Jime: Our Doggedness, Firm Commitment Helped Us Achieve Ports Efficiency Despite Resistance, Threat….
NSC CEO
Honourable Emmanuel Jime is the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) which is the Ports Economic Regulator. In this interview with Francis Ugwoke, Jime speaks on the efforts of the Council in battling malpractices at the ports to improve on ports efficiency, compliance level of both providers and consumers of shipping services to regulations and the average turnaround time in the ports. Jime also spoke on how the Ports Standing Task Team (PSTT) led by NSC in a bid to save time has compelled all agencies to form a single team in boarding vessels berthing at the ports for examination, among other issues. Excerpts….
There is the perception that port economic regulation is not an easy task because of the peculiarity of the industry, what would you say has been your experience since you assumed office?
I came into this office as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Ports Economic Regulator, two years ago. First, I have to admit that at the time of my arrival this was a completely new assignment because I have not actually been very involved in the maritime industry. Of course, I have had the sting of working in the course of my public career in the areas that bordered on some form of relationship with the maritime industry. For example, when I was a member of the House of Representatives, I was a member of the House Committee on Marine Services and of course, I have to remember that for sometimes, I was the Managing Director at the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA) an agency that has some sort of bearing on the activities of the maritime space. So, I did not come here again as a complete novice. But of course, it was like a learning curve. I have to say that for two years I have become more aware of the responsibilities of this office. And to also add that I was very fortunate to have been working with a group of very dedicated, knowledgeable staff, members of the working team here in the NSC for which I feel a special privilege to be made to be working with. I think that immediately settled me in, made it a lot easier for me to appreciate the magnitude of the work. But at the same time to accept that this is the challenge that must be overcome. So that will be the background upon which I ascended through this very high assignment – managing the very very sensitive agency… Now, the maritime space, better still the maritime sector that must be understood for what it is. Strategically, I will like to argue most times that next to oil, this perhaps must be considered the most important strategic industry. Even the oil itself, if you can put it in some perspective, how do you transport crude, how do you also get imported refined produce. It has to be through the maritime space. That again underscores the very strategic place of the maritime industry. Don’t forget 90 percent of international trade is actually conducted through shipping. And that at once identifies clearly for everyone how very very important the sector of the industry is concerned. Because it is very strategic also means it is very complex. This is the multi-million dollar investment arena involving foreign participation. The implication is therefore that first and foremost, you must have in place rules and regulations that actually conform with international best practices. That is the best way that we can start understanding what the role of the NSC is. Again, I also want to point to our very beginning. When the NSC was established following of course the resolution of the UNCTAD allowed for African nationals who are owners of cargoes to be able to organise themselves in the way that they compete with ship-owning countries who in a sense operated as a cartel were too strong that they could emasculate every local participation in the industry. That was the background with which shippers’ council were established in most of the countries in Africa. So, again, that was how we started from that particular position of being a protector of shipping community in the local arena. We have done this business of protecting the Nigerian shipping community for as long as before the reform in the ports industry. Now came the reform where private participation was invited to the sector and it became very clearly almost 9 years after that there will be a need to have in place a regulator of the space. Government in its wisdom decided that the NSC had been performing the role that was close enough to the function of a regulator, we were then given additional responsibility of becoming Ports Economic Regulator in which capacity we have somehow transcended beyond being simply a protector of shippers to an arbiter of the industry. In other words, we now have a responsibility to regulate, take care and manage both the providers of shipping services and equally the consumers of shipping services. That is the strategic particular position the NSC is operating at the moment. So, this constitutes in a nutshell the historical background and of course also establishes for the understanding of those who follow the industry why the NSC is performing its roles and if you like the extent these roles have become one of the most important as far as the industry is concerned.
What is the compliance level like by both providers and consumers of shipping services in terms of the regulations that the NSC has put forward?
