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NSW: a platform of pains, tears as importers, agents recount bitter experiences

Funso OLOJO,  Editor
The National Single Window (NSW), a digitalized single trade platform meant to be a one- stop- shop for faster and seemless platform for goods clearance at the Nigerian ports, is gradually turning into a single window of pains, tears and lamentation for the trading public.
Initiated by the Federal government to boost trade facilitation at the ports through harmonization of all the trading platforms and their agencies into one single platform, the NSW was launched with fanfare on March 24th, 2026.
Its launch was met with expectations and high hopes by importers, exporters and the clearing agents who believed and hoped the digital platform will put an end to delays in good clearance, enhance faster and seemless cargo clearance and lead to reduced cost of doing business at the ports.
However , the reverse has been the case ever since the digital platform went live on March 27th, 2026.
It has been a tale of woes and lamentation from the members of the trading public who claimed the platform, which was supposed to enhance their transactions, has come to distort the clearing process it is meant to improve.
The introduction of the platform has triggered system glitches which have made it difficult for transactions and entries to be uploaded on the NSW platform in real time, thereby trapping goods at the ports that are daily accumulating demurrages.
For the little entries being uploaded on the portal, it has been marked by long and agonizing delays with attendant costs.
At the one -day seminar organized by a group of maritime journalists under the aegis of Media Anti-Corruption Initiative (MACI) held on Wednesday, April 15th, 2026 in Lagos, participants came hard on the NWS steering committee Chairman, Dr Zacch Adedeji, the project  National coordinator, Tola Fakolade and the whole team for poor preparations and sensitisation of stakeholders.
They claimed that if adequate trials of the new single electronic platform was done, all the so -called teething problems which have now hobbled the performance and efficiency of the new initiative could have been identified and resolved before the launch date.
” But because they are more interested in keeping to the first quarter of 2026 deadline given to them by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, they paid little attention to details” one of the speakers at the seminar alledged.
At the MACI seminar, under the theme: National Single Window: Strategies to avert failure, importers, exporters and customs licensed agents recounted their unpalatable experiences under the NSW regime.
Alhaji Akeem Adebayo Ayobiojo, a freight forwarder and one of the speakers at the event, gave a vivid details of the agonizing delays they were being subjected to under the NSW .
He disclosed that at NAFDAC and SON offices, two of the government agencies operating under the NSW, there is a backlog of documents waiting to be uploaded  on the NSW platform.
For instance, he said there are more than 5,000 SON CAPS certificates waiting to be uploaded into NSW platform.
“As Customs Licensed Agents and freight forwarders, we know what we have experienced and still experiencing under the NSW project.
” We have been having issues of uploading our documents of NAFDAC and SON on the NSW platform.
” Last week Monday, I and my colleague went to SON office to go and lodge complaint about our inability to upload our SONCAP certificate on the NSW platform and we were told that they have over 5,000 such documents in their system waiting to be uploaded on the NSW platform.
“We could not upload the document until Thursday , about a week delay.
“We have similar issue with NAFDAC. We went to NAFDAC office at Oshodi where they directed us to their Yaba office and they  told us that  they have similar delays.
“NAFDAC had  to create a special platform in their office where they collate the backlog of documents meant to be uploaded on NSW platform.
“It took us days before we could also upload our NAFDAC documents on NSW platform.
” This has been the daily occurrence since the project commenced as we experience delays, demurrages .
” There are other challenges like that which we are still grappling with under the NSW on daily basis” Alhaji Ayobiojo declared in an agonizing voice.
Dr Segun Musa, a frontline importer, freight forwarder and the National President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders( NAGAFF) pointed out that lack of proper training and capacity building by NSW project team has caused the present hardship being experienced by members of the trading public.
Dr Musa, who spoke through his representative, Dr Mark Onuchi, in his lead paper at the seminar, expressed fears that if these issues are not tackled with all seriousness they deserve, the NSW project might be ‘dead on arrival’.
” Neglecting these basics had spelt dooms for many such initiatives.
“As UNCTAD reports warn, about 70 percent of trade facilitation efforts falter when training and capacity are inadequate.
“We cannot afford Nigeria’s NSW to be “dead on arrival”, he warned.
To make the NSW succeds, Musa advised that government should prioritize system and infrastructure upgrade, training of key personnel such as port managers, customs officers and other relevant stakeholders.
“A holistic reform is required to aggressively champion the needed impact if Nigeria must succeed.
“To avert failure, we must master the fundamentals. First, training state actors is crucial.
“Trade facilitation literature shows inadequate training underlies the
majority of failed implementations (UNCTAD, 2022).
“Customs officials, port managers and other key personnel need in-depth, hands-on workshops on the
new system’s functions.
“Second, a holistic policy framework is required. Our NSW  must integrate customs, ports, health, environment and industry regulations.
“Evidence suggests that integrated policy reforms can boost trade throughput by roughly 20–30 percent.
“Without alignment (e.g., contradictory agency rules), delays will persist despite new software.
“Third, infrastructure readiness is non-negotiable. In Africa, fragmented road and logistics networks already impose a heavy toll – on the order of ~2% of GDP
annually.
“Nigeria loses a significant portion of potential growth to bottlenecks at
ports, roads, and power supply.
“We must parallel NSW software with physical upgrades: reliable broadband at every border checkpoint, 24/7 electricity at processing centers, and sufficient warehousing at ports.
” Fourth, system automation and interoperability must be end-to-end”
” The time to act is now: let us invest in training, integrate our policies, build robust infrastructure, digitize end-to- end, and enforce integrity.
“By doing so, we will ensure the Single Window is not just launched, but launched for success” Dr Musa observed.
The Customs representative at the event expressed fears that if these delays as being experienced by the freight forwarders under the NSW persist, it may affect the capacity of the Customs to meet its 2026 revenue target.
These delays have trapped some cargoes at the terminals where they are daily accumulating demurrages.
The NSW team led by its Steering committee Chairman, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, had last week sought the intervention of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to prevail on the terminal operators to waive demurrages on the cargoes caught in the system glitches triggered by the NSW.
Stakeholders at the MACI event confirmed that they are yet to see the impart of such appeal as the terminal operators are yet to acceed to the request of the NSW team for waivers.
PTML, one of the terminal operators, has unequivocally told the project team that its request for waivers will only be processed to determine the category of cargo that will enjoy the grace as the terminal was not ready to grant blanket waivers.
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Analyses

