NSC: Task of Enthroning Global Standard at Nigerian Ports
NSC CEO
With equipment audit, automation, port community system interconnecting all providers and consumers of shipping services, among other measures being championed by the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) as the ports economic regulator, there is increasing optimism of enthroning an efficient port system in Nigeria as the case in global environment, writes Francis Ugwoke ….
The general global perception of the international shipping environment is one associated with fraud. However, it may not be in all cases. But fraudulent practices abound among shipping lines and their conference liners involved in movement of goods from one shore to another. To begin with, we have the gross registered tonnage (GRT) of vessels which simply means the size of space available for cargo, passengers, crew and stores. But experience has shown that the GRT of vessels in many cases could be tampered with by either the ship owner or captain and his crew for obvious reasons. This is when the actual tonnage of goods on board are under-declared to the port management to attract less dues. An example is a scenario in which a full ship load is declared as half-load in local terms by the captains and their crew. In doing this, they present a fake manifest that is totally different from what the real load is. But that is at the international level. At the local ports, the shipping service providers, including terminal operators also have ways in which they try to cheat shippers. This could be by introducing arbitrary charges under any name or falsifying the time of arrival of the ship which determines when the dues to be paid become effective. On the other hand, the shippers, known as the importers or exporters also have their own ways of maximizing profit. This could be through under-declaration of their imports, concealment or under-invoicing. Most times, they are discovered by the officers of the Nigeria customs Service (NCS) whose unscrupulous officials also take their own cuts every now and then, and the fraud continues. For every port regulator, like the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), the main task has been to check such fraud so that the revenue for the federal government is not affected.
In Nigerian shipping environment, the shipping service providers and consumers are arguably made up of very difficult set of people. They are known to circumvent the law and they line up highly rated lawyers to defend them. This is in addition to the issue of godfather syndrome in which the big time investors in the ports are known to be power brokers. This explains why laws are broken and it becomes difficult for the regulator. A typical example is the case of illegal shipping charges which the NSC as the ports economic regulator in 2014 applied its sledge hammer but the case has remained for years now unsettled. The saying that justice delayed is justice denied is not far from the truth. Sources said the case is waiting for out of court settlement or political solution. The case is currently in the Supreme Court but indications are that the office of the Attorney General of the Federation is mediating on the terms of settlement out of court. One can recall that the shipping companies had challenged the powers of the council to execute its functions as an economic regulator. But they lost in the High Court as well as the Appeal Court before heading to the Supreme Court where the case is domiciled. The judgment had been that the service providers refund hundreds of billions of Naira illegal charges they collected from shippers after the ports economic regulator issued a notice stopping them. On the other hand, the consumers of shipping services have also learnt how to relate with the personnel of government agencies who are supposed to police them at the ports. This is why there is the issue of corruption in the system, even where the shippers err, they ‘settle’ and corruption goes on. At the end it is the Nigerian consumers that suffer the effect of all the ills in the system that lead to high cost of goods in the market. This is a like ring and therefore a big task for the ports economic regulator.
NSC
Saddled with the statutory obligations of ensuring efficiency in ports operations, the NSC has spearheaded a number of measures to check certain ills in the system. Part of the measures include the introduction of the National Port Process Manual (NPPM) believed to have given birth to the Port Standing Task Team (PSTT). The NSC is heading the PSTT which in a bid to ensure an efficient port system has carried war to elements of corruption in the ports system. It was the PSTT that made it possible for a joint inspection of vessels arriving the ports instead of individual inspection by different agencies of government, a development that was prone to extortion. Before then, the scenario was that each agency boards every vessel, carries out inspection with allegations of extortion. About three years ago, the NSC had reported how thousands of dollars had been recovered from these elements who extorted crew members while boarding vessels bringing goods to the country. This appears to have changed since as all agents of the government in the ports now board vessels together as a single team, thereby reducing issues of extortion. The PSTT has also dismantled illegal checkpoints around ports environment by some government agents, including those of the Lagos State Government who in the process extort tanker and truck drivers. The result has been threat against some personnel of the PSTT to intimidate and stop the officials from their national assignment.
Equipment Audit
The NSC has the statutory obligations of checking service providers in the services offered to the consumers. Part of this is the audit of their cargo handling equipment. The idea is that poor infrastructure in the ports contribute to the nightmare of shippers who have goods in the ports. There has to be up-to-date or modern equipment for cargo handling operations. This helps in both vessel and cargo dwell time at the ports. If a terminal operator does not have good equipment, both ships and shippers suffer delay which translate to more costs in doing business. In this regard, the NSC has been involved in visiting terminal operators and shipping companies to look at their spaces for cargo handling as well as equipment to position containers for examination by the officials of the Customs Service. Officials of the Council said the Executive Secretary, Barr. Emmanuel Jime, takes this seriously to ensure that there is an efficient cargo handling operations. Often times, some of the terminal operators have been cautioned to ensure that they provide modern cargo handling equipment at their terminals to aid efficient operations. Those who have been reported by customs agents have often been cautioned to live up to expectations or suffer the wrath of the law.