I am very happy to pronounce and to say today that there is an almost total buy-in of the regulatory role of the NSC as the ports economic regulator. It has not always been so. At the beginning when we started performing these functions, naturally there was resistance, and again I say that this came as a result of lack of understanding for the most part… of course, there was mischief certainly. You know, we keep mounting all these beautiful concept of having international best practices regulatory environment that meets the need of the particular industry that we are regulating. But the reality is that most people actually prefer atmosphere that is not properly regulated because they benefit the strongest. Regulation is actually in my understanding benefits everyone but most importantly protects the weak against the strong. That is the setting in which we have to understand what has happened. So initially we had resistance. We have moved away gradually from resistance to ..oh lets take a second look and see what is going on here’ and today we are now effectively at the place where stakeholders in the industry not only recognize but have appreciated that regulation is very very necessary for there to be an effective conduct of business in any sector and moreso particularly in the shipping, maritime industry. As I said earlier, we have participation from foreign internationals who come from climes and societies where the rule of law and due process is very properly entrenched. So, it behoves on us to equally put a framework that is in conformity with those kind of international practices that those who are working with us are participating in this our economy and already imbibed as a way of conduct of business in our ports as well. So, today, we are happy at the level of compliance and it is because of that that we have been able to also record tremendous amount of successes in the way that our maritime space is being run.
The main target of the agency is to achieve ports efficiency in the system, in the way operations are going on smoothly, how would you describe the level of the efficiency that you have achieved in the ports?
Here, let’s get it… first and foremost, the framework. Not too long ago the federal government established for us through the Nigerian Ports Process Manual (NPPM), a regulatory framework with which the ports system is being regulated. The NPPM is actually a harmonization of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that were actually being operated by different entities now brought in as one document which everybody has actually arrived at as a consensus .. This is the document that will guide how we function here. In order to implement, there was the establishment of the Ports Standing Task Team (PSTT). Both the NPPM implementation and its oversight by the PSTT are led by the NSC. Of course, these are inter-agencies platform, but basically the NSC is driving it. Today, we are happy to report that for instance, the average turnaround time in our ports due to the activities of the PSTT which has ensured following the strict provisions of the NPPM guidelines that there is joint boarding of vessels for instance. There is also joint examination of cargo. In the ports we had different agencies of government who took their time and decided at their own space whenever they will perform a function. This is no longer the case. We believe that if you save time in the manner in which conduct of cargo examination is done, if you save time in the manner in which you board the vessels that have berthed in our waters, there is tremendous amount of efficiency that is then brought to bear on the manner of the conduct of business in the ports. So, I am happy that we have been given the tools by the establishment of this particular document and of the work of the ports having Task Team that has collaborated and assisted all the other divisions that are present here in the NSC. i.e the regulatory services division working hand-in-hand with the PSTT is now better in role to guarantee automation in the industry which we have been driving and of course a number of the tools that are available for us to be able to ensure there is quality service delivery in our ports. Don’t forget the PSTT under our leadership has also extended its activities to cover access into the ports. We all remember many years ago, the gridlock that visited access into the ports, whether it is in the area of the trucks coming in , whether it is in the area of containers that were littered in the ports. Now there is sanity , some level of order are beginning to develop and we can only continue in that pathway, because it guarantees that we can be more sustainable in the way we are ensuring quality service delivery in our ports.
We recall that sometimes last year, the Council cried out that the PSTT operatives were having issues because of threat to their lives over their activities at the ports, what is the situation now?
It has not changed much. The threat and the challenge are still there. But what has happened also is that there is doggedness and a firm commitment. In fact the leadership of the PSTT under the gentleman we all call the ‘Star Boy’ of the NSC, Fadipe, is exemplary in their conduct. There is nothing that has not been thrown in their way to interfere and interrupt their ability to work. They have resisted every temptation and provocation. Let me use this platform to also commend some of the stakeholders who are part of this team, particularly the Nigeria Police Force, the Customs Service, the Road Safety Commission and other agencies of government that have collaborated and supported the team in their work. The harder the challenges, the harder we are fighting back to ensure that we will continue to support the work of the PSTT. It is something that we will continue to support because their success at the end of the day is leading to the delivery of the environment that is guaranteeing more sustainable and quality service delivery in our ports system.
