27th March, 2014
For years, maritime stakeholders have been agitating for the creation of a commercial/ economic regulator — an agency saddled with the task of regulating arbitrary charges and other forms of irregularities at the Nigerian sea ports. Many heaved a sigh of relief when Nigerian Shippers’ Council, NSC, was recently given the mandate. Though it is a stop-gap measure, much is expected from NSC to make Nigerian ports more user friendly.
The cost of doing business at Nigerian sea ports is considered high compared to other neighbouring ports in Ghana, Benin Republic, and other West African countries, due to arbitrary charges, unfavorable business operating environment, protracted turnaround time of vessels, long cargo delays and the bottlenecks/hitches that trail transactions at the ports. Many importers and exporters do not mask their preference for neighboring countries’ ports and as a result vessels are diverted to those countries while Nigeria loses revenue in the process. To them, patronising any Nigerian seaport, especially the ones in Lagos believed to be the busiest seaports in the country, is an invitation to delay and excessive payments.
We expect that since NSC has been appointed the commercial regulator, all the irregularities and anomalies regarding charges and all the economic activities in the ports will be regulated.
NSC was established during the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo by Decree 13 of 1978. It was created to protect the interest of Nigerian importers and exporters. Having assumed the new role, NSC is now in a position to regulate all the commercial activities of all operators at the ports, including terminal operators, shipping companies, importers, exporters, licensed agents, freight forwarders and other port users. To effectively perform its new role, there is a need for it to be adequately funded and have the right human resources.
It is also pertinent for the Ministry of Transport in collaboration with other stakeholders to sensitise the public, especially port users, on NSC’s new role/terms of reference and what is expected from port users. NSC’s role has now gone beyond just protecting the interests of shippers alone- it is now expected to play a statutory role of an umpire without prejudice. The agency must check the excesses of some terminal operators and shipping agencies that arbitrarily hike charges without due process. They need to review the charges to ascertain their appropriateness. Some of these agencies have the backing of highly placed individuals and that is why they act with impunity.
Many analysts have argued that since the ports operations have been concessioned to private operators, the regulatory power of Nigerian Ports Authority including that of NSC has been eroded. While some argued against this, saying that the new role has been enshrined in the acts that establish these councils, there might be the need to consider sponsoring new bills at the National Assembly to create a legal backing or rather the National Assembly should expedite action on the passage of the National Transport Commission bill. NSC should not dash the hopes of maritime stakeholders while its interim mandate lasts. Though some port operators doubt the capacity of the NSC to act as commercial regulator, the onus is now on the council and its Executive Secretary, Hassan Bello, to prove its critics wrong because to whom much is given much is expected.