In a bid to resolve so many issues bothering on ease of operation at the nation’s ports, freight forwarders and transporters have agreed to collaborate for a seamless port operation.
Speaking at a meeting initiated by the Association of Concerned Freight Forwarders and Transporters (ACFF&T) in Apapa, Lagos, the Vice President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olusegun Oduntan, noted that the problems being faced by freight forwarders and transporters are artificial and human made.
Oduntan stated categorically that the problems are between Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), operators of ETO and some unscrupulous non-state actors.
The ANLCA Vice President enjoined the gathering to find solution to the lingering problems.
Reiterating how bad things are in the port industry at the moment, Oduntan said:
“Let me tell you, if the transporters will agree to work together with us, if we agree to work with one another, the template we should be talking about here is that we (the freight forwarders) should be the ones to give truckers access to the port not any other group or persons. If you don’t have any thing to do in the port, you don’t have to be on that road.”
The National President, African Association of Professional Freight Forwarders & Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON), Otunba Frank Ogunojemite, spoke on the need to speak with one voice in order to end anti-trade practices at the ports.
The General Secretary, ACFF&T, Hon. John Ubaka had at an earlier meeting outlined the challenges facing both the freight forwarders and transporters, saying that what the group needed were coherence and understanding to harmonize things and unitedly work together to tackle the challenges.
Ubaka reminded the those at the meeting that the situation has gone so bad that even the drivers and transporters are been fought due to the hike in the cost of loading.
He accused the authorities of using camp boys in the loading bays and thereafter forcing the agents to pay for the illegal services of those illegally employed boys when such services should free.
He pleaded with the various associations that made up the ACFF&T for cooperation and synergy between the freight forwarders and Transporters, highlighting the importance of all of them coming together to solve these pressing issues.
The Director ACFF&T, Alhaji Yusuf Danladi was not happy at the whole situation, saying something must be done and immediately to remedy the situation.
The group however criticized the activities of Truck Transit Park Limited, the managers and collaborators with the Nigerian ports Authority, NPA in the management of the allegedly abused Electronic Call-Up System, ETO, saying the whole deal was an arrangement between the NPA and managers of ETO to extort money from port operators.
Arguing further that if that is not their plan what stop the system from working electronically as it supposed, a situation where nobody would have any physical contact with those managers and the trucks would freely and seamlessly exit the port. But regrettably the thing has been turned to be a source inducement, bribery and extortion against the freight forwarders and transporters.
Comrade Gray Ezeala, the Chairman Apapa chapter of the AMATO lamented about what their drivers and truck owners go through in the hands of port officials.
He summed it up as ineffeciency of the port officials, maintaining that there are numerous cases of drivers and truck owners being arrested due to demurrage caused not by them but by containers, staying too long on the trucks along the highways.
Mr. Ezeala also spoke on the issue of container diversion which he emphasized needed stringent measures to stop.
The Apapa chapter chairman of AMATO informed the meeting that his group, as an association, has already embarked on the stricter measures to curb such menace in the transport subsector of the maritime industry.
He therefore reiterated the importance of freight forwarders and transporters coming together to form a formidable body that would tackle these challenges confronting them.
Still lamenting on the level of extortions going in the port industry, Alhaji Bello Ridwan noted equally that the regulatory bodies and authorities are involved in extortions.
“Yes, they have been extorting money from freight forwarders and transporters. He called those involved in this as touts or ‘State Actors’, who stop transporters at random to collect money ranging from 100,000 and above, thereby adding to the cost of doing business in the ports and cost of living.
He emphasized the need to create a database software where all trucks and drivers can be easily identified, adding that it would go a long way to solving most of these problems.
Comrade Alogo Ogbogo, Executive Secretary of National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO on his own attributed the whole problem to what he called ‘System Failure’.
According to Ogbogo, looking at how they are being treated by the authorities and the importance of freight forwarders in the cargo transportation and logistics business, stated that if they (freight forwarders) refuse to clear goods and unanimously demand certain measures to be put in place and block the terminals with congestion, the government would intervene and bring things to order.
PHOTO: From left, General Secretary, ACFF&T, Hon. John Ubaka, President, Chief Andy Bestman and Deputy President, Hon. Ndubuisi Uzoegbo at the meeting in Apapa, Lagos.