Stakeholders endorse Shippers Council to supervise Single window project

ZION Olalekan |

Maritime stakeholders have unanimously endorsed the Nigerian Shippers Council as the most suitable agency to warehouse the single window project that is expected to enhance operations in the maritime industry.

They believed that the council is more qualified to drive the concept than the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) , which is also eyeing the privilege

A single window is an interface of all relevant government agencies in the port system to ensure fast clearance of cargoes from the port.

However, the stakeholders have identified corruption as bane of development of single window concept in the clearance of cargoes at Nigerian Ports.

Speaking on the concept, Trustee of the Shippers Association Lagos State, Rev Nicodemus Odollo said it is not difficult for Nigeria to achieve a single window in maritime cargo clearance system, but because of corruption, it has now become difficult.

According to him, “the government seems to have licensed corruption by making its agencies involved in cargo clearance to be financially autonomous”

Also speaking on the concept, a member of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) Aare Sanni Shittu blamed lack of single window on inconsistency in government policy formulation and its poor attendant execution.

Sanni who is a former president of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), noted that single window is about all government agencies being part of a process that facilitates clearance of cargo in a timely manner.

“It applies to those that are authorized to be part of the clearance process, but, what do we have on ground here? those that are suppose be part of cargo examination to be jointly done, you will not find them on ground during examination, what follows then are frivolous stoppages of process via, questionable funny queries, with resultant effect of delays that constitute multiple payments of demurrage which innocent Nigerians bear at the end of the day in form of high cost of goods and services. This is as a result of poor implementation of policies and their monitoring”

“Take for example; the policy on ease of doing business which would have placed Nigeria on high global pedestrian is as good as dead on arrival because of poor implementation and monitoring”

On his part, former Chairman of Apapa Chapter of ANLCA, Olumide Fakanlu said it is difficult for Nigeria to have a single window platform because the idea has never been sincere.

He said “It has always been about personal and selfish interests of the relevant people in the system which is related closely with corruption”

He however said that “Of all the regulatory agencies in the maritime sector who are gunning to operate the single window platform, personally, I would suggest Nigeria shippers Council should be given the responsibility”