Austen Kelly, Customs Agent, Activist, Passes On
By Francis Ugwoke
Veteran Maritime Practitioner, customs agent, Chief Austin Kelly Dike, has passed on.
Dike was said to have passed on in the early hours of Thursday in Lagos.
Although details of his demise were not known as at the time of filing this report, the customs agent was said to have been in Apapa on Wednesday
A source close to the family said he had not shown any sign of sickness before his passage.
He will be remembered as a strong activist who had moved against the ills importers and customs agents face in the nation’s ports while clearing their goods.
About two weeks ago he had granted an interview to The Prestige Magazine online when he complained of frustrations faced by importers and their agents in Customs Clearance procedures.
He was reported by the Magazine as having made a case for importers and their agents, adding that they have been going through “hell as they are at the mercy of the Nigeria Customs Service”.
The Magazine further said he complained that , “the harsh policies and procedures being churned out by the NCS are not doing the industry any good as they keep emasculating individual businesses and causing untold hardships to the citizens”.
He was quoted saying, “Abandonment of Act No. 20 of 2003. This Act provides for a New Method of Valuation of Goods in Nigeria based on the Transaction Value. The Act was signed by President Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR on July 10, 2003.
“The Act provides the following sequential order of valuation of goods imported into NIgeria:
1). Transaction Value Method which is based on the invoiced amount the Importer paid to the exporter.(2). Transaction Value of Identical Goods.(3) Transaction Value of Similar Goods.
4). Deduced Value based on the sale of the goods in the importing country.
5). Computed Value based on the cost of production, profits, etc.
6). Any Other Reasonable Means.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has opted for Method 6 which is ‘Option of Last Resort’. It’s this option that makes it mandatory for any 1×20′ container to pay a minimum of N5 million while 1×40,’ pays N10Million duty to the NIgeria Customs Service, no matter the content.”
Part of the Magazine report reads:
“In the recommendation, he advised the Nigeria Customs Service(NCS) to strictly abide by the provisions of Act 20 of 2003. His concerns were buttressed with a historical background:
“In 2008, the World Trade Organization Committee on Customs Valuation accepted, considered, ratified and circulated a communique dated July 23, 2008, at the request of the Delegation of Nigeria Customs Service which confirmed the adoption of Transaction Value of Goods as NIgeria’s national implementing legislation pursuant to Article 22 of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 1994.”
“Nigeria Customs Service is aware of the Act but is deliberately sidelining it in the name of Revenue Drive/Revenue Generation.”
Key members of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), including the Founder, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, were all in a state of mourning when our Correspondent visited the headquarters of the association on Thursday.
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