By Godfrey Bivbere

Some stakeholders in the ports industry are alleging that Federal Government, FG, agencies in the maritime industry are frustrating efforts by the government to establish a National Single Window, NSW, designed for the automation of port processes as well as simplify cargo  clearing at the nation’s seaports.

Contributing to discussions on the Harboursandport Whatsapp group (maritime industry discussion platform), the stakeholders said the agencies are sabotaging the NSW to protect their revenue secrets as well as sustain corrupt practices that enrich their personal pockets.

The NSW in full operation would eliminate human interface in cargo clearing while also making the process and the financial transactions open and transparent.

Chairman of Skelas Group of Companies and former National President of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, Olayiwola Shittu, said that these agencies are hiding their operation from each other because they do not want what they are doing to be known.

He said: “No agency wants anybody to know what they are doing. They just want to push their revenue behind closed doors.”

A maritime lawyer and an Assistant General Manager, at the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Ahmed Wanka, attributed the inability to achieve the NSW to the unwillingness of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS to partake in the project.

He stated: “it is the NCS that doesn’t want automation. It is a simple addition to physical engagement and the lucre that accompanies it.

“You do not need a Presidential Summit to automate your processes? When scanners were provided for inspection, have they been deployed, and are they being used? Do you need a Presidential Summit to do so?

“The new initiative (NSW) is to enable all agencies involved in the clearance of cargo from the ports, including banks, to be on the same platform and enable ease and swiftness of the release process.”

“What does NPA, NIMASA or any other agency have to do with valuation, for instance? It is purely an internal process but where almost everybody has a role to play, including terminal operators, the lead agency refused to get involved,” he added.

Former National President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF, Eugene Nweke, speaking on the agencies’ unwillingness to corporate for the establishment of the NSW, said “Initially, I contemplated that, when and where agencies turn superior to the central government, it is an indication of a weak and unconcern central government.

“But, the reality of the fact is that the National Single Window project, if allowed to come on stream, will close various illegal and malpractices that enrich both individual and corporate pockets.

“Remember, the human contact or cumbersome documentation and clearance process and procedures mean only one thing, the merry go round.”

Vanguard News