Akutah: Refreshing Optimism for Ports Efficiency
Akutah at the media parley on Sunday
By Francis Ugwoke
For the nation’s ports industry, the year 2025 appears to be full of promises. There is air of strong optimism that there will be an improved business environment in the ports that stakeholders have been yearning for. This is as the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) moves to enthrone global standard practice in the shipping sector. This will be of immense benefit also for the national economy. In anticipation of the Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill being signed into law, the Executive Secretary of the NSC, Barr Pius Akutah, is currently pursuing a plan of ensuring that there is a change in the business of the ports in line with what obtains in other maritime nations. Akutah wants to bring into effect the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration as far as the shipping industry is concerned. Apparently fascinated with global best practices, the NSC is championing a transformation agenda which aims to reposition the ports industry in terms of efficiency in all aspects of operations.
Global Best Practices
For the nation’s ports to boom as obtains in other global climes, it is indeed a lot of task. And this is based on comparative analysis of the current Nigerian ports environment with what happens in top ports around the world. A visit by Nigerian government ports officials to Singaporean ports few years back was a big shock to the team on the level of work yet to be done back in the country. The officials, accompanied by maritime journalists, had during the visit to the Ports of Singapore, expressed surprise at the level of efficiency in ports operations. The visiting team had arrived at the terminal only to observe that there was nobody to meet. There was no one to open the gate. The whole terminal was empty. Even the entrance and out-gate were not manned by customs officials or other security agents as obtains in Nigerian ports environment. The tour guide simply applied his card to get the gate open. The visiting team had therefore tried to find out why there was no one in the terminal as is common in Nigerian environment. And the answer by the Singaporean official was that the entire ports operations are driven by technology. The ports authority of Singapore is fully automated. This means that process of clearing of goods is automated. The importers and freight forwarders remain in the comfort of their offices to carry out all processes and when completed send the trucker to take delivery. Unlike Nigeria, where the importer and his freighter forwarder must prepare to position their containers for examination and required to be in the ports physically, this is completely absent in Singapore. Examination of goods is carried out with the use of scanners in which the importer or his agents do not have to be present. This way, the importer does not suffer any obstacles while clearing his goods. This system of automation is not just limited to Singapore but also found in nearly all other advanced global ports. This global system creates room for ease of doing business. The importer brings his goods into the country and does not encounter any delay or unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks as he takes delivery of his cargo through his freight forwarder. This system eliminates not just the delay but also the high cost of doing business. It creates total efficiency in ports operation.
NSC Targets Global Standard
As the umpire in the ports system, the NSC is currently working towards enthroning efficient ports operation. But this can only be possible with full statutory powers as found in the new NSC Bill once signed into law by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu. Over the years, the Council had battled with strong powers in the shipping industry in enforcing ports economic regulations. It could be recalled that some shipping service providers had dragged the Council to court, challenging its powers to regulate the sector and suspending their arbitrary shipping charges. That was over 10 years ago when the Council having been granted the power of ports economic regulator suspended some shipping charges that it considered illegal. The shipping service providers lost in both High Court and Appeal Court before heading to the Supreme Court where it was gathered they have since sought for settlement out of court. Affirming the NSC as responsible for regulating the nation’s ports, the High Court and Appeal courts had all ruled that the shipping agency charges imposed on Nigerian shippers were illegal, and ordered the shipping companies to refund over N1trillion in illegal port charges. Now, to be firm in carrying out its statutory functions, the NSC management believes that the new Bill when signed into law arms it to the teeth to execute its policies of ports efficiency without hindrance. The new law is clear as to arm the Council to strike as obtains in Nigeria’s telecoms sector against any erring service provider.