The NSC is organizing a port community system that is in the form of what obtains in other global maritime setting, how far has the Council gone about this project?
What happened was that at the beginning the Minister (former) (Alhaji Muazu Sambo) rightly so identified that whatever we needed to do to further enhance the quality of services in our ports should actually be handled by the ports economic regulator. That was the framework that was the basis with which he came to that decision. But by the time we could start, it has become somehow clear that the NPA that had been given the responsibility (earlier) had taken it to an extent for which our taking over would have turned out and created an encumbrance to their ability to execute it. So, the Minister called both agencies, NPA and NSC and asked us to work together in ensuring that we are able to achieve the objective. And of course, we found that to be very useful strategy. Part of the challenge we have had in the industry over the time had been this unnecessary inter-agency rivalry. Sometimes, it gives the impression as if we are working across purposes. I think the more united and the more we synergise as agencies of government the better. So the long and short is that we did not end taking over completely as the Minister had directed because in his wisdom when he called bother agencies he had come to the conclusion that the NPA’s work was not unduly interrupted. We should simply support and ensure delivery of such an important tool – the port community system.
In other words, you just contributed your own input to the NPA on this?
Yes. We have given, not only have we given our input but we are also making sure that our personnel are also involved in the process by working hand-in-hand with the NPA on the matter.
Do you want to talk about the level they have gone so far?
You know there were processes. One of it was procurement of the platform and the consultants that will be managing this. The NPA had passed that stage. What was left as a matter of fact was just deploying the technology. That is very much where we are.
We are aware of the efforts being made by the federal government to reintroduce the Cargo Tracing Note (CTN), which will be supervised by your Council as the ports economic regulator, can you talk about the benefits to the industry and the country?
CTN is a very useful tool in a number of different ways. First, let me just mention technology. We all know that part of the problem of this nation, I said it several times, is the proliferation of small arms, and how do they find their ways into our shores?. Most of it through our ports, also we have to remember that our borders in most cases are porous , but you can drastically reduce the capacity and ability of people with bad intentions from accessing our country with this. Lets be clear, CTN will enable this country to be able to identify what is contained in a cargo from a port or origin to any port of destination in Nigeria and throughout the course of journey. What that does is that it prepares our security apparatus from the very beginning where that ship is to set sail, from that port of origin, so as to know exactly what are the content. In other words, if you for some reasons take off from that particular port and decide to divert some places so that you can now go and change what actually is the content of the vessel, the tracking device is able to give us the very ‘get go’ so we are able to get tract, that is the first thing. That will then allow us to be able to alert our security agencies and let them know that this particular ship, this is exactly what it is carrying and also soon as it comes into our waters it can be apprehended. That helps. We are also looking at the possibility from the tools that are available from this particular CTN to be able to identify the movement of crude from our ports to different destinations worldwide. Part of the problem again as you know is that crude theft has constituted big big obstacle in our ability to sufficiently get the revenue that are due to our coffers. Again, we have now a tool that will be available which will enable our security agencies to know from the beginning there is particular activity that is being undertaken in our waters. If we can stop or at least reduce substantially (I did not say stop, but reduce substantially) the incidence of such occurrences, whether it is the area of small arms finding their way into our nation or the theft of our crude, that I think is substantial. There is also the incidence of under-declaration which over time has been part of the challenge that we have. Imagine bringing in quantity or certain kind of goods or may be contraband and then pretending that is in the vessel is different from what actually were seen. I know of course, people can argue that with scanners in our ports that obviously will substantially… but we are talking of our ability even when the ship has left the particular port in any part of the world and heading into our waters, we are able to identify it and stop it from that point. So, those and many others, actually, we are talking about the efficiency of our services, we are talking about cargo clearance, we are talking about delays into substantial demurrages. Before the ship has left, the manifest and every identification that is needed is supplied to us ahead of time, in some cases even two weeks or three weeks before that ship comes into our water, already the clearance can proceed while the vessel is still at sail. By the time the ship finally arrives, all you need to do is simply walk in and clear the goods that have come. That will enable the efficiency that we have been looking for in an even much better way that we operate at the moment. So these are some of the advantages of CTN I can remember now.
