Stories by Steve Agbota
As the federal government fine-tunes modalities to rollout the long-anticipated National Single Window initiative, the former acting National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr Kayode Farinto, has said that engaging freight forwarders remains crucial to realising all set objectives.
The freight expert and Customs broker tirelessly pushed for the review of the Customs and Excise Management Act and never backtracked till it was realised.
In an interview with Daily Sun, he described the National Single Window as an ambitious and commendable initiative. However, he quickly noted that the exclusion of freight forwarders from the committee was a significant oversight, given that they are directly involved in ground-level operations and possess critical insights into the practicalities of implementation.
He further spoke on various issues, including the advantages of Authorised Economic Operators (AEO), the role of Customs CG and other pertinent matters related to the maritime sector.
What drives your passion for maritime issues?
I do not have another farm. Even if I’m diversifying, I won’t forget my roots. It is this maritime industry, freight forwarding and Customs brokerage that brought me to the limelight. As a historian, history will not forgive me if I decide to look away when I’m not the Emperor from Rome who looked away when Rome was burning. So, it is not in my character to do that. I look at it as an industry that has added to my life and given me the little name I have in the industry. So, I can’t fold my hands and pretend all is well when I know that all is not well. Let it be on record that I said it, I predicted it and it is happening because it’s going to happen. It is something I know. It is something I do daily.
What’s your view on the slow progress of the National Single Window despite the committee’s setup?
My take is that it’s a lofty idea. Implementation is not going to be smoothened because we have not dotted our I’s and crossed our T’s. Like I said, when the National Single Window Committee was to be put in place, it’s very unfortunate, whoever advised Mr. President to have excluded freight forwarders, is a big minus. And that is why we may be rigmarole. For now, I’ve not seen anything except the two seminars, which I have attended. And I laughed because I don’t see us moving forward. Even though it’s a very good idea, Nigeria is supposed to have gone beyond that. The man piloting it, that guy is very intelligent. But you still have not brought freight forwarders on board. We are the ones who tell you where it will not work.
What exactly is hindering the progress?
This idea of government agencies’ protectionism, you know what I’m saying? SON wants to protect their department, NAFDAC wants to also protect their department and other agencies. Let everybody submit a standard operating procedure. Let there be a single standard operating procedure, which must be legitimised. This is where the angle of legal framework comes in. I said it at the forum. If you’re not doing that, it will continue to be a talk show.
What must be done then?
There are three things. One, bring in freight forwarders. Two, let every individual agency submit a standard operating procedure, including Customs. Let us have one SOP that will be looked at by a technical committee. These are people who have vast knowledge. You must even include journalists in the technical committee. Journalists will give us the angle of journalism. You just mentioned now that no cargo is delayed under Time Release Study. These are the things the technical committee will look into. Thirdly, we will now look at the legal framework. Why do I say legal framework? You are the leader of an agency and your agency, whether advertently or inadvertently, delays cargo, what punishment goes to your department? Your department should be ready to pay for the demurrage and storage of that consignment. Until these things are done, which is what happens in advanced countries, we will not get it right. So, Single Window will continue to be a talk show.
The CRFFN Registrar, who was represented at an event, complained that the Council has not been incorporated into the Single Window. Are you confirming this?
I’m not the Registrar of CRFFN or Single Window. But I just told you that agents have not been brought on board. So, if the Registrar of CRFFN has told you that, that confirms what I told you. So, it will continue to be a talk show.
You pushed for the CEMA review, which happened. Now there’s talk of another amendment—possibly to extend the CG’s tenure. What’s your take?
There’s nothing like that for now. It was Leke Abejide who said that they were going to amend it. I’m always in the National Assembly. There’s nothing like that for now. I can tell you that our CEMA 2023 is still sacrosanct. No amendment, no intentions to amend it. Even if there’s an intention, there’s no public hearing. Whatever anybody is thinking is beer parlour gist.
But do you think the CG has done well enough for him to be given such an extension?
I’m not the Commander-in-Chief. I’m just a stakeholder. But I just know that he has done his best. So, if I were him, I would step aside. I won’t say more than that. There is always a situation where African leaders do not want to leave when the ovation is loudest. I’m not saying he’s wearing that toga, but if I were him, I would leave when the ovation is loudest when people appreciate you and when you have added value. Leave when the ovation is loudest.
Even when he still has a lot to do and achieve?
You will always have a lot to do even in this life. When death comes, you cannot tell death I have money in the bank to withdraw or I have a building I haven’t completed, or I have a policy I’ve not implemented. Nobody gets it all in this world. You do your best and leave the rest. This is why, in Africa, it is only offices that retire the office holder and that is not good. Leaders don’t want to retire or leave honourably. The white man will say he has taken a shot and added value and leaves when the ovation is loudest. When we had the ANLCA issue, why didn’t I go to the courts? Why didn’t I foment trouble? Or say I will not agree and go violent. That’s what is killing African leaders. I left since that was the decision of the people. The voice of the people is the voice of God. I left and faced my business and I realised I now have peace. I have more time for myself. I’m able to face my job now. Unlike the ANLCA job, where sometimes they’ll tell you there’s a meeting and I’ll have to take a bike when there is traffic on the way, including the risk involved. So, a man should learn to leave when the ovation is loudest.
But if the extension of office tenure was done for the Inspector General of Police, don’t you think the CG of Customs deserves it too?
I don’t want to talk about the idea of police. Police is different from Customs. The Police role in society is different from the Customs role in our society. So, don’t mix it up.