Nigerian Ports Scenario
The nation’s ports environment is one laced with a lot of malpractices and corruption. Corrupt practices have been there for decades and most efforts to address the issues have failed. The ports remain a gold mine for some unscrupulous customs officers and other security agents. The importers and their clearing agents are at the centre stage as the issue is their attempts to evade payment of some import duties. The importers are involved in under-declaration, concealment and under invoicing of their imports in a bid to reduce what they pay as duties. But this becomes an opportunity for some unscrupulous customs officers and security agents to line their pockets as they strike their own bargain before the importers and their clearing agents are allowed to take delivery of their goods. The importer may have to divide what is underpaid into three, one to the government, another to the unscrupulous government officials and the remaining for himself. This explains why malpractices in the ports endure. Other forms of fraud in the ports include under-declaration of gross registered tonnage (GRT) of the vessels visiting the ports. Just like the importers, under-declaration of gross registered tonnage of vessels leads to loss of revenue to the government. This is even more serious as the fraud is hardly detected unlike what happens to the importers in which the customs personnel easily discover any fraudulent practices during physical goods examination.
The other issue in the ports is the allegation by freight forwarders against terminal operators and shipping companies of arbitrary charges. Among the illegal charges are peak season surcharge, war risk charge, Shipping Line Agency Charges, Container Deposit Charges, Container Cleaning Charges, Storage Charges, Congestion surcharge, extra risk insurance surcharge, freight tax surcharge, waiver surcharge, heavy weight charge, carrier security fee, commission on deposit, demurrage charge and high cube surcharge. On the part of the terminal operators is the allegation that they hardly provide enough cargo handling equipment needed to evacuate the containers being stacked on the ports and positioning such containers for examination. Often times, importers and freight forwarders complain of high cost of clearing goods. The average cargo dwell time in Nigerian ports is put at over 21 days. This also contributes to high cost of goods in the market. Foreign vessels also complain about poor ship turnaround time in Nigerian ports which they put at 10 days as against two to three days in advanced countries. They claim this is one of the reasons for imposing some shipping charges.
Achieving Ports Efficiency
Determined to ensure ports efficiency, the NSC has been involved in a number of stakeholders sensitization on the areas of automation of their services. The Council encourages freight forwarders to embrace automation in which they do not really need to be physically be at the ports to clear their goods. Already, many of the shipping companies have introduced automation except in some cases where the freight forwarders still to be physically present to submit some documentation for the goods to be cleared. This is also the case with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in which the freight forwarder must be present. The NSC apart from visiting terminals to check congestion in terminals, carries out equipment audit among the operators. This is to ensure that the terminal operators provide modern cargo handling equipment to ease positioning of containers at the ports as well as clearing stacked containers. Among other measures to achieve ports efficiency in Nigeria include the planned deployment of International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN). ICTN is expected to check all fraudulent practices such as under-declaration, concealment and under-payment of duties. CTN which implementation date is second quarter of this year, is also expected to check fraud in gross registered tonnage of vessels. The Council is also promoting the effective operationalization of the National Single Window (NSW) in the country.
Akutah: Our, Challenges, Plans for Ports Efficiency
At a media briefing to mark his one year in office, the NSC ES, Akutah, made it clear that his target is in transforming what he met on the ground. According to him, “ the Nigerian Shippers’ Council in the last one year, has made significant strides towards transforming the maritime sector. We have managed to push forward initiatives that many considered critical to the progress of our sector.”
Akutah identified the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill of 2023 as one of such efforts, expressing optimism that when passed into law will give NSC the required power to carry out revolution in the ports industry.
He had expressed concern that the Council has been operating under the Act of 1981, which is very old and which has limited what the Council can offer to the industry and the nation.
The current bill when signed into, he affirmed, will enable the Council to introduce reforms that will improve on efficient service delivery in the sector.
Speaking at a seminar on the topic titled ‘The Nigerian Shippers’ Council in Transition, Issues , Prospect and Challenges’, Akutah pointed out challenges of the ports economic regulator and the prospects of the new bill in bringing about transformation desired by the Council. He said that one of the biggest issues is “is compliance with its regulatory mandates”. He recalled that at the initial stage of implementing the regulatory functions, “the Council encountered some sorts of resistance, particularly from providers of shipping and port services”. He confessed that some government agencies were not left out. However, he said
that the narrative continued to change with time, adding that “regulated services providers overtime are coming to terms with the functions of the council as the industry economic regulator”.