How has your Council been able to carry stakeholders along in the project in terms of awareness creation considering their opposition when it was under the NPA?
First and foremost, this whole thing is being delivered in stages. As I speak with you, we have not actually concluded the process of getting the consortium that will deliver on the platform. We are in a working process. We have been hopeful that by now, we would have been done with that aspect, but we are not done with it yet. Once, we are done with the paper work, the processes are concluded then comes the sensitization. We need to be sure that we are already at the point of delivery then we can of course engage the stakeholders. But we have actually gone ahead to start discussion. Recently, the leadership of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) came here on courtesy visit. And by the way, MAN has always had representative in the government board of the NSC so they came here to pay us courtesy visit and it was part of the engagement because we have already started having s discussion which I believe is the most important thing that the shipping community wants to be aware of. …Every attempt must be made to ensure that the deployment of cargo tracking note does not unnecessarily add to the cost of doing business. That I believe is the interest of everyone. It is the responsibility of NSC to make sure that the cost of doing business in our waters is reduced to the barest minimum. That is actually part of our core responsibilities as Council. What I know is that at the moment there is already a substantial fraction of the administrative cost that will be brought to bear, embedded in the cost of freight . So, it is not going to be something that will be new to the extent that we bring in additional funding. Again, let’s make no mistake about it. Part of the reasons I think there was this fight in the times past was the whole concept of the CTN was delivered as if revenue generation was the main objectives. So clearly, if you make it a revenue generation effort, then, honestly that is going to impact on the cost of doing business. This is the reason why the shipping community always will not be comfortable with it but the extent to that one, there is going to be as little possible administrative cost as we can think of and when we balance it side by side with the advantages that come in terms of the manner in which it will impact on the Nigerian economy, then I believe people will be more willing to give it a chance. Of course, we do have a responsibility in the times ahead, we will be engaging more and more with the shipping community to be able to explain very clearly what this is all about.
As port economic regulator, your Council had at different times been given additional roles which we understand are impacting heavily on your finances forcing you sometimes to call on government to raise the funding level, what is the situation now?
Actually, I think truth must be told when we were given this responsibility of port economic regulation, government actually in its wisdom approved that the Council be placed on the seven percent revenue ports surcharge as stop gap. By the way, sources of revenue is 1percent cost of freight mobilization which is enshrined in our statue. When we became ports economic regulator, government decided to increase our share of the 7 percent development levy from 1/7 to 2/7 . That was actually sort of reflection of the understanding that we have a new role to play. Now because of the very expanded nature of the ports economy and the fact that there is further additional responsibility, for example, today we lead in the PSTT, that is a huge huge responsibility if we are going to execute that mandate. At the moment, our efforts are limited with the Lagos ports, even within Lagos, it is mostly in Apapa. Today, Lekki has come up, Badagry is around the corner, in the near future, Badagry will be there and there are the Eastern ports like Onne, PH in Rivers and then Warri in Delta. To also mention the dry ports being established all over the place – Kano, Kaduna, Jos and those other places. That shows at once that the work of PSTT is also increasing astronomically. We need to have more staff, more equipment and then all the tools that are needed for us to be as expansive as we can to cover these new responsibilities. That means the source of revenue of 1percent or even 2/7 is completely negligible in terms of how much do we actually need. So, we are making a case. I am happy our supervisory Ministry has seen the need for us to be supported. The Minister before he left recently constituted a ministerial team and given that responsibility to help establish more properly why the NSC should be allowed to earn a statutory source of revenue. They have even finished their report and presented to him but unfortunately time was not sufficient for him to carry it through. That work is already on the table. I believe that whenever there is a new minister on that desk, that will be one of the things that hopefully may be looked at. So, in due course, I am hopeful the revenue sources of the NSC will improve consistent with the amount of work that the agency is performing.
