Festus Ukwu (NCMDLCA)
Festus Ukwu (NCMDLCA)
NIMASA has its own function, the Shippers’ Council also has its own function, and Nigerian Ports Authority is the landlord of the ports, they all have their functions, therefore all these people have their various functions and there is no need of creating another agency, because if they do, it will complicate issues, because both NIMASA and Shippers Council are not even acting according to the Act which established them, there are lots of issues that are on ground, if they have been up and doing with their various responsibilities as regards the Act, there will be no need for another agency to be created to regulate the port. All of these agencies are to come together to regulate the port commercially because none of them can be left out in the regulation. Therefore, what I am trying to say is that the government should assign responsibilities to these three agencies in the areas they are not performing well.
Babatunde Samuel (Registrar,POTEMA)
NPA should be empowered to be the commercial regulatory body, but they should be given additional responsibilities just as Shippers Council was given additional responsibilities in terms of Cabotage and I believe they have been able to perform in the area of Cabotage and in my own opinion, the Nigerian Ports Authority is structured, should be empowered perhaps maybe the Ports’ Act of 1999 to be looked into so as to encourage or include the role of commercial regulation. Therefore in my own opinion I think the Nigerian Port Authority should be given the opportunity to become the commercial regulator of the port.
Galtima Liman (Stakeholder)
Each one of the agency has a robust mandate, NIMASA basically is the promotion of commercial content of shipping, a country without shipping prowess is a blind nation, for the commercial aspect it is key for international trade, the generation of foreign exchange; Shippers Council, counter-billing falls where ship ownership does not exist, then you have importers and exporters trying to put their heads together to protect themselves against terminal operators, protect themselves against monopoly of ship owners, if they don’t have an association, then the question is why did they start? So the Shippers Council carries that association for the greater good of the Nigerian nation, they have a role to play. The NPA still owns the port as the landlord; the port belongs to the NPA through the extension of the common patrimony of the port of Nigeria. All of these maritime agencies and the freight forwarders have roles to play in the commercial regulation of the port activities, it not just about creating new agencies for the fun of it.
Chima Sampson (Registrar, NIS)
Since the ports were concessioned, stakeholders have been clamouring for a commercial regulator of the port because it seems as if there is no regulator at all, the NPA are the landlords of the ports and the port operators, there is no actual regulator that is controlling what goes on in the port; all the charges and so on, everybody is just charging as they like. My own assertion and submission is that we should look at the agencies that have to do with the port because NPA which we know was changed from national port to private port which is now a landlord model pattern. If we take the responsibility of becoming port regulator and put it on NIMASA, to me it is going to be overburden, therefore the Shippers Council will be the best to take such role so as to have more roles to occupy them with since they don’t have a lot of functions at the moment.
Eugene Nweke (President, NAGAFF)
The issue of a commercial port regulator in the sector is overdue, but at this point in time it is not all about any other interest, it is all about if there is any agency in the industry that has the capacity to actually regulate if given the opportunity to do so, the answer remains yes. So in consideration therefore, the government should consider the Shippers Council, because if I say NIMASA, NIMASA has a lot of functions, therefore it should be reduced, but Shippers Council is key because of its enabling act, secondly, because of the long term experience, which they have already gathered from the sector and again they have structures on ground, if they bring in new agency, they will start afresh and that will make the government spend too much money, but for us to save the federal government’s money and not waste the tax payers money, Shippers Council is therefore in position to transform to commercial port regulator. It is not as if one is agitating for Shippers’ Council, but one should realize that they are not biased empire because NPA is biased especially in the ports concession.
Osita Chukwu (Save Nigeria Group)
These three agencies have their distinct functions; the government should merge them together under one umbrella for them to become commercial port regulator. Because the job that NPA does is quite different from the job NIMASA does, likewise the Shippers Council, so if they could do that there is nothing that will stop the merging. When you merge, the real ingredients of the job will be out. Therefore if they want general commercial port regulator, they should take people from these agencies such as NIMASA, NPA, and Shippers Council and even from the freight forwarders by creating a central agency whereby everybody is well represented in terms of regulating the port.
Comrade Julius Efokpor (Nigeria Merchant Navy)
I think the NPA has to be the best option to regulate the port since the basis of it has to do with being a commercial port regulator, more so creating a new agency to regulate the port activities will duplicate the functions that already existed and it is not necessary because it will only waste the government’s money.
Anabaraonye Joseph (Registrar FFAN)
It depends on what the government wants to do and whether they have the resources to go for a new agency which is a good idea, but I think it is going to be too expensive for them. The NPA is supposed to be a commercial regulator, but because of the way they concessioned the port, they lost their power and their privilege to be the commercial regulator. So the Shippers Council is in a better position now because it is supposed to protect the interest of shippers and the shipper is the principal actor when we are talking of ports operation, therefore it is very important that they are in control of port regulation so as to make sure that things are done rightly and their interest is well protected, therefore I think the Shippers Council should be in a proper position to be upgraded to be the commercial ports regulator.
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