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.
He added, “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”.
“High tariffs, port charges, and inefficiencies at the ports increase the cost of doing business in Nigeria. While the NSC is responsible for overseeing tariff structures and pricing, it faces the challenge of balancing the interests of port operators, shippers, and the government while trying to make the ports competitive. Reducing costs for importers and exporters while ensuring sustainable revenue generation for port authorities remains a delicate balancing act”.
“ Security challenges, including cargo theft, piracy, and general lawlessness, persist at Nigerian ports. These security risks negatively affect port operations and increase the cost of shipping. Additionally, corruption among port officials and stakeholders remains a problem, with illegal fees, bribery, and rent-seeking behaviour complicating the NSC’s regulatory functions and undermining reforms”.
The NSC boss, however, said that despite these challenges, there are several promising prospects for the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, many of which stem from the ongoing transition in the maritime and logistics sectors.
“These opportunities, if leveraged effectively, could significantly enhance the role of the NSC in Nigeria’s economic growth”.
He said that “the Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill if passed, will empower the NSC to take on a more significant regulatory role in Nigeria’s ports, overseeing tariffs, service standards, and port efficiency”.
“This would enhance the governance of port operations, improve infrastructure development, and ensure fair competition among stakeholders.
The NSC would also play a central role in making Nigerian ports more globally competitive by aligning them with international standards. Overall, the bill would position the NSC to contribute significantly to improving the performance and economic outlook of Nigeria’s port sector”.
He affirmed that the NSC is at a pivotal moment in its history, with transitions to meet the evolving demands of a dynamic global trade environment, stating that the Bill will enhance efficiency and competitiveness of the nation’s port.
He assured that with the law in place, it will give the Council the necessary clout to regulate the sector effectively.
For the nation’s ports industry, the year 2025 appears to be full of promises. There is air of strong optimism that there will be an improved business environment in the ports that stakeholders have been yearning for. This is as the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) moves to enthrone global standard practice in the shipping sector. This will be of immense benefit also for the national economy. In anticipation of the Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill being signed into law, the Executive Secretary of the NSC, Barr Pius Akutah, is currently pursuing a plan of ensuring that there is a change in the business of the ports in line with what obtains in other maritime nations. Akutah wants to bring into effect the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration as far as the shipping industry is concerned. Apparently fascinated with global best practices, the NSC is championing a transformation agenda which aims to reposition the ports industry in terms of efficiency in all aspects of operations.
Global Best Practices
For the nation’s ports to boom as obtains in other global climes, it is indeed a lot of task. And this is based on comparative analysis of the current Nigerian ports environment with what happens in top ports around the world. A visit by Nigerian government ports officials to Singaporean ports few years back was a big shock to the team on the level of work yet to be done back in the country. The officials, accompanied by maritime journalists, had during the visit to the Ports of Singapore, expressed surprise at the level of efficiency in ports operations. The visiting team had arrived at the terminal only to observe that there was nobody to meet. There was no one to open the gate. The whole terminal was empty. Even the entrance and out-gate were not manned by customs officials or other security agents as obtains in Nigerian ports environment. The tour guide simply applied his card to get the gate open. The visiting team had therefore tried to find out why there was no one in the terminal as is common in Nigerian environment. And the answer by the Singaporean official was that the entire ports operations are driven by technology. The ports authority of Singapore is fully automated. This means that process of clearing of goods is automated. The importers and freight forwarders remain in the comfort of their offices to carry out all processes and when completed send the trucker to take delivery. Unlike Nigeria, where the importer and his freighter forwarder must prepare to position their containers for examination and required to be in the ports physically, this is completely absent in Singapore. Examination of goods is carried out with the use of scanners in which the importer or his agents do not have to be present. This way, the importer does not suffer any obstacles while clearing his goods. This system of automation is not just limited to Singapore but also found in nearly all other advanced global ports. This global system creates room for ease of doing business. The importer brings his goods into the country and does not encounter any delay or unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks as he takes delivery of his cargo through his freight forwarder. This system eliminates not just the delay but also the high cost of doing business. It creates total efficiency in ports operation.