There is the perception that port economic regulation is not an easy task because of the peculiarity of the industry, what would you say has been your experience since you assumed office?
I came into this office as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Ports Economic Regulator, two years ago. First, I have to admit that at the time of my arrival this was a completely new assignment because I have not actually been very involved in the maritime industry. Of course, I have had the sting of working in the course of my public career in the areas that bordered on some form of relationship with the maritime industry. For example, when I was a member of the House of Representatives, I was a member of the House Committee on Marine Services and of course, I have to remember that for sometimes, I was the Managing Director at the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA) an agency that has some sort of bearing on the activities of the maritime space. So, I did not come here again as a complete novice. But of course, it was like a learning curve. I have to say that for two years I have become more aware of the responsibilities of this office. And to also add that I was very fortunate to have been working with a group of very dedicated, knowledgeable staff, members of the working team here in the NSC for which I feel a special privilege to be made to be working with. I think that immediately settled me in, made it a lot easier for me to appreciate the magnitude of the work. But at the same time to accept that this is the challenge that must be overcome. So that will be the background upon which I ascended through this very high assignment – managing the very very sensitive agency… Now, the maritime space, better still the maritime sector that must be understood for what it is. Strategically, I will like to argue most times that next to oil, this perhaps must be considered the most important strategic industry. Even the oil itself, if you can put it in some perspective, how do you transport crude, how do you also get imported refined produce. It has to be through the maritime space. That again underscores the very strategic place of the maritime industry. Don’t forget 90 percent of international trade is actually conducted through shipping. And that at once identifies clearly for everyone how very very important the sector of the industry is concerned. Because it is very strategic also means it is very complex. This is the multi-million dollar investment arena involving foreign participation. The implication is therefore that first and foremost, you must have in place rules and regulations that actually conform with international best practices. That is the best way that we can start understanding what the role of the NSC is. Again, I also want to point to our very beginning. When the NSC was established following of course the resolution of the UNCTAD allowed for African nationals who are owners of cargoes to be able to organise themselves in the way that they compete with ship-owning countries who in a sense operated as a cartel were too strong that they could emasculate every local participation in the industry. That was the background with which shippers’ council were established in most of the countries in Africa. So, again, that was how we started from that particular position of being a protector of shipping community in the local arena. We have done this business of protecting the Nigerian shipping community for as long as before the reform in the ports industry. Now came the reform where private participation was invited to the sector and it became very clearly almost 9 years after that there will be a need to have in place a regulator of the space. Government in its wisdom decided that the NSC had been performing the role that was close enough to the function of a regulator, we were then given additional responsibility of becoming Ports Economic Regulator in which capacity we have somehow transcended beyond being simply a protector of shippers to an arbiter of the industry. In other words, we now have a responsibility to regulate, take care and manage both the providers of shipping services and equally the consumers of shipping services. That is the strategic particular position the NSC is operating at the moment. So, this constitutes in a nutshell the historical background and of course also establishes for the understanding of those who follow the industry why the NSC is performing its roles and if you like the extent these roles have become one of the most important as far as the industry is concerned.
What is the compliance level like by both providers and consumers of shipping services in terms of the regulations that the NSC has put forward?
