Post COVID-19 Quake in Nigeria’s Maritime Industry

Long after the rampaging Coronavirus pandemic must have gone, its reverberating effects will live with the world forever.

The pandemic has changed the world in irreversible ways.

The social, economic and emotional configuration of the world has undergone irrevocable changes that have left an indelible mark on the psyche of the people.

The effects of the pandemic have been gravely felt in the health and economic sectors with irreversible consequences.

While it has stretched the modern health facilities of the advanced countries known for their cutting-edge technologies in the healthcare system, it has equally exposed the alarming rot and unpardonable failings in the health facilities of the developing countries with Nigeria having its fair share of the embarrassing expose.

On the economy, no nation is spared of the harsh realities of Covid-19 scourge.

The pandemic has left in its trail harvest of a global surge in job losses, multiple unemployment and a gradual slide of global economy into recession.

The Nigerian economy is neither immune against the post-COVID-19 effects nor isolated from the imminent recession.

As a matter of fact, the National Bureau of Statistics has said that Nigeria has already recorded about 45 percent job loss since the pandemic broke out in the country.

It also claimed that the country is ranked 21st among 181 countries with an unemployment rate of 23.1 percent.

This is not unexpected as the prices of oil which our economy substantially relies on have crashed in the global market.

So, Nigeria’s maritime industry as the microcosm of the Nigerian economy is not spared of the after-effects of the Covid-19 scourge.

The industry will experience some irreversible changes as a fall out of Covid-19.

There will be remarkable changes in cargo documentation, cargo clearance procedures and cargo evacuation.

All these changes will ultimately claim some workers in the industry as casualties.

To put it mildly, the harsh realities of post-COVID-19 pandemic in the maritime industry in the country is that there is going to be a job loss.

The deployment of technology, which the pandemic has foisted on the operations in the sector, is going to lead to staff cut, especially in the private sector.

During the pandemic and as part of several measures to curb the spread, social distancing has been and is till being encouraged in all facets of human lives.

While those considered as nonessentials workers were asked to stay away from work under the lockdown, few staff of both the Government and non- government agencies were at work.

Yet, work was going on especially in the port industry that was exempted from the lock down.

This has involved heavy use of technology to carry out most of the transactions in the sector.

Though we have shouted ourselves hoarse on this platform over the imperative need to automate port operations for maximum efficiency but without much heed from the port administration, we are sure Government will have no option than to resort to port automation process in the face of harsh reality of Covid-19 pandemic.

Given the imminent contraction in the economy with the resultant paucity of funds, ports operators will embrace technology that will cut excessive human involvement.

With port automation process, an importer will make his declaration and other documentation process in the comfort of his home or office.

His agent too will not have to chase entry all over the port as all the documentation can be done on-line.

The use of scanners will also eliminate physical contact with customs officers while the shipping companies and terminal operators have been electronically linked to facilitate cargo clearing process.

Duties collecting banks have also been linked to customs server as importer or his agent can electronically pay Customs duties.

Quick and rapid evacuation of containers will also be facilitated by the use of railways that will be linked to the ports as well as the use of barges, thus eliminating the menace of trucks, truck drivers and motor boys.

Invariably, all the operators in the documentation, clearance and evacuation of cargo such as importers, customs agents, terminal operators, shipping companies, will rely more on technology than human elements to drive the supply chains.

The resultant of this revolution is job loss as the preponderance of human contacts will be eliminated.

Some shipping companies, terminal operators and Customs brokers have started to moot the idea of doing away with some of their staff who are not adding value to their service delivery.

This reality hit them during this pandemic period when they discovered that they could still do their job without majority of their staff quarantined at home.

The quake that is expected to hit the industry after the pandemic will be more pronounced in the private sector as government agencies are not likely to do away with their redundant workforce for obvious reasons.

It will send a bad signal from the government that is trying hard to curtail the sprawling unemployment in the country.

Notwithstanding the unfounded optimism of few stakeholders who felt the bounteous opportunities in the industry are likely to stave off job loss, we are convinced that these changes are inevitable as the operators will want to minimize overhead costs in the face of dwindling economy.

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has even corroborated the inevitability of job loss in Nigeria due to the pandemic.

Certainly, the maritime industry is not excluded from this tsunami.

These are the inevitable changes as foisted on us by the Coronavirus pandemic that we all must prepare to accept and live with.