Following the 90 days ultimatum that was handed down by the United State of America to Nigeria on the implementation of the International Ships and Ports facility Security (ISPS) code, operators in the informal sector have joined the raging debate over the deadline, saying there is nothing to panic about.
The operators who included importers and dealers of used vehicles appealed to the government to address the sanction before the deadline expires, even as they added that the USA cannot do without Nigeria as far international trade is concerned.
Following the 90 days ultimatum that was handed down by the United State of America to Nigeria on the implementation of the International Ships and Ports facility Security (ISPS) code, operators in the informal sector have joined the raging debate over the deadline, saying there is nothing to panic about.
The operators who included importers and dealers of used vehicles appealed to the government to address the sanction before the deadline expires, even as they added that the USA cannot do without Nigeria as far international trade is concerned.
However automobile dealers, who spoke to Auto Port Weekly in Lagos last week, said that 90% of vehicles imported into Nigeria are from the United States of America and that the USA action might lead to scarcity of some brand of vehicles that come from that part of the world.
President General ,United Berger Automobile Market , Chief Metche Nwadinikwe said that if the Nigerian government is unable to meet the deadline , it will also affect USA’s international trade because Nigerian imports the highest number of used vehicles in the world and that USA is the major market from where those vehicles come.
The importer cum auto dealer condemned the move the US government even as he reiterated that the world super power is supposed to proffer solutions and the nation’s territorial waters.
The President General said that the USA cannot do without Nigeria in terms of international trade, noting that the action will affect Americans the most.
In the area of vehicular import, he said that attention by Nigerian importers will shift to Japan.
"What they are saying as far as I am concerned is that they are pretending and there is no need for fear or worries because I know they cannot do without us", he stressed.
Metche noted that if the USA eventually wields the big stick on Nigeria by banning vessels from that country from coming here, attention will shift to neighbouring ports of West Africa for vehicles to come in.
"My own idea about the whole thing is that we should not panic and I must also say that they stand a chance to lose because, 95 % of used vehicles coming into the country from there".
"There will be massive job loss over there; cars will litter the streets of America because the market for Nigerian importers is no more there"." I don't think they can do it to us because they need Nigeria for their market".
According to him, no country in the world buys or imports cars the way Nigerians do, thus it will affect their own economic.
Also reacting to the ultimatum, a fairly used dealer, Mr Jackson Unuigbo said that if the government did not meet the ultimatum, it will affect both economies.
According to him, both countries stand the chance to lose as regards international trade.
He said Nigerians will stand to lose because most of the cars imported to the country come from USA and on the other hand, America will also suffer because Nigeria is a dominant country in vehicle export.
The automobile fairly used dealer however said missing the deadline will hamper Nigerian car dealers immensely.
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