task Force on Ports Reform.
All these expectations have come to pass; Government has finally sacked the agencies and all we expect is that stakeholders should rally round the government to make the decision to stick. We wonder what some-self serving individual stand to gain, if not for pecuniary reasons, there is no reason why any individual or group will canvass the return of the trio of SON, NAFDAC and NDLEA back to the ports
The resolution of the House of Representatives ordering the return of these agencies is to say the least, uninformed, uncharitable and clear evidence of misplaced priority on the part of those whom we all elected to make laws for the good governance of Nigeria. The lawmakers ought to know that the presence of multiple government agencies in the ports is a negation of best practices, a clog in the wheel of the much- expected cargo clearance within 48 hours and a self-serving desire of these agencies to enrich their personnel.
Our payer is that government should further reduce the number of such agencies, so that Nigerian ports will start looking like what obtains elsewhere – an embodiment of an integrity-driven system where things work automatically and without inducement or request for gratification or avoidable delays.