—condemn leadership style of Jime
Eyewitness reporter
The Shippers Association of Lagos State (SALS) has threatened to vacate the office accommodation it occupies in the Shippers Plaza, Apapa.
The building belongs to the Nigerian Shippers’Council which houses its headquarters.
However, the agitated Lagos Shippers, who are aggrieved by what they described as the ill-treatment and disdain with which the authority of the Shippers’Council treat them, believed that moving out of the office accommodation given by the Council to house their association office will confer on them the much-sought respect and dignity they deserve.
In a press conference held in Lagos yesterday, Kayode Farinto, the newly appointed Publicity Secretary of Lagos Shippers Association, lamented that Nigerian Shippers have not received a fair deal from the Nigerian Shippers’Council, an agency statutorily charged to protect the interests of Nigerian Shippers.
Farinto stated that the agency has not lived to the expectations of the Shippers in this regard.
He lamented that the hapless Nigerian shipper has been variously and wickedly exposed and subjected to mindless extortion from Nigeria Customs Service, terminal operators, shipping companies, and has been a victim of other forms of trade malpractices.
“You people know that the Shippers Council currently accommodates Shippers in Lagos.
“We were given accommodation on the second floor of the NSC headquarters. You people need to visit that place to see the kind of accommodation that the NSC has given us.
“Due to this poor arrangement and lack of adequate projection, we have come to a conclusion that for us to be widely heard and listened to, the Shippers Association of Lagos State might move out of the NSC headquarters this year” Farinto declared.
“We have made a lot of complaints, but it looks as if maybe because we are a tenant at the NSC, nobody listens to us.
” So, maybe if we get an independent accommodation where nobody pays our rent except ourselves, maybe people in authority will listen to us more.”
The spokesman for the Lagos Shippers association said an average Nigerian Shipper has been the one holding the short end of the stick in trade transactions at the ports.
“Whether anybody likes it or not, the man that receives the highest blow in the import value chain is the shipper.
“When there are barriers in trade, the man that suffers most is the shipper. It is unfortunate that the Federal Government is paying lip service to trade facilitation.
” Last year, Nigeria nearly entered into recession because we don’t produce anything and as an import-dependent economy, we need to have trade facilitation at our ports,” Farinto said.
He further declared that the Shippers have not felt the impact of the incumbent Executive Secretary of NSC, Emmanuel Jime, since he came to the Council and that the new helmsman has further subjected Nigerian Shippers to increased humiliation.
“The style of administration of the Executive Secretary of the NSC, Emmanuel Jime, is different from that of his predecessor, Hassan Bello.
“Yes, he likes doing things quietly, but we the Shippers are yet to see the results of what he has been doing since he came on board seven months ago.
“If Hadiza Bala Usman can come to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and start achieving in 90 days, why can the NSC Executive Secretary? He is not a greenhorn in the maritime industry.
“Maybe it’s too early to start rating the man, but Shippers have been treated with disdain since he came on board. Shippers have not been given the right recognition and cooperation that is expected from an economic regulator.
“As Covid-19 rates worsen, restrictions might come harder.
“The man that brings in the cargoes must be protected. This year, the NSC must carry everybody along. It is important that the chicken that lays the golden egg is protected.
“The Shippers must be protected, empowered and encouraged.”
Farinto stated that the Act establishing Shippers’ Council states that it must protect Shippers but he claimed that recent indices had shown that shippers are left at the mercies of terminal operators, shipping companies and customs to exploit.
“In the NSC Act, the role of a Shipper is very clear. A Shipper is a person that brings in cargo into a port area for the cargo owner, that is the importer.
“Section 3, sub-section C of the NSC Act under number 13 states that the Nigerian Shippers Council should encourage the formulation of shippers association all over the country.
” What this means is that it is not only Lagos State that should have a Shippers Association. Every State of the federation should have a Shippers association.”
“Although, we have a national shippers association that has been formed, they have not been vibrant. Maybe they will be vibrant this year, we just pray so.
” We have looked at the role of the Shippers in the nation’s maritime industry, and have realized that we have not been carried along by the NSC in their activities.”, the Lagos Shippers alleged.