Shippers Council to partner NPA for speedy cargo clearance for MAN

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council, NSC has said that it will partner with the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA and other government agencies to make cargo clearance from the port smoother for members of the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria, MAN.

Hassan Bello, Executive Secretary Nig. Shippers Council 

The Executive Secretary of the NSC, Hassan Bello who disclosed when he played host to a delegation from MAN in his office in Lagos, said that the Council will do all within its powers to see that all forms of arbitrary charges and other hindrances at the nation’s seaports are minimized by the end of the year.

Bello noted that the core functions of the Council was to moderate the cost of doing business at the ports which he said the Shippers’ Council would stop at nothing to achieve.

According to him,” One of the functions of Shippers’ Council is moderation in cost. As a matter of fact, the essence of privatization of the port is to bring the cost of doing business down comparative to what we have obtained in other climes and you can only do that through negotiations. This I think we have been doing as a matter of fact to see that prices are reasonable, they are competitive because a shipper has a choice where to take his cargo to and the cost of doing that is one of the substantial consideration to bring bear in his decision.

“So, I think we are going to stabilize and let the cost come down together with the service providers, everything we do we have to get their buy in. So, our regulation is democratic and I am sure we will achieve the same aim we set out to achieve.

“There are some issues as I tell you even the operating environment adds to that, a little infractions here and there but with the Shippers’ Council supervising ad coordinating, I think these things will be minimized towards the end of this year. You will see a lot of coming together, managing tariffs and eliminating of arbitrariness in price fixing”.

Director-General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir noted that a conducive environment was a requisite for a very successful manufacturing climate adding that there was no country on earth that had become wealthy or developed without a viable manufacturing sector.

Kadir stressed the need for appropriate infrastructure to be put in place at the nation’s ports however maintained that lack of infrastructure was part of the reasons the ports in the country were not competitive which in turn forces importers to depend on the ports of the neighbouring countries for their imports of raw materials and machineries.

“But we need a regulator and that is where the Nigerian Shippers’ Council becomes key and with what we have heard from the Executive Secretary and CEO of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, we are very confident that we will be able to have over a short period of time and it better be short because we are in recession and we need to refloat that economy. We are confident that if he follows through with all he has said, Nigeria is going to bounce back to what we once experienced and be able to achieve the desired goals as spelt out in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, the DG said.

Similarly, Chairman Corporate Affairs and Strategic Planning Committee of MAN, John Aluya observed that MAN looked at the Shippers’ Council as strategic partner since the maritime sector was key to manufacturing.

He revealed that most of the raw materials used by manufacturers in the country were imported thus the ease of getting them out of the port was of prime importance to them adding that that was the role the Shippers’ Council was playing to ensure the ease of clearing goods from the ports, to reduce the cost of doing business.

“So, all we ask for is that the Nigerian government should take the bull by the horn to implement processes and procedures that will enthrone efficient port in the nation”.