A cross-section of maritime industry stakeholders present at a One-Day Seminar organized by the Nigerian Ports Consultative Council (NPCC) in Lagos yesterday have called on the National Assembly to be more committed to the sector by ensuring that a maritime policy is developed and implemented.
The stakeholders also stressed the need for passage into law of the various maritime Bills, including the Ports and Harbor Bills, the National Transport Commission Bill, the Nigerian Railway Bill, among others.
A cross-section of maritime industry stakeholders present at a One-Day Seminar organized by the Nigerian Ports Consultative Council (NPCC) in Lagos yesterday have called on the National Assembly to be more committed to the sector by ensuring that a maritime policy is developed and implemented.
The stakeholders also stressed the need for passage into law of the various maritime Bills, including the Ports and Harbor Bills, the National Transport Commission Bill, the Nigerian Railway Bill, among others.
Speaking at the seminar tagged: 'The Nigerian Port Industry: Port Cost, Port Infrastructure and Port Regulation' Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Barrister Hassan Bello lamented that the port concession exercise had been carried out without any law in place to regulate the process.
He lamented that the National Transport Policy has been abandoned.
"There has always been a maritime policy, it is buried somewhere and it has to be brought over, lawyers want us to make laws, the same thing with the port concession, there was no law and the concession was going on, sometimes it is the practice that brings out the law rather than the other way round", he told the gathering.
Bello made a reference to the Cabotage law which according to him could not be practiced after being painstakingly supervised by lawyers. He said that Nigeria is still regretting this.
On his part, General Manager Monitoring and Evaluation of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Mr. Joshua Asanga said that the absence of a maritime policy has led to an uncoordinated technical regulatory environment at the ports.
He pointed out that the polity is a documentation of government's directive in whatever it wants to do, and that lack of adequate polity in maritime is giving the NPA an unworkable environment.
"Presently we have an uncoordinated technical regulatory environment and this is giving us an unworkable environment" Asanga lamented.
While chairing a session at the event, Director of Commercial Shipping Services of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Mrs Dabney Shal-Holmer also stated that with a maritime polity, the industry is not thinking together.
"The industry is not thinking together, where you find lack of balance of the two critical constituents, import operations, the supply and the demand side running at cross purposes, you are bound to have the kind of chaotic industry that we presently have"
She said that there is a competition policy that will be rolled out in two weeks time.
Chairman of the NPCC, Otunba Kunle Folarin on his part affirmed that there is monopoly in the Nigerian ports system which according to him has been created by the APM Terminals in Apapa.
He said that monopoly is being encouraged because Nigeria currently has a single box service provider in Apapa port.
He however noted that it is not too late to bring in the laws and the policy saying, that "it does not matter whether the games have started and we are bringing the rules, let us bring in the rules so that the players will not die on the field"
"Monopoly has created serious economic problems, so when we are looking at issues of competitiveness, let us look at monopoly" he said.
While presenting a paper titled 'Revisiting Issues of Technical and Economic Regulation For Enhanced Port Performance' maritime lawyer, Barrister Emeka Akabogu stressed the need to institute commercial regulations for Nigerian port system.
The Regulations according to him should be gleaned from and protect the extant laws and regulations which currently guide shipping and port operations in Nigeria.
"Plans should be put in place to clearly articulate Nigeria's broad maritime policy as that will entrench and consolidate a consistent approach to solving problems for not only the commercial regulator, but other government and non-government actors in the maritime industry" Akabogu said.
Other stakeholders present at the seminar include: the President of the Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA) Capt Dada Labinjo, Commissioner of Police at the port, Mrs Ibifuro Harrison, Engineer Olu Akinsoji, Barr. Fred Akohkia of NAGAFF, among others.
Vice Chairman of NPCC, Major Henry Ajetunmobi (Rtd) assured that the communique of the seminar will be forwarded directly to Nigerian policy makers.
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