The invisible toll gates:Why National Single Window is Nigeria’s ultimate economic battleground

Monday Discourse with  Ibrahim Nasiru
Walk into any market in Nigeria today, from the commercial hubs of Lagos to the roadside stalls in Yola, and ask why a bag of rice or an imported spare part costs three times what it did last year.
The typical public commentator will blame global inflation, floating currencies, or macro-economic shocks.
But those who understand logistics know the real truth lies buried under layers of paper, manual stamps, and artificial delays at our seaports.
Nigeria’s international trade is suffocating not from a lack of deep water, but from a deliberate design of convenience.
The recent operational rollout of the National Single Window (NSW) has triggered behind-the-scenes panic among Port cartels, and for good reason.
For decades, keeping our clearing processes fragmented, manual, and dependent on desk-to-desk human interaction was the perfect business model for syndicates.
When cargo dwell times drag on for 21 days, those delays are money in the pockets of the gatekeepers and a death sentence for local businesses.
Let us look at the raw field realities. The push by the Nigeria Customs Service to aggressively crash clearance times down to global 48-hour standards is meeting fierce internal resistance.
Why? Because a unified digital ecosystem means you cannot easily manipulate documentation, hide illicit cargo, or demand “mobilization fees” before signing off a container.
The outcry and protests from certain freight-forwarding syndicates aren’t about technical glitches; they are about the sudden closure of invisible toll gates.
This is exactly why governance at our national gateways can no longer be left to the mercy of transactional bureaucratic habits.
Building deep-sea infrastructure like Lekki Port is a massive physical achievement, but concrete and cranes are useless if the administrative processes at the gate remain backward.
 Real structural reform requires turning our Ports into automated, friction-free pipelines that prioritize production over rent-seeking.
If Nigeria wants to survive this fiscal squeeze, the National Single Window cannot just be treated as another glossy IT project launched in Abuja.
 It requires unyielding administrative enforcement to completely dismantle the corrupt cartels managing the manual desk chains.
The invisible toll gates at our Ports must be completely demolished, and that exact same structural discipline must be scaled across our border stations and trade corridors.
The era of managing international trade with 20th-century paper trails is dying. The future belongs to the builders of automated, transparent systems.
Chief Ibrahim Nasiru, a public affairs analyst,  writes from Abuja 
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Headlines

NANTA Exco embarks on seven-day Ghana retreat, fam trip to deepen regional tourism partnership

Gloria Odion, Reporter

The National Executive Council (NEC) of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) has commenced a seven-day executive retreat and familiarisation (fam) trip to Ghana, hosted by Safari World, as part of efforts to strengthen regional tourism partnerships and expand cross-border travel opportunities.

