Headlines

Incredible! 26 illegal checkpoints exist between Apapa port and Ijora — PSTT

From L-R, Dr Tijani, Emmanuel Jimi and Eniola William

Eyewitness reporter

The Port Standing Task Team (PSTT) has raised the alarm over the level of corruption going on along the port access roads which has played a major role in the malignant traffic gridlock along that corridor.

Moses Fadipe, the Coordinator of the Team, disclosed that there are no fewer than 26 illegal checkpoints between the Apapa port corridor and Sifax bonded terminal, Ijora, a distance of less than two kilometres.

Mr Fadipe was speaking Thursday at the flag-off of “Operation Free The Port Corridor” which is an exercise meant to clear the port access roads of impediments to the free flow of vehicles along the corridors.

The Task Team is an offshoot of the Nigerian Port Process Manual (NPPM) which was launched in 2021 by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, to improve the ranking of Nigeria on the global corruption index.

The Team, which started with the Joint boarding of vessels to improve the turnaround time of vessels, has also been to the terminals to ensure that terminal operators and other players in the cargo clearance chains play the game according to the rules to ensure timely release of cargo from the terminals with minimal delay.

The third leg of the campaign was the operation free port corridor that is meant to complement and consolidate the successes achieved in the two previous phases.

At the Thursday flag-off ceremony, the Federal Ministry of Transportation applauded the Task Team for reducing the vessel turnaround time at the seaports from five hours to 90 minutes.

Speaking at the flag-off of the Operation Free the Port Corridor, by the Port Standing Task Team, a committee under the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation,Dr Madgalene Ajani, who represented Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation, lauded the efforts, saying the time used in resolving importers complaints have also reduced from 10 days to four hours.

According to her, the reduction in berthing and complaint time has helped in boosting the ease of doing business, as well as efficiency in the seaport.

Dr Ajani, who flagged off the exercise, however, said in order to free the port corridor, it must be done holistically and with the support of other agencies.

“To free the port corridor, the key thing is that we have to do things holistically and that treatment is what we are trying to achieve.

The aim of this holistic achievement is for us to achieve ease of doing business in Nigerian ports and the corridors.

“So, it takes all of us here to agree that we can do this and to be able to achieve this, we need to have a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), that we need to follow.

“The SOP is not conscripting everybody to follow one person’s SOP, It puts into cognisance, the SOP of all operating agencies in the port and that is why we are talking about the NPPM.

” The NPPM will put everybody’s SOP into focus and we come together as a team to achieve results.”

She also commended the presidential standing committee on what has been achieved in the last one year.

She said the feat could not have been achieved by the activities of only just one person, but everyone.

“December 2020, we stormed Apapa and we could not even navigate.

“We came by water from Marina and even to drive out from Apapa Port to Tin-Can to see what is going on was very difficult.

” And after that, we constituted a project development implementation team and everybody was working to see that goods for Christmas go to the user and January, February 2021, the whole thing clamped down.

“And the question is will we ever be able to clear Apapa corridor and I can boldly say that we are moving forward.

“I am recounting this so that we know that we have achieved something because there is a tendency to say how much we have achieved, but the issue is can we sustain this?

“This problem is as long as 14 years. The key thing is that we have to do things holistically and that treatment is what we are trying to achieve.

” The aim of this holistic achievement is for us to achieve ease of doing business in Nigeria ports and the corridors”

Speaking earlier, the Executive Secretary, Nigeria Shippers Council, Emmanuel Jime, said the task team was set up for the purpose of removing illegal checkpoints and shanties along the Ports’ Corridors.

He, however, applauded the support and level of buy-in obtained from the stakeholders, especially the public and private sectors.

” It just goes to demonstrate how all of us are eager to rid the Ports’ Corridors of the anomalies we witness daily.

“I am particularly excited because of the level of buy-in obtained from the stakeholders coming from both the public and private sectors.

” It just goes to demonstrate how all of us are eager to rid the Ports’ Corridors of the anomalies we witness daily.

“I congratulate you on having succeeded in forming this group as an enlarged task team for the purpose of removing illegal checkpoints and shanties along the Ports’ Corridors.

“It is a great honour for me to deliver this address of welcome. It is especially gratifying because of the spread of representation we have in the gathering from different bodies that we consider as key partners in the pursuit of what we set out to achieve.”

“This exercise, which is about to be flagged-off tagged “Operation Free the Ports’ Corridors” is fittingly named.

” Indeed, the Ports’ Corridors are not free; the traffic does not have a free flow, the shanties are not freeing spaces for a conducive business environment, and the unnecessary checkpoints obviously do not make for an atmosphere free of extortion and other forms of corrupt practices.”

“This exercise is going to be the third in the series of activities of the task team since its inception in March 2021.

“The team began its monitoring and enforcement mandate at the Joint Boarding of vessels operations where they ensured adherence to the provisions of the Nigerian Port Process Manual (NPPM).”

