The Nigeria Customs Service has been called upon to coordinate and regulate the activities of ship chandlers across the country, with a view to further professionalize it and create more job opportunities for Nigerians.
Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Maritime, Mr. Olugbenga Leke Oyewole made this call last Friday in Lagos.
Oyewole pointed out that the ship chandling sector of the maritime industry is an aspect that holds so much benefits to the country, he however lamented that these has remained untapped for many years.
The Nigeria Customs Service has been called upon to coordinate and regulate the activities of ship chandlers across the country, with a view to further professionalize it and create more job opportunities for Nigerians.
Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Maritime, Mr. Olugbenga Leke Oyewole made this call last Friday in Lagos.
Oyewole pointed out that the ship chandling sector of the maritime industry is an aspect that holds so much benefits to the country, he however lamented that these has remained untapped for many years.
"I want Customs to recognize and regulate the activities of the chandlers, it is an area where the nation can make so much money on, and it provides enormous employment opportunities for Nigerians"
"The Chandlers are those group of people that when a ship comes to the nation to our ports, or even those ships that cannot get to the ports, the chandlers give their needs to them, they need to eat onboard, a ship that sails for months will need to replace its stock when it gets to any country, they need to take food and water to them and other things they will be needing, some even buy clothes"
"So, I want to call the attention of customs today to regulate and make sure that this activities are placed in proper focus" he said.
He commended the Nigerian Customs for being active, especially in the area of revenue collection. According to him, the Customs is set to generate N1.2trillion out of the national budget of N4trillion in 2014.
"It means we only need two to three agencies to produce the national budget, it is unprecedented even in the history of the customs" Oyewole said.
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