Even as government is yet undecided about what to do about creation of a regulatory agency for the nation’s maritime sector, the Nigerian Shippers Council is unrelenting about its ambition of transmuting to become a regulator.
Capt. Adamu Biu, Executive Secretary, of the council has reiterated that it is the only agency with the semblance of commercial regulation and expertise in the port industry.
Biu said this when he received a delegation of Maritime Arbitrators of Nigeria (MAN|) at the corporate head office of the NSC recently in Lagos.
Even as government is yet undecided about what to do about creation of a regulatory agency for the nation’s maritime sector, the Nigerian Shippers Council is unrelenting about its ambition of transmuting to become a regulator.
Capt. Adamu Biu, Executive Secretary, of the council has reiterated that it is the only agency with the semblance of commercial regulation and expertise in the port industry.
Biu said this when he received a delegation of Maritime Arbitrators of Nigeria (MAN|) at the corporate head office of the NSC recently in Lagos.
He noted that presently “there is no commercial regulator in the maritime industry’’.
Biu said that the council had the expertise to do this.
“What is required is for our enabling act to possibly be amended or touched here and there,’’ Biu said.
“We may not have 100 per cent of the expertise but I can assure you we have more than 80 per cent of the expertise,’’ he added.
According to him, this in one step toward achieving that regulatory function of the Shippers’ Council.
The executive secretary talked about arbitration and dispute resolution and said “trade facilitation is one of the key functions of the council and this is one of the best way to facilitate trade’’.
If you remove disputes, you are shortening the process of resolution of disputes and you are facilitating trade, he said.
The executive secretary said that arbitration was meant to keep friends, adding that the council would definitely key into it.
Biu added that most people were not familiar with arbitration, saying that the council was conversant with the problems of legal processes as it took years and a lot of resources and time.
There is bound to be disputes in trade either between ship owners themselves; ship owners and ship charterers; ship owners and cargo owners; ship owners and clearing agents; clearing agents and cargo owners; or clearing agents and Nigerian Ports Authority, he added.
Biu said if the disputes were kept out of the courts, the processes would be shortened.
Chief Gbola Akinola, President, Maritime Arbitrators of Nigeria said the body recognised the Shipper’s Council as the major stakeholder in the shipping industry and its greatest supporter.
Akinola recalled that over the years, NSC had shared the vision of the body in training people in the act of alternate dispute resolution mechanism.
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