Automation
About three years, the NSC had reported impressive digitalization by many shipping lines and terminal operators. The service providers were reported to have attained between 50 to 90 percent level of automation. The Council had identified some of the companies leading in automation as PTML BUA and Grimaldi. Following the efforts by the leadership of the Council, it was gathered that most of the shipping companies have nearly attained 95 percent automation level. The push for automation according to the Council is to check the incidence of human contact and the associated corrupt practices. Jime states that the most of the global ports, including neighbouring countries ports are digitalized and Nigeria cannot be an exception.
Port Community System
The current project of the NSC is the development of a port community system in Nigeria. The NSC was assigned this role apparently because of its role as an umpire in the system. The assignment pronounced by the former Minister of Transportation, Alhaji Muazu Sambo is coming after it was clear that the efforts of the agencies to have a coordinated PCS failed. PSC is described by the International Port Community Systems Association (EPCSA) as an ‘electronic platform that connects individual existing systems and databases of distinct companies and organizations’. ‘The main purpose of the PCS is to enable secure and intelligent operational data exchange and consolidation within the port network’. This is very important for Nigeria as every stakeholder, including banks, Nigeria Customs Service, shipping lines, terminal operators, all agencies of government, customs agents, among others are integrated. Sambo had told the NSC that this should be developed and functional before May 29. In giving this order, Sambo said, “You are the regulator of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and other agencies that have anything to do with the port.
“The responsibility is on you to ensure we have a port community system. I think it is because we have not placed the responsibility on somebody, that is why we have not been able to achieve the PCS”. In carrying out the assignment, the NSC was expected to study how the PCS works in other global ports. Since then, the NSC has swung into action and indications are that Nigeria’s PCS would be ready before May 29, a source disclosed. The impact of the PCS cannot be over-emphasized as every stakeholder involved in ports operations in Nigeria will be interconnected. As experts describe it, PCS is a “neutral and open platform that should act as a Trusted Third Party. This means that it cannot be operated by a port operator or by the port authority, but rather by an independent entity”. The NSC leadership said the port community is a project necessary as part of its efforts to heighten the level of creating efficiency in the ports system as can be found in global port environment.
The general global perception of the international shipping environment is one associated with fraud. However, it may not be in all cases. But fraudulent practices abound among shipping lines and their conference liners involved in movement of goods from one shore to another. To begin with, we have the gross registered tonnage (GRT) of vessels which simply means the size of space available for cargo, passengers, crew and stores. But experience has shown that the GRT of vessels in many cases could be tampered with by either the ship owner or captain and his crew for obvious reasons. This is when the actual tonnage of goods on board are under-declared to the port management to attract less dues. An example is a scenario in which a full ship load is declared as half-load in local terms by the captains and their crew. In doing this, they present a fake manifest that is totally different from what the real load is. But that is at the international level. At the local ports, the shipping service providers, including terminal operators also have ways in which they try to cheat shippers. This could be by introducing arbitrary charges under any name or falsifying the time of arrival of the ship which determines when the dues to be paid become effective. On the other hand, the shippers, known as the importers or exporters also have their own ways of maximizing profit. This could be through under-declaration of their imports, concealment or under-invoicing. Most times, they are discovered by the officers of the Nigeria customs Service (NCS) whose unscrupulous officials also take their own cuts every now and then, and the fraud continues. For every port regulator, like the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), the main task has been to check such fraud so that the revenue for the federal government is not affected.
In Nigerian shipping environment, the shipping service providers and consumers are arguably made up of very difficult set of people. They are known to circumvent the law and they line up highly rated lawyers to defend them. This is in addition to the issue of godfather syndrome in which the big time investors in the ports are known to be power brokers. This explains why laws are broken and it becomes difficult for the regulator. A typical example is the case of illegal shipping charges which the NSC as the ports economic regulator in 2014 applied its sledge hammer but the case has remained for years now unsettled. The saying that justice delayed is justice denied is not far from the truth. Sources said the case is waiting for out of court settlement or political solution. The case is currently in the Supreme Court but indications are that the office of the Attorney General of the Federation is mediating on the terms of settlement out of court. One can recall that the shipping companies had challenged the powers of the council to execute its functions as an economic regulator. But they lost in the High Court as well as the Appeal Court before heading to the Supreme Court where the case is domiciled. The judgment had been that the service providers refund hundreds of billions of Naira illegal charges they collected from shippers after the ports economic regulator issued a notice stopping them. On the other hand, the consumers of shipping services have also learnt how to relate with the personnel of government agencies who are supposed to police them at the ports. This is why there is the issue of corruption in the system, even where the shippers err, they ‘settle’ and corruption goes on. At the end it is the Nigerian consumers that suffer the effect of all the ills in the system that lead to high cost of goods in the market. This is a like ring and therefore a big task for the ports economic regulator.
