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Steve Agbota, [email protected] 08033302331
Over the years, Nigeria as the most populous African nation has been struggling with a corruption record. Corruption has been one of the major obstacles to the development of every sector of the economy.
Despite the war by anti-corruption bodies like the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria has not been able to tame the monster as no sector of its economy is free of this syndrome.
For instance, Nigeria has eight ports across, two are well patronised while the remaining six situated at the eastern part of the country have been abandoned by shippers due to corruption, high cost of doing business and other technical issue like lack of transparency in handling import shipments.
However, this does not mean the two ports located in Apapa and Tin-Can Island in Lagos are free of corruption. In fact, port users described the two ports as the headquarters of corruption.
Ironically, the port sector is virtually exposed to corrupt practices due to a mixture of legal, political and behavioural factors without any real penalties.
A recent report by Integrity Organisation Limited, GTE and its private sector facing arm, Convention on Business Integrity (CBi), has revealed that corruption and exercise of discretionary powers by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and port officials have had huge implications for ease of doing business in Nigerian seaports and terminals, leading to the loss of about N2.5 trillion in corporate revenue at the ports annually.
Aside operators, port users and industry players are increasingly faced with bureaucratic red tape, constant delays and illegal charges leading to costly operations, a new report has found.
It has also been established that the Nigerian economy is currently losing about N600 billion in customs revenue, an estimated $10 billion for non-oil export on an annual basis as a result of corrupt practices at the ports.
As these ports are increasingly faced with bureaucratic red tape, constant delays and illegal charges leading to costly operations, the Port Service Support Portal (PSSP) was introduced to enhance transparency and consistent application of standards .But the system has only witnessed low compliance due to discretionary power among the government agencies.
Efforts to tackle corruption and make eastern ports viable came to ensure effective and efficient service delivery in Nigeria’s seaports came to fore at a roundtable organised by the Maritime Anti-corruption Network (MACN), in conjunction with the Convention on Business Integrity (CBI) and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) in Port Harcourt, stakeholders have called for Federal Government intervention to make the nation’s seaports situated in the Eastern parts of the country to be more attractive for port users. Stakeholders then called for Federal Government’s intervention to make the nation’s seaports situated in the Eastern parts of the country more attractive to port users.
The stakeholders demanded an increase in the incentives provided for those using the eastern ports even as they pointed out that the present incentives are not good enough to attract users.
They also advocated sanctions for those who violated the rules of the game in the cargo chain clearance, saying that impunity has become the bane of the maritime industry because no one is ever punished for any infractions.
In the same vein, they also called for more awareness on the introduction of the PSSP, especially in the south eastern ports,to promote transparency and consistent application of standards.
Speaking at the occasion, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CBI, Mr. Soji Apampa, said the portal was targeted at eliminating corruption and “elements of delay” in the turn-around of ships in the country’s ports.
He said the challenge of gratifications and maritime corruption had been the bane of effective and efficient service delivery at the ports over the years.
Apampa noted that MACN had implemented collective action by launching several serious procedures in cargo clearing in the ports, adding that through joint action, more efficiency would be achieved in the system.
In his contribution, the Deputy Director, Complaints Unit of Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr. Moses Fadipe, pointed out that the support portal would help to submit and track complaints, recalling that the portal was launched in June 2017 by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
He said that apart from poor infrastructure at the ports, other challenges identified include time and cost of doing business at the ports, government agencies and terminal operators efficiency to duties, government official documentation, berthing of ship and discharging of cargoes processes.
He noted that other challenges involve the efficiency of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) personnel that operate in the nation’s seaports.
His words: “At what time do they go on board ships, and what time is the ship operating? Also discharging time of the ship, instead of six hours turn-around, we have 24 hours incurring much delay due to official delay and all the cost were borne by consumers. Today, people are becoming aware and a lot of government agencies are becoming indicted since the introduction of the Port Service Support Portal.”
An anti-corruption crusader, Mr. Vebek Menon, said that so far only five cases of complaints had been reported through the portal and that the matter raised would be addressed without prejudice.
Former National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Chief Ernest Elochukwu in his own contribution, queried why government could not fashion out ways to stop corruption in the maritime sector and why there are no harsh consequences for failure to deliver.
Elochukwu who represented the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA) at the round table argued that as long as there are no consequences for the violations in the rules of engagements in the cargo clearance chain, impunity would continue to be bane of the maritime industry.
He thanked the organisers for what it has done so far to rid the system of corruption, especially in the East just as he demanded for more to be done in the months ahead to ensure efficiency in Nigerian ports.
In 2012, the MACN in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Technical Unit on Government and Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) commissioned a corruption risk assessment (CRA) in the Nigerian port sector.
