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Nigeria seeks intervention of Denmark to end war risk insurance surcharge on Nigeria- bound cargo

– as NIMASA reaffirms commitment to capacity building for  Nigerian maritime journalists.

Funso OLOJO 
The Nigerian government through the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has reiterated its call for the end to the war risk insurance surcharge slammed on Nigeria- bound cargo by international shipping cartel.
War risk insurance in Nigeria’s maritime industry protects against losses from events like piracy, armed robbery, and terrorism.
The Nigerian government has called for the removal of war risk insurance premiums on Nigerian-bound vessels.
The surcharge was instituted by the international shipping companies during the hay days of heightened piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and militancy in the Niger Delta region of the country.
However, several years down the line, the Niger Delta restiveness had completely stopped while the piracy in the Gulf of Guinea had substantially been scaled down through the efforts of Nigerian government.
However, despite these changes and the global campaign of Nigeria to end the surcharge, the international shipping companies have refused to stop it.
However, the Director – General of NIMASA, Dr Dayo Mobereola, renewed the clamour of the country for the removal of the surcharge when he was playing host to the delegation from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the agency’s headquarters on Thursday, March 6th, 2025.
The Danish team has come to NIMASA to deepen its capacity training initiative with the agency.
Dr Mobereola, who was represented by Executive Director, Finance and Administration of the agency, Chudi Offodile, requested the Danish government and the international community to intervene and prevail on the international shipping cartel to end the surcharge, given the commitment and huge investments made by Nigeria to maritime security and the relative peace in the Gulf of Guinea.

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According to him, Nigeria has invested a huge resources into the maritime security in the country and the region through its Deep Blue Project that has decapitated piracy and armed robbery in the region.
Mobereola declared that the international shipping community owes the country a duty by reciprocating its gesture towards the commitment to security in the region by removing the war risk insurance surcharge.
” Given the commitment of NIMASA and the Federal government to maritime security that ensured almost zero incidents of piracy and armed robbery within the Gulf of Guinea in the last four to five years, there is absolutely no reason for the current war risk insurance premium on Nigeria- bound cargo.
” We expect that the surcharge ought to have gone.
” With the cooperation we seek with the Danish government, we expect that the war risk insurance premium and freight costs and other related issues will have to be addressed by the international community” Mobereola declared.
However, the Head of the Danish delegation, Kristin Skov- Spilling, who is the Special Technical Director of Evaluation, Leaning and Quality in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, declared that there is little or nothing the government of Denmark could do on the war risk insurance premium because the insurance companies are private entities.
Chudi Offodile expressed disappointment at the response of the Danish delegation team leader, saying such distinction does not make sense.
” When sanctions come from Europe, America or the international community, they come from their governments.
” But when we seek some response from them considering investment we had made and concrete achievements recorded ,they now say insurance companies are private companies.
” That distinction doesn’t make sense. It is clear to the world that we have done our bit and the world must respond” the NIMASA chief insisted.
Meanwhile, NIMASA have reaffirmed its commitment to capacity building for maritime journalists and have sought the collaboration of the Danish government in this regard.
It would be recalled the Danish government sponsored the training of some Nigerian Maritime journalists through Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre( KAIPTC)  in Lagos in 2023.
The Danish team was in NIMASA where it interacted with some of the beneficiaries of the training for feedbacks on the 2023 capacity training.
However, Offodile, who was apparently impressed by the feedback he got from the KAIPTC students, pledged that NIMASA will continue to explore ways to train more journalists in maritime security.
He said since the 2023 training, the level of reporting of maritime industry has been elevated as the trainees have brought what they learned on their reportage.
Offodile therefore urged the Danish government to continue with the initiative which he said NIMASA would support and sustain.
The Danish team will also go to other African countries where the Danish government has such capacity building programme.
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Customs

How NPA’ s ETO call- up system hampers seamless export processes at Lilypond Terminal — Customs