NSC
Saddled with the statutory obligations of ensuring efficiency in ports operations, the NSC has spearheaded a number of measures to check certain ills in the system. Part of the measures include the introduction of the National Port Process Manual (NPPM) believed to have given birth to the Port Standing Task Team (PSTT). The NSC is heading the PSTT which in a bid to ensure an efficient port system has carried war to elements of corruption in the ports system. It was the PSTT that made it possible for a joint inspection of vessels arriving the ports instead of individual inspection by different agencies of government, a development that was prone to extortion. Before then, the scenario was that each agency boards every vessel, carries out inspection with allegations of extortion. About three years ago, the NSC had reported how thousands of dollars had been recovered from these elements who extorted crew members while boarding vessels bringing goods to the country. This appears to have changed since as all agents of the government in the ports now board vessels together as a single team, thereby reducing issues of extortion. The PSTT has also dismantled illegal checkpoints around ports environment by some government agents, including those of the Lagos State Government who in the process extort tanker and truck drivers. The result has been threat against some personnel of the PSTT to intimidate and stop the officials from their national assignment.
Equipment Audit
The NSC has the statutory obligations of checking service providers in the services offered to the consumers. Part of this is the audit of their cargo handling equipment. The idea is that poor infrastructure in the ports contribute to the nightmare of shippers who have goods in the ports. There has to be up-to-date or modern equipment for cargo handling operations. This helps in both vessel and cargo dwell time at the ports. If a terminal operator does not have good equipment, both ships and shippers suffer delay which translate to more costs in doing business. In this regard, the NSC has been involved in visiting terminal operators and shipping companies to look at their spaces for cargo handling as well as equipment to position containers for examination by the officials of the Customs Service. Officials of the Council said the Executive Secretary, Barr. Emmanuel Jime, takes this seriously to ensure that there is an efficient cargo handling operations. Often times, some of the terminal operators have been cautioned to ensure that they provide modern cargo handling equipment at their terminals to aid efficient operations. Those who have been reported by customs agents have often been cautioned to live up to expectations or suffer the wrath of the law.
Automation
About three years, the NSC had reported impressive digitalization by many shipping lines and terminal operators. The service providers were reported to have attained between 50 to 90 percent level of automation. The Council had identified some of the companies leading in automation as PTML BUA and Grimaldi. Following the efforts by the leadership of the Council, it was gathered that most of the shipping companies have nearly attained 95 percent automation level. The push for automation according to the Council is to check the incidence of human contact and the associated corrupt practices. Jime states that the most of the global ports, including neighbouring countries ports are digitalized and Nigeria cannot be an exception.
Port Community System
The current project of the NSC is the development of a port community system in Nigeria. The NSC was assigned this role apparently because of its role as an umpire in the system. The assignment pronounced by the former Minister of Transportation, Alhaji Muazu Sambo is coming after it was clear that the efforts of the agencies to have a coordinated PCS failed. PSC is described by the International Port Community Systems Association (EPCSA) as an ‘electronic platform that connects individual existing systems and databases of distinct companies and organizations’. ‘The main purpose of the PCS is to enable secure and intelligent operational data exchange and consolidation within the port network’. This is very important for Nigeria as every stakeholder, including banks, Nigeria Customs Service, shipping lines, terminal operators, all agencies of government, customs agents, among others are integrated. Sambo had told the NSC that this should be developed and functional before May 29. In giving this order, Sambo said, “You are the regulator of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and other agencies that have anything to do with the port.
“The responsibility is on you to ensure we have a port community system. I think it is because we have not placed the responsibility on somebody, that is why we have not been able to achieve the PCS”. In carrying out the assignment, the NSC was expected to study how the PCS works in other global ports. Since then, the NSC has swung into action and indications are that Nigeria’s PCS would be ready before May 29, a source disclosed. The impact of the PCS cannot be over-emphasized as every stakeholder involved in ports operations in Nigeria will be interconnected. As experts describe it, PCS is a “neutral and open platform that should act as a Trusted Third Party. This means that it cannot be operated by a port operator or by the port authority, but rather by an independent entity”. The NSC leadership said the port community is a project necessary as part of its efforts to heighten the level of creating efficiency in the ports system as can be found in global port environment.
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