Presidency seeks viable blueprint from Shippers’ Council

A new directive has been given to port economic regulator, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), by the Presidency to produce a viable blueprint for maximum exploitation of the economic potentials of the maritime industry.


The directive was given in Abuja during a maritime seminar for judges, when stakeholders urged the government to allow the council to transform into the proposed National Transport Commission (NTC) in view of the impact made as a regulator in the last two and a half years.

President Buhari had said in his speech at the seminar that the council had lived up to its appointment as a seaport regulator created to complete the port reforms, encourage transparency, revenue generation, efficiency, competitiveness and economic viability of the seaports.

Also, stakeholders said that the council had been able to provide a level playing field for all the port users in the seaport sector and had acted as an unbiased umpire, which has given everybody a shoulder to lean on.

They said that the Ministry of Transportation should lobby the National Assembly to ensure the passage of the National Transport Commission Bill that would give the council the power of enforcement to discharge its responsibilities.

The Chairman of the Ports Consultative Council (PCC), Otunba Kunle Folarin, said that NSC had discharged its functions as an economic regulator professionally.

Echoing him, the President of the African Freight Forwarders Association (AFFA), Chief Lexczy Nwangwu, noted that the council had almost completed work on a standard tariff system that would facilitate the reduction of tariff in seaport sector to between 30 and 40 per cent.

The Founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Chief Boniface Aniebonam, said that the council had added value to the seaport sector as well as the operations of the stakeholders.

According to him, the NSC had made Nigerian ports the preferred destination for other ports in the West and Central Africa sub region. The Executive Secretary of the council, Barrister Hassan Bello, explained that the council had tried to address the anomalies in the port system, which had hindered the economy from enjoying the gains of the port reforms .

He said that the NSC had been able to tackle arbitrary and illegal charges imposed on port users by the concessionaires and foreign shipping lines agencies when it reduced their charges in 2014.