•Urges FG to streamline agencies at the ports

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

Organised labour in the Maritime sector of the nation’s economy, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan, to take a drastic measure to curtail alleged unwholesome activities of oil and shipping companies in midstream operations, warning that their activities are harmful to the nation’s economy.

Under the umbrella of the Maritime Workers  Union of Nigeria, MWUN, the organized labour also called on the Federal Government to overhaul and streamline the operations of its agencies at the ports to make the port user-friendly, lamenting that there are over 50 of such agencies at the nation’s ports.

President-General of MWUN, Comrade Anthony Emmanuel Nted, in an interview with Financial Vanguard, warned that perceived exhortation by government agencies in the ports was not only contributing to high cost of imported goods; it was also making Nigerian ports un-attractive to users.

Comrade Nted who is also a Vice-President of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, said, “There are several illegal activities of some oil and shipping companies in midstream operations and private jetties that are injurious to the nation. This is possible because nobody is monitoring their operations. There ought to be a stevedore that should work in the vessel.

“With a stevedore in the vessel, there will be dockworkers, Tally clerk to take inventory and security to monitor what goes on and reports back. If there are arms and ammunition, they will be discovered. But today, all kinds of illegal activities are involved in the operations in the offshore and private jetties because they operate in secrecy contrary to government directives. No tax is paid to government; dockworkers are not paid because they are prevented from going to the vessel, same as Tally clerks and on-board security men.

“Our investigations have revealed other unwholesome practices. The nation is losing billions of Naira annually to the unscrupulous activities of some of the oil companies and shipping companies as well as agents. We have called on the President to impress it on NPA to enforce the rules and live up to expectations. Like I said, the stevedoring companies serve as the eyes of the government.”

“The customs will come on board the vessel, examine it and leave while the stevedoring company will remain on board the vessel until it discharges whatever it brought. The job of the stevedore is to engage the dockworker who will do the loading as well as the off loading; the vessel should be tallied one after the other by Tally clerks to ensure that what exactly the vessel claimed it brought is what is inside it. But because of the unethical practices of the oil companies and shipping agents, they do not want to see the stevedores.

“They want to cheat government by under declaring or so that nobody will see what they brought into the country. We want to call on federal government to come out with a strong statement that before any vessel discharges in the midstream or  anywhere, the stevedoring company must be on board The reason is because the dockworkers are very inquisitive and they hardly compromise. If that happens, the security agencies will be notified. That is why they don’t want dockworkers where they are discharging.”

Speaking on proliferation of government agencies in the ports and its effects, he said, “I want to say that government has to look into the activities of customs and other agencies at the ports. Government needs to look critically into the activities of the Customs and Excise. We want the government to urgently reform the Customs.

“We have been privileged to travel to the ports in different parts of the world including the ports of New Jersey, New York, Antwerp and others and we found out how they operate. In Nigeria, what we see in the ports is an eyesore. If we want to do things, we should do them well.  If you go to Nigerian ports, Customs will examine a container.  When the container comes out of the gate, some Customs officials will come and say they want to confirm whether their colleagues who had earlier examined the same container inside the port, did the right thing.

“When the container eventually leaves the gate, it would still be intercepted by those who call themselves Federal Customs. They would begin to chase trailers laden with 40 feet containers on the high ways thus engendering the lives of other commuters. About two hours later you will see the same container on the road.”

“Government should carry out a thorough overhaul of its agencies with a view to pruning down the number of agencies in the ports.  They are over 50 government agencies in the ports at the moment.  They should work as a team.  If there is a container to be examined, all of them should do it at the same time. But what we have is a situation where Customs officials would examine a container, and when they leave, Immigration officials would come for their own examination, when they finish and leave, officials of Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) would come.

“Immediately they leave, NAFDAC officials will come. The list goes on and on. At the end of the day, you frustrate the importer. Besides, there is rampant extortion by these agencies.  In the long run, the consumers bear the brunt by way of higher prices of products and services.  We really need total reforms of their operations. There are also making the ports un-attractive to port users. They should be working as a team instead of at par. It is a common knowledge that a lot of extortion is going on and at the end of the day the masses bear the pain. We need to borrow a leaf from Egypt. Egypt had one of the worst ports in the world before, but after reformation it is now one of the best and a reference point.”