Conference on Standard Operating Procedures That Work in Nigeria’s Sea Ports & Terminals holds Tuesday in Lagos

Abiodun OBA |

The Convention on Business Integrity in collaboration with the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) holds a roundtable session themed, “Towards Standard Operating Procedures That Work in Nigeria’s Sea Ports & Terminals” in Lagos on Tuesday.

In an interview with nigeriamaritime360.com, the Chief Executive Officer Convention on Business Integrity (CBI) Mr. Soji Apampa said the objective of MACN event is to launch a series of interventions aimed at promoting transparency and consistent application of Standard Operating Procedures leading to more predictable (in time and cost) vessel and cargo clearance at the Ports & Terminals.

“The Convention on Business Integrity (CBI), a Company Limited by Guarantee is the private sector facing arm of the Integrity organisation.

“The organization was established with the mission of promoting ethical business Practices, transparency and fair competition in the private and public sectors. It builds coalitions and develops sustainable strategies for citizen involvement with government in both sectors.

The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN), we are co-organising the conference is a global business network working towards the vision of a maritime industry that is free of corruption. It collaborates with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Technical Unit on Government and Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and commissioned a corruption risk assessment (CRA) in the Nigerian port sector.

“The assessment set out to understand the main drivers of corruption in the sector, identify specific measures for addressing such drivers, and catalyze action among public and private sector stakeholders.

“The Corruption risk assessment report made specific recommendations for action to eliminate corruption in the Nigerian port sector. Amongst the recommendations was a proposal for Ethics Training and Capacity-building programs to strengthen transparency and accountability of port stakeholders”, he explained.

It will be recalled that MACN in 2016 contracted the Convention on Business Integrity (CBI) to lead the training of Ports officials on Professional Ethics.

Pursuant to this, the Convention on Business Integrity (CBI) conducted a round of Training of Trainers (TOTs) in Lagos (Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports), Port Harcourt (Onne and Rivers Port Complex) and Calabar port between 2016 and May 2017. Thereafter, an end user training was conducted for over 1000 stakeholders in the Ports between November 2017 and March 2018.

Expected at the conference slated for 9.30 am Tuesday at The Providence, Oba Akinjobi Way, Ikeja, Lagos, are Directors General/CEOs of Port Agencies, Relevant Regulatory Agencies, the Private sector, Port users among others