NSC Targets Global Standard
As the umpire in the ports system, the NSC is currently working towards enthroning efficient ports operation. But this can only be possible with full statutory powers as found in the new NSC Bill once signed into law by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu. Over the years, the Council had battled with strong powers in the shipping industry in enforcing ports economic regulations. It could be recalled that some shipping service providers had dragged the Council to court, challenging its powers to regulate the sector and suspending their arbitrary shipping charges. That was over 10 years ago when the Council having been granted the power of ports economic regulator suspended some shipping charges that it considered illegal. The shipping service providers lost in both High Court and Appeal Court before heading to the Supreme Court where it was gathered they have since sought for settlement out of court. Affirming the NSC as responsible for regulating the nation’s ports, the High Court and Appeal courts had all ruled that the shipping agency charges imposed on Nigerian shippers were illegal, and ordered the shipping companies to refund over N1trillion in illegal port charges. Now, to be firm in carrying out its statutory functions, the NSC management believes that the new Bill when signed into law arms it to the teeth to execute its policies of ports efficiency without hindrance. The new law is clear as to arm the Council to strike as obtains in Nigeria’s telecoms sector against any erring service provider.
Nigerian Ports Scenario
The nation’s ports environment is one laced with a lot of malpractices and corruption. Corrupt practices have been there for decades and most efforts to address the issues have failed. The ports remain a gold mine for some unscrupulous customs officers and other security agents. The importers and their clearing agents are at the centre stage as the issue is their attempts to evade payment of some import duties. The importers are involved in under-declaration, concealment and under invoicing of their imports in a bid to reduce what they pay as duties. But this becomes an opportunity for some unscrupulous customs officers and security agents to line their pockets as they strike their own bargain before the importers and their clearing agents are allowed to take delivery of their goods. The importer may have to divide what is underpaid into three, one to the government, another to the unscrupulous government officials and the remaining for himself. This explains why malpractices in the ports endure. Other forms of fraud in the ports include under-declaration of gross registered tonnage (GRT) of the vessels visiting the ports. Just like the importers, under-declaration of gross registered tonnage of vessels leads to loss of revenue to the government. This is even more serious as the fraud is hardly detected unlike what happens to the importers in which the customs personnel easily discover any fraudulent practices during physical goods examination.
The other issue in the ports is the allegation by freight forwarders against terminal operators and shipping companies of arbitrary charges. Among the illegal charges are peak season surcharge, war risk charge, Shipping Line Agency Charges, Container Deposit Charges, Container Cleaning Charges, Storage Charges, Congestion surcharge, extra risk insurance surcharge, freight tax surcharge, waiver surcharge, heavy weight charge, carrier security fee, commission on deposit, demurrage charge and high cube surcharge. On the part of the terminal operators is the allegation that they hardly provide enough cargo handling equipment needed to evacuate the containers being stacked on the ports and positioning such containers for examination. Often times, importers and freight forwarders complain of high cost of clearing goods. The average cargo dwell time in Nigerian ports is put at over 21 days. This also contributes to high cost of goods in the market. Foreign vessels also complain about poor ship turnaround time in Nigerian ports which they put at 10 days as against two to three days in advanced countries. They claim this is one of the reasons for imposing some shipping charges.