The CG of Customs, in one of his comments last week, said they have reduced cargo clearance time from 21 days to 7–10 days through the Authorised Economic Operators, what’s your take?
We are making a mistake here. Authorised Economic Operator (AOE) is an instrument of the World Customs Organisation. Every country that is a signatory must key into it. How many AEOs have been licensed in Nigeria? There are less than 15. Even the AEOs licensed are mostly for exports. How many freight forwarders have been licensed as AEO? The answer is zero. That’s why I don’t want to talk about technical issues. If the CG is telling you that AEOs have been registered, yes, he can tell you that. But the number of AEOs registered is not even up to 10. It’s for export processes, and mostly multinationals. No freight forwarder has been registered as an AEO.
Some say AEO is not meant for freight forwarders but more for importers and exporters
The category is there. We have security zones. It is about two or three categories. Licensed agents have rights. They have the right to be there. If I have consignment coming on board, I can take them to my warehouse, and pay duty later. That’s AEO—Authorized Economic Operator. It’s a category of it. There are two categories. But what have they registered? Only multinationals and exporters.
Is it because they have met the conditions?
They will always meet it, but the conditions are too cumbersome. I’ll give you the forms. I deliberately downloaded it. It’s about 59-something forms that contain conditions and prerequisites you have to meet before you even register as AEO. No freight forwarder, no Customs broker has been given. That’s why you need to do investigations so that you’ll know. So the man will always assess himself based on what he’s doing. But the best assessment must come from the journalist.
Looking back at your time in ANLCA leadership, what do you consider your biggest achievement and your greatest regret?
In ANLCA leadership, our greatest achievement is advocacy. There was advocacy. The government, through our advocacy, listened and implemented amendments to policies that might not have gone down well with them. The only reason is that there was advocacy, and there was understanding—a robust understanding between our management team and many of the stakeholders. There was engagement. So there was advocacy. And the media generally did wonderful work when I was acting president. We had good media relations. That’s the only thing I can tell you.
Any regrets?
I’m not a politician, so I don’t see any regrets. If I were to be a politician, I would tell you I have regrets. But I want to tell you, I never expected to have risen to that level—what I call Nigeria level in ANLCA. I saw myself just catapulted to a very vantage-sensitive position. You have to make decisions that affect the generality of agents. While I was making those decisions, a lot of people saw me as being too rigid. But now, events have proven me right. Most of the things we put in place then have fallen apart. I’ll just give you one example—like the issue of revaluation. When I started it, I knew how many people accused me: “You don’t want officers to get their share.” But what I wanted then was uniformity in payment of vehicle duty. But what do we have now? Everything has slid back to zero level. It’s very unfortunate. That is what I can tell you so far because I can’t be a mirror of myself. Society and the agents will tell you whether we did well or not. Let me just leave it at that.
You were a CRFFN Governing Council member for a short time. As it stands now, the Council is without a Governing Council. Many people are worried about this, saying the body language of the Presidency is lackadaisical about it. What do you have to say about that?
It’s not the President. Stop making mistakes. We have never had it so good. We had an erroneous impression about Tinubu. But when he started shunning out his policy, it was very painful. But whether we like it or not now, we are seeing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Tinubu has appointed a minister for you. What has the Minister done? It’s not Tinubu. Government is continuous. I was in Abuja, and I made some moves. I met some people. I was privileged to board the same flight with the CRFFN Registrar when I was coming, and I told him to send a memo to your Minister. Your job will not be complete if there is no governing council in place. He also has some restrictions. There are a lot of things you cannot even do without the board.
What steps would you advise next?
He should set up a memo to the Minister. I let him know that I was a member of the last board. If you want to even do away with the last board, conduct another election. And if you must conduct another election, you need to call those people in court. Do not forget that some of our members are in court. We bought forms with over N500,000, we contested with money, and we campaigned. The government was not even up to one year; we were dissolved. There’s supposed to be a foundation. I expected the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy to even call the 15 elected governing council members and possibly say, “In the interest of the nation, this is why I’m taking this decision, and I need advice.” The government is a feedback mechanism. When you tell us that, we may even give you a better idea of doing it. Look at what is happening now—everything is stagnated. I told him, you can’t move forward even as Registrar of the Council if there is no governing board. You can only perform very well when the governing board is in place. So that’s what I’ve said several times. I have passed the message, and I’m very sure the Minister is aware of it. He’s thinking about it. They were telling me they wanted to review the Act. You cannot put the cart before the horse. There must be a governing board in place that will move into it, look at it, and collate ideas from freight forwarders before we now start talking about a review of the Act. If you try to review the Act alone, people will sabotage it. Because what are you reviewing the Act for? You’re reviewing an Act that will determine my future, and I’m not involved? You can’t scale through. We’ll just send a letter to the National Assembly saying this law cannot be reviewed now due to some stated reasons, and it will die at the point where they are reviewing it.
What’s your assessment of the current Registrar’s performance?
I’ve never been disappointed. When he was appointed, I was one of those who immediately greeted and congratulated him because I knew him. I’m not a tribalist, and you know I like being factual. The guy is a young man, very intelligent, and he knows the job. Even though he’s new to this industry, you’d never know he’s new. The guy is very good. He is a round peg in a round hole. He’s going to perform. I’m not disappointed with his moves because I know that it’s happening. Whoever is condemning anything, let him give us alternatives and give solutions. I don’t just condemn things for condemning’s sake. The guy is good, and he’ll move forward. I believe in him.