Funso OLOJO 
The Customs Area Controller of the Lilypond Export Command, Comptroller Ajibola Odusanya, has attributed the persistent delay in export cargo movement at the command to logistics issues associated with the Nigerian Port Authority’s Eto call-up system, rather than any bottlenecks from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Eto call- up system is a structured movement of container- laden trucks into the terminals meant to decongest Port access road and facilitate quick goods clearance at the port.
It was developed by the NPA and driven by a private company.
However, Comptroller Odusanya, speaking at a Roundtable with members of Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN),emphasized that while the command has streamlined the export process,  lack of available slots for trucks to enter the ports remains a major challenge.
 He noted that despite the command’s efforts, numerous containers remain stranded at Lilypond due to the inability of trucks to secure clearance under the Eto system.
He explained that prior to the implementation of a centralized export processing system, multiple customs units across Apapa, Tin Can, PTML, and Lekki ports handled export documentation.
However, in July 2024, the government directed the full centralization of all export processes under the Lilypond Export Command.
This move, driven by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and backed by agencies such as the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), was aimed at streamlining operations and reducing multiple checkpoints.
Odusanya revealed that between January and December 2024, the command processed exports valued at approximately $1.9 billion, a figure that could have been higher if the consolidation had occurred earlier in the year.
He added that in February 2025 alone, the command facilitated exports worth $225.1 million.
He attributed these successes to inter-agency collaboration, with Customs working alongside the Department of State Services (DSS), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and quarantine services, among others.
Despite the improved export facilitation, Odusanya acknowledged that challenges persist, particularly with the Eto call-up system, which has created logistical constraints.
 He explained that export containers often get delayed at Lilypond not due to customs processes but because of congestion at the ports, caused by import containers awaiting clearance.
He pointed out that while Apapa remains the busiest port for exports, the congestion problem is less severe at Tin Can due to the presence of an export processing terminal.
On the issue of the Nigerian Export Proceeds (NXP) form, Odusanya stated that the command has ensured compliance with all regulatory requirements.
 He, however, acknowledged exporters’ concerns about the process and assured that Customs is working to facilitate seamless trade while ensuring adherence to financial regulations.
He urged maritime stakeholders, including the media, to continue sensitizing exporters on the ease of processing export goods through Lilypond, emphasizing that the command operates transparently and does not condone extortion.
He reiterated that officers at the entry points are strictly there to verify processed cargo and not to serve as an additional checkpoint.
Odusanya concluded by reaffirming the commitment of the Lilypond Export Command to supporting Nigeria’s growing export sector, ensuring efficiency in cargo movement, and addressing any emerging challenges in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
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Economy

Dangote group remits N402.3 billion tax to government coffers in 2024

Gloria Odion 
The Pan African Conglomerate, Dangote Industries Limited and its subsidiaries, have disclosed that it paid over N402 billion in taxes in 2024, making it the highest taxpayer in the country.
Dangote’s Chief Branding and Communication Officer, Anthony Chiejina, declared during a meeting with some senior media executives who visited him in his Lagos Office.
He said Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) and its subsidiaries, namely, Dangote Cement, NASCON, Dangote Packaging Limited among others, remitted a total of N402.319billion for the out-gone year as taxes as responsible business enterprises.
Recall that Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) had in late 2024 recognised  Dangote group and its subsidiary, Bluestar Shipping as the most tax compliant organizations in the country during its Special Day at the 2024 Lagos International Trade Fair organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
The Federal Inland Revenue Service is Nigeria’s agency responsible for assessing, collecting and accounting for tax and other revenues accruing to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Chiejina told his visitors that as a responsible business organisation, DIL and its subsidiaries have never shieded away from its obligations either to the government in the form of tax payment at all levels or to host communities in the form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
According to him, the Group’s corporate strategy has evolved just as its businesses have grown, matured and diversified into new sectors and regions over the last four decades.
He noted that Dangote Group has almost single-handedly taken Nigeria to self-sufficiency in cement and refined petroleum products and is expanding rapidly across Africa.
Dangote Group and its subsidiaries were recognised as number one most compliant in tax payment in the country, just as its subsidiary Dangote Cement, the country’s leading cement manufacturer, at another occasion won three awards at the FMDQ Gold Awards in Lagos as the most active business in the Foreign Exchange market.
Dangote Cement Plc was adjudged as the Largest Commercial Paper Quotation on FMDQ and Single Largest Corporate Debt Issue on FMDQ.
 Also, Dangote Industries Ltd also emerged as the “Most active corporate in the foreign exchange market”.
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Headlines

NIWA Chairman charges Oyebamiji to phase out wooden boats from Nigeria’s waterways

Funso OLOJO 
The newly appointed Chairman of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Hon.Musa Sarkin-Adar, has charged the management team of the Authority led by its Managing Director, Bola Oyebamiji, to phase out wooden boats from Nigeria’s waterways.
Musa Sarkin-Adar, who paid a
 familiarization visit to the management team of NIWA in its Abuja liaison office, in a bid to minimize boat mishaps on the waterways.
He believed it would be a lasting legacy for the present leadership of NIWA if accidents could be minimized on the Waterways.
The Chairman’s advice is however in alignment with the NIWA’ s resolve to stamp out wooden and rickety boats on waterways.
However, Musa Sarkin-Adar further encouraged the NIWA team to do more in connecting other states in the water transportation.
He emphasized on the need for the involvement of the private sector in the development of water transportation, as government cannot do it alone.
In his response, Oyebamiji expressed appreciation for the visit and encouraging words of the chairman and pledged the commitment of of NIWA management to make the nation’s waterways safe and secure.
Oyebamiji also commended the efforts of his management team in the development of the Inland Waterways
Transportation sub-sector.
According to him, he is blessed with an experienced and dedicated team which he cannot take the glory alone.
The Chairman’s visit was attended by all the management staff of the Authority.
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