By Steve Agbota, Lagos
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council has launched an online portal for the registration of port service providers and users in order to rid the port environment of illegal port users.
Speaking at the launch of the automated registration portal, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Emmanuel Jime, said the new platform is to guarantee a safe and secure business environment.
According to him, it would eliminate the challenges of faceless stakeholders in the port system, adding that the portal is a total departure from the manual registration of port service providers to a fully automated platform.
He said that the portal is ostensibly aimed at having accurate data on port users and stakeholders and to help nip the problem of the influx of unwanted persons in the port environment.
“The platform we are launching is interactive in nature as a physical interface is eliminated. From your desk in your office, you can register your company online without having to visit any Shippers’ Council office as long as you fulfil the requirements and make the necessary payments,” he added.
In a clear departure from the past when the Council was unable to sanction those not supposed to be within the port’s environment, he said having comprehensive data of those operating within the port’s environment will enable the Council to exercise its regulatory function.
He added: “People actually are mistaken most of the time in thinking that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council in exercising our mandate as port’s economic regulator, that we do not really have the teeth to be able to bite. And that’s not true. We actually have within the regulatory framework sufficient enough ambit that allows us to be able to sanction. But, you’re not able to sanction anyone if you are not identifying them.
“This registration gives us that tool that allows us to be able to say to an individual that, look, you are not a legitimate individual that can exercise the conduct of this business within the ports” he disclosed. And having the various port users registered will assist in curbing the excesses of operators who exploit consumers.
“In the past, we have had a situation where it does seem as if this is an all-comers affair. People who ordinarily have no business getting involved in the port sector of the economy are given the opportunity because we do not really know who they are, this way, these people are able to carry out very fraudulent activities.
“We have situations where there are people who are conducting business here that you are not able to account for. It is clearly almost impossible for there to be sanity in this manner. So, this particular platform was established so that we can first get all the stakeholders that are actually working in this industry to be registered,” he added.
He noted that when people are registered then, of course, it becomes easier to be able to not only identify them but also mention that whoever is best conducting business in the nation’s port actually has the ability and is very well licensed in order for them to be able to carry out business in the industry.
He stated that it would also enable Shippers’ Council to track and also tackle the excesses of some of these service providers in the ports with regard to the exploitation of consumers.
“The Council has been able to secure the buy-in of stakeholders who vehemently opposed previous attempts to do this. There’s buy-in by the industry stakeholders. You see, this actually is consistent with the new environment that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council has been able to enable to engender.
“When we started out as the port’s economic regulator, there was actually resistance because I believe there was a misunderstanding of what the role of the Council was as the port’s economic regulator, and I believe we have pretty much walked away from that challenge.
“So now there is a recognition that the role as the economic regulator is actually desirable for the efficient running of our ports and it actually benefits everyone, as a matter of fact. Part of the challenge, I think, in the past was perhaps the feeling that this was geared toward revenue generation more than anything else,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the Director of Consumer Affairs, NSC, Chief Cajetan Agu noted that one of the responsibilities placed on NSC when it became the nation’s port economic regulator in 2014 was the obligation to register all port operators and port users.
“NSC offers a lot of services around training, education, and capacity-building programmes. The only people who will benefit from these services will be those who are registered with NSC,” he said.
He described the online registration as a Know-Your-Customer (KYC) function of the Council, stressing that the era of faceless shippers, untraceable freight forwarders and other hidden service providers have ended.