The NANTA delegation was received at Safari World Homes in Accra by the Chairman of the Safari World Group, Mr. Ernest Gyekye, who expressed delight at hosting the Nigerian travel trade leaders.

He assured the delegation of a memorable experience throughout their week-long stay.

Speaking on the significance of the visit, NANTA President, Mr. Yinka Folami, described the retreat and familiarisation tour as a strategic initiative aimed at fostering stronger business relationships and promoting collaborative tourism development across Africa.

“This mission is not a leisure trip,” Folami said. “It is a deliberate step to implement and expand our association’s marketing advocacy for Nigerian brands across borders.”

He noted that Nigeria and Ghana share deep historical, cultural and commercial ties that should be leveraged to drive tourism growth on the continent.

“Nigeria and Ghana share history, culture, trade and people. The future of our tourism cannot be built in silos,” he said.

“This retreat is about moving from policy to practice—creating real products, real partnerships and real movement of travellers between Accra and Lagos.”

As part of the programme, the NANTA executives will engage in strategic business-to-business (B2B) meetings with their Ghanaian counterparts, tour key tourism destinations under the Safari World brand, and participate in cultural exchange activities designed to promote stronger bilateral tourism cooperation.

The itinerary spans Safari World’s three flagship destinations, including Safari Homes in Accra, the Aqua Safari riverfront experience, Safari Island Cruise, Safari Nautica, and Safari Recreation and Sports facilities in Ada, as well as the Safari Valley Eco Resort and Safari Eco Park in Dawu.

Operating under the brand promise, “One World, Three Destinations, Over 20 Unique Experiences,” Safari World is leveraging the visit to strengthen its footprint in the Nigerian travel market while positioning Ghana as a premier destination for leisure tourism, conferences, group travel, family holidays and premium tourism experiences.

A major highlight of the visit will be the Executive Dinner scheduled for July 21 at the Safari Valley Eco Resort, where key stakeholders from Nigeria and Ghana’s tourism industries will deliberate on strategies for deepening travel trade and advancing regional tourism development.

The familiarisation tour is expected to provide NANTA’s leadership with first-hand knowledge of Safari World’s tourism offerings, paving the way for the development of attractive travel packages and stronger business partnerships that will benefit Nigerian travellers and the wider West African tourism industry.

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Customs

Ogun Customs spurns claims of Smugglers’ takeover of Idiroko–Sango Ota trading Route

Funso OLOJO, Editor

The Ogun I Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has dismissed as false reports alleging that smugglers had taken over the Idiroko–Sango Ota trading route in Ogun State, describing the claims as a deliberate misrepresentation of a traffic incident.
In a statement issued by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Customs (SC) Chado, the Command clarified that the traffic gridlock on the route resulted from the breakdown of an articulated commercial trailer after it fell into a badly deteriorated section of Atan Road, temporarily obstructing the free flow of traffic.
According to the Command, the vehicles caught in the ensuing congestion were legitimate commercial trucks transporting red palm oil to various local markets and had no connection whatsoever with smuggling activities.
It explained that the large number of heavy-duty trucks trapped in the gridlock may have led some members of the public to wrongly conclude that smugglers had taken over the road.
“The reports that smugglers blocked the road are inaccurate. The disruption resulted from a road accident and poor road conditions. The vehicles involved were lawful commercial vehicles transporting red palm oil for legitimate trade,” Chado stated.
The Command urged journalists, social media users and the general public to verify information before disseminating reports capable of creating unnecessary panic or undermining public confidence in security agencies.
Observers within the border trade sector noted that the allegation does not reflect the prevailing security situation within the Ogun I Area Command, where anti-smuggling operations have been intensified under the leadership of the Acting Customs Area Controller, Comptroller O.O. Afeni.
Since assuming office, Comptroller Afeni has strengthened intelligence-driven surveillance, enhanced collaboration with other security agencies and host communities, and sustained pressure on economic saboteurs operating along the Ogun border corridors.
These measures, according to stakeholders, have resulted in significant seizures of prohibited goods and reinforced the Command’s resolve to safeguard Nigeria’s economy and territorial integrity.
Maritime and border trade stakeholders also cautioned against the spread of unverified information capable of undermining the efforts of security personnel or creating a false impression of lawlessness in border communities.
They stressed that while combating smuggling remains an ongoing responsibility, responsible and accurate reporting is equally critical to ensuring that operational achievements are not overshadowed by misinformation.
The Ogun I Area Command reaffirmed its commitment to sustaining its anti-smuggling campaign while facilitating legitimate cross-border trade in line with the statutory mandate of the Nigeria Customs Service.

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