Shippers’ Council calls on FG to focus attention on export as substitute for oil

Segun OLADIPUPO

In view of the increasing sharp drop in Oil export, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council has called on the federal government to focus attention on exportation of Nigerian produce and other items for the sustenance of the country’s economy.

To achieve the feat, the Council also advocated that the federal government should establish Export Strategy Committee that will facilitate easy processing of export goods out of Nigeria.

The port economic regulator which believes that the rate of cargo coming into the port will trickle, added that export can generate income for the government if proper attention is given to the sector.

In a chat with some journalists on Tuesday, the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Council, Barrister Hassan Bello said there was urgent need for the government to focus its attention on export as the fortune of oil is fast dwindling.

Barrister Bello maintained that there was no other time to develop export than the present time as well as to simplify the process for easy exportation of goods outside the country.

“Export is going to be our main line now because import is going to trickle because there is a lot of disruptions in the international supply chain. Even China will not export what it used to export, they will like to keep it for domestic use.

“Now is the time to look inwards and inward is not as in diversification but deliberate attempt to look at where we have comparative advantage and that is exportation.

“We can’t import now and even if we import, the throughput will dwindle.

“We have lost revenue in oil and due to the vulnerability of oil, we have to look at exportation. Nigeria is vast and so rich we would have been a substitute for China for raw materials which we are going to process. That is why we are calling on the government to focus on export.

“There were about 800 trucks outside some terminals but Shippers’ Council has brokered with the terminals and now these trucks are going in.

“We want these exports to be evacuated because some of these exports are perishable and we cannot afford to have them on the roads.

“Export is very important. For non-oil revenue in 2019, Nigeria got N2.5 trillion, in 2016, it was N344 billion, 2017, N629 billion, in 2018, we got N1.1 trillion. You can see it is rising. Then why can’t we build on this?

“There is no other time to develop our export than now,”

he stated.

Speaking further, he said that the Council was poised to eliminate factors militating against export especially the rail capacity, the roads, processes and other means.

He advised that the federal government should be generous in funding the new Vista as well as put modalities in place to make the venture easily achievable for Nigerians.