Why Shippers’ Council Needs Support to Become Strong Regulator, by Muda Yusuf

Says consumers of shipping services at the mercy of shipping coys
*Condemns clearing of goods by foreign coys
By Francis Ugwoke
Former Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Muda Yusuf, has said that only the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) with a strong regulation can liberate consumers of shipping services from the stronghold of providers of shipping services in the ports sector.
Yusuf called for the support of all Nigerians in the passage of the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill 2023, saying consumers of shipping services were at the mercy of the service providers.
Speaking on the occasion of the 2024 annual seminar for maritime journalists held last week, Yusuf who was the Chairman of the occasion, said what is needed is a strong regulation as obtained in the telecoms industry where Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has been able to address the issue of monopoly and arbitrary charges.
Noting that the NCC has been trying, Yusuf said the ports sector needs such strong regulator to check every form of arbitrariness.
Yusuf pointed out that a lot has been going wrong in the ports sector, adding that foreign shipping companies have been involved in clearing jobs.
Condemning this, he was of the view that Nigerians cannot be spectators in their own country.
According to him, foreign shipping companies which are involved in bringing cargoes to the country cannot at the same time be involved in clearing goods in the ports.
He said there should be strong regulation to protect clearing jobs for Nigerians, arguing that while foreign companies are needed in Nigeria, they should not take such local jobs from Nigerians.
He recalled the situation in the United States of America where people voted for Mr Donald Trump mainly to protect their economy from foreigners, arguing that Nigerian government should also protect their own indigenes from foreigners who are now involved in door to door clearing of goods in the country.
The Executive Secretary of the NSC, Barr Pius Akutah, who spoke on the occasion revealed that one of the biggest challenges for the Council “is compliance with its regulatory mandates”.
Akutah who was represented on the occasion by the Director Special Duties of the NSC, Mr. Zubairu Magaji, recalled that at the initial stage of implementing her regulatory functions, “the Council encountered some sorts of resistance, particularly from providers of shipping and port services”.
He also added that some government agencies were not left out.
But he said that the narrative continued to change with time, adding that “regulated services providers overtime is coming to terms with the functions of the council as the industry economic regulator”.
Akutah told journalists:
“The gap created by non-regulating the commercial components of port concession.
“The non appointment of Port economic regulator since 2006-2014 when the Private sector took over the operations of terminals had left the Ports without a regulator. The various service providers namely: NPA, Private terminal Operators (Seaport and off-dock bonded terminals), Shipping Companies, Freight Forwarders, Truck haulers and Groupage operators all set their tariffs and also determined their standard of service deliveries regardless of whether it meets the industry quality standard or not. The tasks of correcting the service providers to comply with the standard rules has become an issue which NSC is still battling with up till now”.
Akutah said that while the federal government made the NSC the port economic regulator in 2015, there is still the need for the status to be formalized through legislation.
“Therefore, the need for a strong legal framework for the Council as the nation’s Port Economic Regulator is required. There is an urgent need for the passage of the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill 2023 which seek to repeal the Nigerian Shippers’ Council Act and establish a regulatory agency for the Nigerian ports”.

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