I am very happy to pronounce and to say today that there is an almost total buy-in of the regulatory role of the NSC as the ports economic regulator. It has not always been so. At the beginning when we started performing these functions, naturally there was resistance, and again I say that this came as a result of lack of understanding for the most part… of course, there was mischief certainly. You know, we keep mounting all these beautiful concept of having international best practices regulatory environment that meets the need of the particular industry that we are regulating. But the reality is that most people actually prefer atmosphere that is not properly regulated because they benefit the strongest. Regulation is actually in my understanding benefits everyone but most importantly protects the weak against the strong. That is the setting in which we have to understand what has happened. So initially we had resistance. We have moved away gradually from resistance to ..oh lets take a second look and see what is going on here’ and today we are now effectively at the place where stakeholders in the industry not only recognize but have appreciated that regulation is very very necessary for there to be an effective conduct of business in any sector and moreso particularly in the shipping, maritime industry. As I said earlier, we have participation from foreign internationals who come from climes and societies where the rule of law and due process is very properly entrenched. So, it behoves on us to equally put a framework that is in conformity with those kind of international practices that those who are working with us are participating in this our economy and already imbibed as a way of conduct of business in our ports as well. So, today, we are happy at the level of compliance and it is because of that that we have been able to also record tremendous amount of successes in the way that our maritime space is being run.
The main target of the agency is to achieve ports efficiency in the system, in the way operations are going on smoothly, how would you describe the level of the efficiency that you have achieved in the ports?
Here, let’s get it… first and foremost, the framework. Not too long ago the federal government established for us through the Nigerian Ports Process Manual (NPPM), a regulatory framework with which the ports system is being regulated. The NPPM is actually a harmonization of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that were actually being operated by different entities now brought in as one document which everybody has actually arrived at as a consensus .. This is the document that will guide how we function here. In order to implement, there was the establishment of the Ports Standing Task Team (PSTT). Both the NPPM implementation and its oversight by the PSTT are led by the NSC. Of course, these are inter-agencies platform, but basically the NSC is driving it. Today, we are happy to report that for instance, the average turnaround time in our ports due to the activities of the PSTT which has ensured following the strict provisions of the NPPM guidelines that there is joint boarding of vessels for instance. There is also joint examination of cargo. In the ports we had different agencies of government who took their time and decided at their own space whenever they will perform a function. This is no longer the case. We believe that if you save time in the manner in which conduct of cargo examination is done, if you save time in the manner in which you board the vessels that have berthed in our waters, there is tremendous amount of efficiency that is then brought to bear on the manner of the conduct of business in the ports. So, I am happy that we have been given the tools by the establishment of this particular document and of the work of the ports having Task Team that has collaborated and assisted all the other divisions that are present here in the NSC. i.e the regulatory services division working hand-in-hand with the PSTT is now better in role to guarantee automation in the industry which we have been driving and of course a number of the tools that are available for us to be able to ensure there is quality service delivery in our ports. Don’t forget the PSTT under our leadership has also extended its activities to cover access into the ports. We all remember many years ago, the gridlock that visited access into the ports, whether it is in the area of the trucks coming in , whether it is in the area of containers that were littered in the ports. Now there is sanity , some level of order are beginning to develop and we can only continue in that pathway, because it guarantees that we can be more sustainable in the way we are ensuring quality service delivery in our ports.
We recall that sometimes last year, the Council cried out that the PSTT operatives were having issues because of threat to their lives over their activities at the ports, what is the situation now?
It has not changed much. The threat and the challenge are still there. But what has happened also is that there is doggedness and a firm commitment. In fact the leadership of the PSTT under the gentleman we all call the ‘Star Boy’ of the NSC, Fadipe, is exemplary in their conduct. There is nothing that has not been thrown in their way to interfere and interrupt their ability to work. They have resisted every temptation and provocation. Let me use this platform to also commend some of the stakeholders who are part of this team, particularly the Nigeria Police Force, the Customs Service, the Road Safety Commission and other agencies of government that have collaborated and supported the team in their work. The harder the challenges, the harder we are fighting back to ensure that we will continue to support the work of the PSTT. It is something that we will continue to support because their success at the end of the day is leading to the delivery of the environment that is guaranteeing more sustainable and quality service delivery in our ports system.
The NSC is organizing a port community system that is in the form of what obtains in other global maritime setting, how far has the Council gone about this project?