Achieving Ports Efficiency
Determined to ensure ports efficiency, the NSC has been involved in a number of stakeholders sensitization on the areas of automation of their services. The Council encourages freight forwarders to embrace automation in which they do not really need to be physically be at the ports to clear their goods. Already, many of the shipping companies have introduced automation except in some cases where the freight forwarders still to be physically present to submit some documentation for the goods to be cleared. This is also the case with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in which the freight forwarder must be present. The NSC apart from visiting terminals to check congestion in terminals, carries out equipment audit among the operators. This is to ensure that the terminal operators provide modern cargo handling equipment to ease positioning of containers at the ports as well as clearing stacked containers. Among other measures to achieve ports efficiency in Nigeria include the planned deployment of International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN). ICTN is expected to check all fraudulent practices such as under-declaration, concealment and under-payment of duties. CTN which implementation date is second quarter of this year, is also expected to check fraud in gross registered tonnage of vessels. The Council is also promoting the effective operationalization of the National Single Window (NSW) in the country.
Akutah: Our, Challenges, Plans for Ports Efficiency
At a media briefing to mark his one year in office, the NSC ES, Akutah, made it clear that his target is in transforming what he met on the ground. According to him, “ the Nigerian Shippers’ Council in the last one year, has made significant strides towards transforming the maritime sector. We have managed to push forward initiatives that many considered critical to the progress of our sector.”
Akutah identified the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill of 2023 as one of such efforts, expressing optimism that when passed into law will give NSC the required power to carry out revolution in the ports industry.
He had expressed concern that the Council has been operating under the Act of 1981, which is very old and which has limited what the Council can offer to the industry and the nation.
The current bill when signed into, he affirmed, will enable the Council to introduce reforms that will improve on efficient service delivery in the sector.
Speaking at a seminar on the topic titled ‘The Nigerian Shippers’ Council in Transition, Issues , Prospect and Challenges’, Akutah pointed out challenges of the ports economic regulator and the prospects of the new bill in bringing about transformation desired by the Council. He said that one of the biggest issues is “is compliance with its regulatory mandates”. He recalled that at the initial stage of implementing the regulatory functions, “the Council encountered some sorts of resistance, particularly from providers of shipping and port services”. He confessed that some government agencies were not left out. However, he said
that the narrative continued to change with time, adding that “regulated services providers overtime are coming to terms with the functions of the council as the industry economic regulator”.
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.
He added, “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”.
“High tariffs, port charges, and inefficiencies at the ports increase the cost of doing business in Nigeria. While the NSC is responsible for overseeing tariff structures and pricing, it faces the challenge of balancing the interests of port operators, shippers, and the government while trying to make the ports competitive. Reducing costs for importers and exporters while ensuring sustainable revenue generation for port authorities remains a delicate balancing act”.
“ Security challenges, including cargo theft, piracy, and general lawlessness, persist at Nigerian ports. These security risks negatively affect port operations and increase the cost of shipping. Additionally, corruption among port officials and stakeholders remains a problem, with illegal fees, bribery, and rent-seeking behaviour complicating the NSC’s regulatory functions and undermining reforms”.
The NSC boss, however, said that despite these challenges, there are several promising prospects for the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, many of which stem from the ongoing transition in the maritime and logistics sectors.
“These opportunities, if leveraged effectively, could significantly enhance the role of the NSC in Nigeria’s economic growth”.
He said that “the Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill if passed, will empower the NSC to take on a more significant regulatory role in Nigeria’s ports, overseeing tariffs, service standards, and port efficiency”.
“This would enhance the governance of port operations, improve infrastructure development, and ensure fair competition among stakeholders.
The NSC would also play a central role in making Nigerian ports more globally competitive by aligning them with international standards. Overall, the bill would position the NSC to contribute significantly to improving the performance and economic outlook of Nigeria’s port sector”.
He affirmed that the NSC is at a pivotal moment in its history, with transitions to meet the evolving demands of a dynamic global trade environment, stating that the Bill will enhance efficiency and competitiveness of the nation’s port.
He assured that with the law in place, it will give the Council the necessary clout to regulate the sector effectively.
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