Monday Discourse with Ibrahim Nasiru

When a policy looks beautiful in an Abuja press release but stalls completely on the port floor, look closely at who controls the practical flow of trade.

The ongoing battle over the National Single Window (NSW) isn’t a technical issue; it is a structural hostage situation.

And the bitter truth that nobody wants to say out loud is this: even with an independent Steering Committee and a functional support office in Apapa, the success of this digital window still relies on forcing the chief gatekeepers of our manual tollgates to surrender their empires.

History does not lie, and those with deep institutional memory know this movie very well.

We watched it during the Obasanjo era when the first serious conversations about a unified electronic trade window began.

We watched it when Rotimi Amaechi assumed duty as Transport Minister; he aggressively broke through the bureaucratic red tape to deliver the Deep Blue maritime security project and scaled our railway infrastructure, but his head hit a brick wall the moment he tried to enforce the Single Window.

We watched it again when Hadiza Bala Usman used every ounce of her administrative capital to push for automation, only to be systematically frustrated by a Customs hierarchy that treats manual paperwork as an untouchable birthright.

The plain reality is that these age-old, desk-to-desk procedures are not just administrative inefficiencies—they are fully entrenched strongholds.

Bypassing them means engaging in a direct duel with powerful bureaucratic interests who will deploy every administrative weapon available to protect their multi-billion Naira manual empires.

The mechanics of this trap are further complicated by a massive procurement chain trap controlled by insider collaborators.

These powerful individuals along the procurement line are completely uninterested in acquiring top-notch global systems with a proven track record of seamless delivery to users.

Instead, they actively hunt for complex, opaque IT systems that deliver the right returns to contractors and their own deep pockets, leaving the end-users with compromised, glitch-ridden platforms that preserve the old status quo.

While the Organised Private Sector—the real wealth creators like the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), NACCIMA, and the various Chambers of Commerce—are desperately screaming for digital efficiency to bring down food inflation, a highly coordinated cartel of licensed customs agents secretly enjoys the manual chaos.

Chaos is their business model.

Physical, human interaction is where the compromise happens, where demurrage accumulates, and where under-the-table settlements are negotiated at the expense of national growth.

Every day, a container is delayed by a manual desk, ordinary Nigerians pay for it at the market square.

To expect the field bureaucracy of the Nigeria Customs Service to willingly bow to an external committee is a complete delusion.

Left to their own devices, they can drag their feet on API data integration, cite constant network failures, or engineer deliberate technical “glitches” to stall the rollout on the Port floor.

It will simply end in the classic “either our way or no way at all” Nigerian syndrome, rendering the Apapa support office an expensive, empty monument to a dead dream.

If the President genuinely wants the National Single Window to see the light of day, he cannot rely on the “cooperation” of the agencies it is designed to discipline.

It is not enough for FIRS or the NSIA to manage the server.

This project must be driven with an iron fist directly from the cockpit of the Presidency, backed by independent technocrats, and enforced by strong-willed executive administrators who answer only to the Commander-in-Chief.

You do not ask a cartel to peacefully integrate into a security system designed to watch its own bank.

Until the Presidency strictly polices and enforces absolute compliance on the Port floor, Nigeria’s international trade remains a hostage to convenience.

Chief Ibrahim Nasiru, a public affairs Analyst, writes from Abuja

Gloria Odion, Maritime reporter

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has launched its Management Information System (MIS) File Tracker at the Port and Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML) Area Command, using the command as the pilot location for the new digital initiative.

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, described the deployment as part of the Service’s commitment to deepening the use of technology to improve personnel administration and enhance the speed and efficiency of document processing.

Represented at the launch by the Deputy Comptroller-General in charge of ICT/Modernisation, DCC Oluyomi Adebakin, the CGC said the initiative marks another milestone in the Service’s expanding modernisation agenda, which is focused on deploying digital solutions to improve operational efficiency, strengthen transparency and facilitate seamless trade.

Adebakin reaffirmed the Nigeria Customs Service’s commitment to leveraging technology to transform its operations and improve service delivery.

She noted that, as the architect of several landmark digital initiatives, including the Nigeria Trade Portal and the Customs Verification Management System, the deployment of the MIS File Tracker further demonstrates the Service’s resolve to embrace innovation in line with global best practices.

According to her, the introduction of the MIS File Tracker will further consolidate PTML Command’s reputation as a hub of innovation within the Service through features designed to simplify administrative processes and improve efficiency.

She explained that the MIS is an enterprise-wide platform for Customs administrative processes, serving as a Single Sign-On (SSO) application that enables a unified data set to be accessed and utilised across all departments.

Adebakin urged officers to maximise the platform for key administrative functions, including leave and pass applications, file tracking, duty roster management, internal staff orders, nominal roll management and other administrative processes.

She added that the platform also provides channels for users to submit feedback on areas requiring modifications, additional features and further improvements.

She said the deployment is expected to streamline internal workflows, reduce reliance on manual processes and support data-driven decision-making across the Service.

PTML Area Command, widely regarded as one of the most technologically advanced commands in the Nigeria Customs Service, has consistently served as the pilot location for several digital transformation projects, including the Unified Customs Management System (UCMS), also known as B’Odogwu.

Speaking at the event, the Acting Controller of PTML Area Command, Deputy Comptroller Nura Miko, expressed confidence in the command’s ability to successfully implement the new system and serve as a model for Customs innovation nationwide.

Miko said the command is fully committed to maximising all technology-driven trade facilitation initiatives introduced by the Customs management.

He thanked the Comptroller-General for his confidence in the command’s capacity to deliver and disclosed that efforts are underway to reduce the cargo clearance time for compliant Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo) cargoes from the current two hours to just one hour.

Describing the MIS File Tracker as another bold step in the Service’s digital transformation journey, Miko pledged that the PTML Area Command would justify the confidence reposed in it by ensuring the successful implementation of the system from the pilot phase through full deployment.

Funso OLOJO, Editor

The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has pledged to strengthen its partnership with the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) to enhance safety and reduce the incidence of boat accidents across the country’s inland waterways.

The commitment was made by the Acting Managing Director of NIWA, Malam Umar Yusuf Girei, when he received the Director-General of NSIB, Captain Alex Sabundu Badeh Jnr., during a courtesy visit to the NIWA headquarters in Lokoja, Kogi State, on Tuesday, July 21st, 2026.

Girei said the renewed collaboration would focus on information sharing, joint operations and closer institutional cooperation aimed at addressing the persistent challenge of boat mishaps on Nigeria’s waterways.

He stressed that effective collaboration among relevant agencies is essential to improving navigation safety and protecting lives and property.

“NIWA is dedicated to strengthening partnerships with sister agencies to improve safety standards and enforce regulations for safer water transportation in Nigeria,” he said.

The Acting Managing Director assured the NSIB of NIWA’s readiness to provide relevant information, technical expertise and operational support to facilitate prompt investigation of marine incidents and the implementation of preventive measures to minimise future accidents.

In his remarks, the Director-General of NSIB, Captain Alex Sabundu Badeh Jnr., said the visit was intended to reinforce the existing relationship between the two agencies and identify new areas of collaboration in accident investigation, data sharing and the promotion of safety standards.

The meeting underscores the growing efforts by both agencies to improve safety oversight on Nigeria’s inland waterways amid recurring boat accidents, with greater emphasis on coordinated investigations, information exchange and proactive measures to prevent future tragedies.