What happened was that at the beginning the Minister (former) (Alhaji Muazu Sambo) rightly so identified that whatever we needed to do to further enhance the quality of services in our ports should actually be handled by the ports economic regulator. That was the framework that was the basis with which he came to that decision. But by the time we could start, it has become somehow clear that the NPA that had been given the responsibility (earlier) had taken it to an extent for which our taking over would have turned out and created an encumbrance to their ability to execute it. So, the Minister called both agencies, NPA and NSC and asked us to work together in ensuring that we are able to achieve the objective. And of course, we found that to be very useful strategy. Part of the challenge we have had in the industry over the time had been this unnecessary inter-agency rivalry. Sometimes, it gives the impression as if we are working across purposes. I think the more united and the more we synergise as agencies of government the better. So the long and short is that we did not end taking over completely as the Minister had directed because in his wisdom when he called bother agencies he had come to the conclusion that the NPA’s work was not unduly interrupted. We should simply support and ensure delivery of such an important tool – the port community system.
In other words, you just contributed your own input to the NPA on this?
Yes. We have given, not only have we given our input but we are also making sure that our personnel are also involved in the process by working hand-in-hand with the NPA on the matter.
Do you want to talk about the level they have gone so far?
You know there were processes. One of it was procurement of the platform and the consultants that will be managing this. The NPA had passed that stage. What was left as a matter of fact was just deploying the technology. That is very much where we are.
We are aware of the efforts being made by the federal government to reintroduce the Cargo Tracing Note (CTN), which will be supervised by your Council as the ports economic regulator, can you talk about the benefits to the industry and the country?
CTN is a very useful tool in a number of different ways. First, let me just mention technology. We all know that part of the problem of this nation, I said it several times, is the proliferation of small arms, and how do they find their ways into our shores?. Most of it through our ports, also we have to remember that our borders in most cases are porous , but you can drastically reduce the capacity and ability of people with bad intentions from accessing our country with this. Lets be clear, CTN will enable this country to be able to identify what is contained in a cargo from a port or origin to any port of destination in Nigeria and throughout the course of journey. What that does is that it prepares our security apparatus from the very beginning where that ship is to set sail, from that port of origin, so as to know exactly what are the content. In other words, if you for some reasons take off from that particular port and decide to divert some places so that you can now go and change what actually is the content of the vessel, the tracking device is able to give us the very ‘get go’ so we are able to get tract, that is the first thing. That will then allow us to be able to alert our security agencies and let them know that this particular ship, this is exactly what it is carrying and also soon as it comes into our waters it can be apprehended. That helps. We are also looking at the possibility from the tools that are available from this particular CTN to be able to identify the movement of crude from our ports to different destinations worldwide. Part of the problem again as you know is that crude theft has constituted big big obstacle in our ability to sufficiently get the revenue that are due to our coffers. Again, we have now a tool that will be available which will enable our security agencies to know from the beginning there is particular activity that is being undertaken in our waters. If we can stop or at least reduce substantially (I did not say stop, but reduce substantially) the incidence of such occurrences, whether it is the area of small arms finding their way into our nation or the theft of our crude, that I think is substantial. There is also the incidence of under-declaration which over time has been part of the challenge that we have. Imagine bringing in quantity or certain kind of goods or may be contraband and then pretending that is in the vessel is different from what actually were seen. I know of course, people can argue that with scanners in our ports that obviously will substantially… but we are talking of our ability even when the ship has left the particular port in any part of the world and heading into our waters, we are able to identify it and stop it from that point. So, those and many others, actually, we are talking about the efficiency of our services, we are talking about cargo clearance, we are talking about delays into substantial demurrages. Before the ship has left, the manifest and every identification that is needed is supplied to us ahead of time, in some cases even two weeks or three weeks before that ship comes into our water, already the clearance can proceed while the vessel is still at sail. By the time the ship finally arrives, all you need to do is simply walk in and clear the goods that have come. That will enable the efficiency that we have been looking for in an even much better way that we operate at the moment. So these are some of the advantages of CTN I can remember now.
