Shippers’ Council, ICPC rally Maritime stakeholders against  corruption at ports 

Towards an inclusive and result-oriented campaign, the Federal Government has taken the anti-corruption fight in the maritime sector to non-government practitioners to sensitise them on roles expected of them and ways they can make the effort productive and sustainable.

Addressing newsmen over the weekend in Apapa, Lagos after an Anti-Corruption and Transparency Walk, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Monitoring Unit (ACTU) of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr. Samuel Vongtau, said the march was to educate people who transact business at the port on the fight against corruption.

Vongtau, who led the march tagged, “Shun Corruption and Uplift the Nigerian Ports,” organized by the NSC branch of ACTU, noted that Nigerian ports “are said to be among the most expensive in the world, and it is said that corruption contributes a lot to the cost of doing business at the port.

“So, we decided to go to the port today, meet people who transact business, like truck owners, truck drivers, people at the gates and those who come in to do business, especially clearing and forwarding agents, to sensitise them on the fight against corruption.”

He disclosed that the pamphlets circulated have information on the ills of corruption, adding that the NSC has a very robust electronic system, the Ports Services Support Portal (PSSP), for reporting fraud and other mal-functioning at the ports, while complaints on shipment or services at the ports generally could as well be reported to the council.

According to Vongtau, who is also the NSC Head of Legal, ACTU and the NSC were sensitising truckers, clearing agents and similar others rather than government enforcement units because though it is established in government agencies, “without the cooperation of people on the other side, corruption cannot be stopped.

“With the sensitisation of the external stakeholders, they may be able to report instances of corrupt practices to these units, which are eyes of the ICPC in the government agencies, and then the matter will be taken up from there.

“They are primarily to monitor the staff of the agencies against corrupt practices. But in doing that, they also need to educate the public on the acts that are termed corruption, or which encourage corruption by the government officials.

“That informed our going to the stakeholders, to make them know where to report if there are attempts by government officials to extort them, and also for people to know that there are places they can report corrupt practices to.