By Godfrey Bivbere
Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Dikko Abdullahi has blamed the lack of corporation between the Service and clearing agents in the industry for the urge by various government agencies to come into the ports.

Dikko noted that the need for a new orientation among clearing agents and assured that of continuous reform in the Service.
The Customs helmsman berated some Nigerians who have an unbridled appetite for amassing wealth at the expense of the nation’s economy, also noted that the federal operations unit of the service was created because things are not done with integrity.

The Customs boss made the above remark at a retreat/seminar organised by the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), which held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja recently.

In one of the papers presented by Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) in charge of Investigation and Inspection (I and I), Julius Nwagwu, called for partnership between the Service and the clearing agents.

This partnership, as anticipated by leadership of ANLCA, will go a long way in enhancing trade facilitation as well as improving revenue collection by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

According to Nwagwu, “the ever-growing volume of global trade, increasing need to secure and facilitate global trade and reap economic, financial and social benefits, are some of the reasons for collaboration/partnership complexities.

This is because, customs and licensed agents are critical elements of the supply chain and are stakeholders in the clearance process and fall into the category of the WCO’s definition of authorized economic operator.”

He stated the above when he presented a paper tagged, Customs and Licensed Agents/Brokers Synergy: An Imperative for Trade Facilitation and Optimum Revenue Collection at the retreat/seminar.

Although the general public has held an unpleasant perception about the licensed agents over the years, National President of ANLCA, Olayiwola Shittu noted that a collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service can change the perception. “We can only change that perception if we all agree that we must collaborate with the Nigeria customs in meeting with the expectations of the government.

He explained that the retreat was packaged in fulfillment of the leadership’s desire to impact knowledge to its members and build capacity in its collective aspirations to be regarded as professionals and generator of revenue for the federal government. “We are here today to receive wise counsel from the government and also to be geared towards government expectation of the role of the licensed customs agents in promoting a total commitment to doing what is right,” he said.

“The present management of the customs has continued to collaborate with our leadership and some of the successes we have recorded in the last six months are attributable to this partnership to which we give our honest recognition and appreciation to Abdullahi Dikko, the CG of the Customs and his team.”

“We assure you we shall not relent and it can only get better as we continue to smoothen the gray areas existing in the mode of service we as customs agents render.”He gave assurance that ANLCA was committed in making the Nigerian ports business environment conducive for trade.