“Following the success of the first phase, the team moved to the Terminals in its second phase of activities to ensure a new culture of Joint Cargo Examination in compliance with the NPPM to foster global best practices.

“Today marks the implementation of the third phase as we embark on sanitizing the Ports’ Corridors,”

Jimi promised to support the team to achieve its mandate and called on other stakeholders to support the tea.

According to Fadipe, the Team on the Operation Free The Port Corridor is an enlarged one comprising 180 personnel drawn from various agencies and security organisations.

The event was attended by the representatives of Customs, Police, NPA, Lagos States, ICPC, SSS, truck owners, maritime labour, Apapa Local Government Chaiman, and other stakeholders in the maritime industry.

Related Topics:26 illegal checkpoints featured

Up Next

After exiting NPA, Hadiza goes back to activism

Don't Miss

Freight Forwarders, Customs resolve VIN controversy?

Click to comment

Headlines

Traffic gridlock returns to Apapa port as Federal government closes Total bridge for maintainance works

The eyewitness reporter

The relative respite that port users have recently experienced from the malignant traffic gridlock at Apapa port may be over as the Federal Ministry of Works closed down the ever-busy Total bridge to the traffic.

Announcing the temporary closure which is expected to last for two and half months, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said the measure is to pave way for repairs and maintenance works to be carried out on the bridge.

According to the statement by the authority on its verified Twitter handle, the bridge was closed to the traffic inward Apapa Port Sunday, 26th March 2023 at about 11.35 pm.

To minimise the pains of the resumed traffic gridlock on the port access road, the NPA said it has put in place a traffic control mechanism that is expected to ease the pains of port road users.

The agency said it has partnered with LASMA, Police, FRSC and the Nigerian Navy to manage the traffic situation and work out alternative routes for motorists.

” To pave way for repair and maintenance works, the Federal ministry of works yesterday closed the TOTAL BRIDGE INWARD APAPA at about 11:35 am on 25th March 2023 to last for two months and a half.

“Given the impact the closure will have on Port users, the Authority in partnership with LASTMA, Police, FRSC, and the Nigerian Navy have worked out alternative routes and are on the ground to manage the traffic situation in the affected areas.

“The Authority wishes to solicit the understanding and cooperation of all stakeholders as we continue to support measures to mitigate the temporary disruptions, the NPA pleaded.

Headlines

NIMASA collaborates with NCC to regulate submarine cable operation for enhanced navigational safety on Nigerian waters

The eyewitness reporter

Apparently alarmed by the indiscriminate laying of communication cables and pipelines underneath the Nigerian waters by telecommunications operators and other allied professionals which has the potential of harming the safe navigation of ships, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA) has engaged the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in a strategic discussion to forge a formidable synergy with other relevant stakeholders with a view to developing a regulatory framework to provide operational guidelines for submarine Cable and Pipeline Operators in Nigeria.

Officials of both organs of Government in Lagos reached this agreement at a pre Audit meeting on submarine cable regulation.

The Director General of NIMASA Dr. Bashir Jamoh, who chaired the meeting, which also had the Director General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) Mr. Dasuki Arabi in attendance, noted that the Agency is committed to the Ease of Doing Business while implementing International Conventions which Nigeria has ratified and domesticated.

He noted that with Nigeria now a destination for global communication players, the time has come to prevent unregulated underwater cable laying, which might become hazardous to shipping.

According to him, “It is worthy to note that marine cable laying has been ongoing for over two decades in Nigerian waters.

“Our focus is to ensure the safety of navigation of shipping in Nigerian waters with all these underwater cables being laid.

“NIMASA is actually developing the guidelines to regulate submarine cable operators in line with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS; which we have ratified and NIMASA is the Agency of Government in Nigeria responsible for its implementation.

“We do not just implement laws; we consult. Where the responsibility of an Agency stops, that is where the responsibilities of another Agency start.

“Collaboration is a key component of ease of doing business in the best interest of the country and we will work closely with the NCC to achieve this”.

On his part, the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, who was represented by the Director, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement, Efosa Idehen, noted that the stakeholders’ dialogue strategy adopted by NIMASA in developing the guidelines would ensure a win-win situation, urging NIMASA management to include the Ministry of Justice, a request NIMASA DG immediately granted.

Also speaking at the meeting was the Director General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms Mr. Dasuki Arabi, who commended NIMASA and NCC for adopting effective Inter-Agency collaboration to avert a potential challenge for the country in the future.

NIMASA had notified submarine and cable operators in Nigeria of a soon-to-be-implemented regulatory guideline for submarine cables and pipelines in Nigeria, in line with the provisions of UNCLOS.

NIMASA and the NCC agreed to identify and resolve areas of likely regulatory overlaps, ensuring a regulatory framework based on consultation to engender the attainment of Nigeria’s digital economy transformation.