How has your Council been able to carry stakeholders along in the project in terms of awareness creation considering their opposition when it was under the NPA?
First and foremost, this whole thing is being delivered in stages. As I speak with you, we have not actually concluded the process of getting the consortium that will deliver on the platform. We are in a working process. We have been hopeful that by now, we would have been done with that aspect, but we are not done with it yet. Once, we are done with the paper work, the processes are concluded then comes the sensitization. We need to be sure that we are already at the point of delivery then we can of course engage the stakeholders. But we have actually gone ahead to start discussion. Recently, the leadership of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) came here on courtesy visit. And by the way, MAN has always had representative in the government board of the NSC so they came here to pay us courtesy visit and it was part of the engagement because we have already started having s discussion which I believe is the most important thing that the shipping community wants to be aware of. …Every attempt must be made to ensure that the deployment of cargo tracking note does not unnecessarily add to the cost of doing business. That I believe is the interest of everyone. It is the responsibility of NSC to make sure that the cost of doing business in our waters is reduced to the barest minimum. That is actually part of our core responsibilities as Council. What I know is that at the moment there is already a substantial fraction of the administrative cost that will be brought to bear, embedded in the cost of freight . So, it is not going to be something that will be new to the extent that we bring in additional funding. Again, let’s make no mistake about it. Part of the reasons I think there was this fight in the times past was the whole concept of the CTN was delivered as if revenue generation was the main objectives. So clearly, if you make it a revenue generation effort, then, honestly that is going to impact on the cost of doing business. This is the reason why the shipping community always will not be comfortable with it but the extent to that one, there is going to be as little possible administrative cost as we can think of and when we balance it side by side with the advantages that come in terms of the manner in which it will impact on the Nigerian economy, then I believe people will be more willing to give it a chance. Of course, we do have a responsibility in the times ahead, we will be engaging more and more with the shipping community to be able to explain very clearly what this is all about.
As port economic regulator, your Council had at different times been given additional roles which we understand are impacting heavily on your finances forcing you sometimes to call on government to raise the funding level, what is the situation now?
Actually, I think truth must be told when we were given this responsibility of port economic regulation, government actually in its wisdom approved that the Council be placed on the seven percent revenue ports surcharge as stop gap. By the way, sources of revenue is 1percent cost of freight mobilization which is enshrined in our statue. When we became ports economic regulator, government decided to increase our share of the 7 percent development levy from 1/7 to 2/7 . That was actually sort of reflection of the understanding that we have a new role to play. Now because of the very expanded nature of the ports economy and the fact that there is further additional responsibility, for example, today we lead in the PSTT, that is a huge huge responsibility if we are going to execute that mandate. At the moment, our efforts are limited with the Lagos ports, even within Lagos, it is mostly in Apapa. Today, Lekki has come up, Badagry is around the corner, in the near future, Badagry will be there and there are the Eastern ports like Onne, PH in Rivers and then Warri in Delta. To also mention the dry ports being established all over the place – Kano, Kaduna, Jos and those other places. That shows at once that the work of PSTT is also increasing astronomically. We need to have more staff, more equipment and then all the tools that are needed for us to be as expansive as we can to cover these new responsibilities. That means the source of revenue of 1percent or even 2/7 is completely negligible in terms of how much do we actually need. So, we are making a case. I am happy our supervisory Ministry has seen the need for us to be supported. The Minister before he left recently constituted a ministerial team and given that responsibility to help establish more properly why the NSC should be allowed to earn a statutory source of revenue. They have even finished their report and presented to him but unfortunately time was not sufficient for him to carry it through. That work is already on the table. I believe that whenever there is a new minister on that desk, that will be one of the things that hopefully may be looked at. So, in due course, I am hopeful the revenue sources of the NSC will improve consistent with the amount of work that the agency is performing.
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