Officials of the Federal Ministry of Environment and representatives of Submarine Cable operators in Nigeria were also at the meeting.

Customs

Comptroller Nnadi mourns death of retired customs officer, DCG Sanusi

—–reminiscences on his encounter with late Customs boss

The eyewitness reporter

Comptroller Dera Nnadi, the Area Controller of the Seme Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, has expressed a deep sense of loss mixed with grief over the death of DCG (rtd) Umar Sanusi

The retired Customs boss died early hours of Sunday 26th, March 2023, at a private hospital in Abuja and will be buried according to Islamic rites the same day after Muslim prayer in the Abuja Central Mosque.

However, in an emotion-laden tribute to the late Customs boss, Nnadi bemoaned the death of Sanusi whom he said he admired and revered as a Customs officer.

Recounting his various encounters with the deceased, Nnadi disclosed that the late Sanusi came across to him as a fine, diligent, compassionate, thorough, and core professional officer who was humane, humble, and highly detribalized, the attributes which Comptroller Nnadi said had a deep impression on him

“It is with a heavy heart that I received the news of the death of DCG Rtd Umar Sanusi. A gentleman officer and an erudite Nigerian.

“My first encounter with the senior officer was in 2003 or so at the CGC conference in Calabar Cross River State, where, as an Assistant Comptroller of Customs, he presented a report as the APM Apapa Command.

“It was not common then to present papers and reports in PowerPoint, but he did. This was not the only remarkable thing he did at the conference.

“The then AC Sanusi was detailed in his report, which was a departure from what others presented.

“He was factual and honest and admitted it where things were wrong in NCS operations at Apapa Command and highlighted them in writing during his presentation.

“This was shocking to the entire audience as it was rare then for officers to admit that their acts while discharging their duties, were not optimal.

“Some attempt by the moderator to stop him was rebuffed by a lone voice.

“One man and indeed the Boss was that voice. The then CGC now Gbon Gwom Jos Da Elder Jacob Gyang Buba overruled everybody and urged him to continue and to even say more if he has facts.

“He gave him more time than the allotted 30 minutes. There was a pin-drop silence.

“AC Sanusi earned a place in the Service after that encounter. He also earned my admiration as a young Deputy Superintendent of Customs.

“Our path was to cross again when I was posted to Apapa prior to the commencement of the second phase of the NCS and NPA port reforms, which coincided in 2006.

” AC Sanusi was the APM and I was the PRO of the Command.

“The NCS reforms included migration from basic ASYCUDA to ASYCUDA 2.0, the use of the precursor to PAAR called Risk Assessment Report RAR, the introduction of e- Payment regime and the introduction of Non-Intrusive Cargo examination- Scanners all with Apapa Port as the pilot Command.

“On the other hand and going on simultaneously was the port concession which saw NPA handing over to private sector owners of the port facilities.

“The challenges then were enormous, but we survived all through DCG Sanusi’s diligence with the then Comptroller Rasheed Owolabi Taiwo.

“It was a milestone for me and indeed for the senior officer then AC Sanusi. I learnt a lot from him.

“Yet another remarkable encounter with DCG Sanusi was at the NCS Headquarters when he was appointed ACG Headquarters.

“I had gone to greet him and pay homage when he did the “unthinkable” at least in my little understanding of life then.

“After taking my compliments, he offered me a seat and of course, I refused to seat in his presence as an Assistant Comptroller out of courtesy.

“He said ‘Nnadi, I have observed that we are not close anymore and I think this is an opportunity for me to address it’. I was shocked and said it wasn’t so.

“What he said next shocked me. He said ” I know I offended you but I want to use this opportunity to apologise and request that you work closely with me. As ACG HQ, I will need you around me since you are in SR&P”.

“I responded that I did not know that he offended me being his junior who respect and admire him. He said I should never mind.

“He offered me a gift, stepped out, shook my hands and gave me a hug.

“I left his office confused, overwhelmed with emotions and thereafter held in greater esteem and awe. His loss is a personal one to me.

“Farewell DCG Umar Sanusi. NCS and indeed Nigeria lost a gem” Nnadi sobbed.

The deceased, Sanusi, who retired in 2019 as DCG, Human Resources Department, died after a brief illness in the early hours of Sunday, 26th March 2023.

Sanusi was earlier appointed Assistant Comptroller General Customs (ACG), Headquarters by Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), in 2015 before he was promoted to DCG in 2018.

Announcing his death, the Public Relations Officer, PTML command of the Service, SC Yakubu Muhammed said

“With heavy heart,i notify us of the demise of DCG AU Sanusi(Rtd).

“He passed on about an hour ago at a private hospital in Abuja. The Janaza prayers hold after the Zuhr prayers (1 pm) at the National Mosque, Abuja In Shaa Allah,”