Maritime operator says there have been several complaints of inefficiency.
Speaking in an interview on the challenges in the sector and how it can contribute meaningfully to the economy, Jide Taiwo, the CEO of Ocean and Cargo Limited, a maritime services and logistics firm, said there have been several complaints of inefficiency at the nation’s seaport. He said that while factors that contribute to the inefficiencies at Nigerian seaports are many, the infrastructure is one of them. Presently, the roads into and out of the seaports need to be built and completed.
The situation delays the processes of transporting cleared goods out of the port environment, which causes a lot of delays for imported goods. It makes it difficult for the goods to leave the port and also results in expensive transportation services which, in the long run, put additional costs on the goods. He also says that the industry needs to incorporate full automation of the clearing process at seaports. He says that this will make the clearing system efficient and fast.
Taiwo says there is a need for automation systems.
The maritime officer acknowledges that the industry needs to implement full automation to make the process seamless and easy for everyone. According to him, if the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) introduces a 100-percent automated clearing system, there will be a reduction in the clearing time as well as the crowd and daily traffic and population at the seaport. In the long run, it will have a positive impact on the economy because the percentage of revenue generated from the seaports constitute part of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
If the automation system is properly incorporated, it will as well create job opportunities for the youth who can work from any part of Nigeria to carry out their daily operations. The CEO also talked about the issue of transportation at the port, which is part of the logistics train. He said that these trucks do not have another reason to be parked along the roadsides within the port environment. This causes traffic and sometimes gridlock for people going into and coming out of the port.
“Things will get better with full automation.”
Mr. Taiwo says that once the NPA introduces full automation in the clearing process, things will get better. The trailer park can be in another state and the logistics approval will be given to private companies. When the containers are ready for pickup, importers will contact the transportation company online and send to them necessary documents to pick up the container. This is why the logistics companies have to be registered under the NPA with approval licenses for accountability.
These licenses that will be issued will also generate additional revenue for the NPA as a regulator. It will solve the problem of long queue and trailers parking on the roadside, which are blocking the free flow of movement. Taiwo noted that the present situation has shown that the crowd at the port does not translate to productivity because Nigeria’s port potential is under-utilized. The full automation of the port will infuse all government agencies and shipping companies into a platform that will make the clearing process smooth and less time-consuming.
Abandoned goods should be taken over to solve the problem of dumping.
Mr. Taiwo said that the NPA should sponsor a bill that will make them take over abandoned containers or goods once they are six months old at the port. He said a special three-month additional waiver can serve as time extension when the importer specifically applies for it. The international best practice is for containers to be in use for five to six years and during which they can be refurbished two times before their life spans expire. Most of the containers dumped at Nigerian seaports are expired. Sadly, Nigeria does not have recycling plants to re-manufacture them.
Related Link
Nigerian Ports Authority: Website
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The seaports should be purged of expired containers. The owners should be called upon so they deliver all the containers. They are just taking up unnecessary spaces.
The way Nigeria seaport is been manage in Nigeria is very bad and unfortunately because allover the world port operations is been done by machines and computer that makes clearing easy and fast.
When a government is incompetent in several things why do you think the seaport will be an Maritime operators will keep complaining untill we have a competent government.
Seaports filled with expired containers. Government Nigeria don’t care about so many sector in this country. we really need good government in Nigeria
This will surely happen because they are too slow in disseminating their duties thereby making goods in container enter demorage and gets expired, everything concerning this country is just not working.
The NPA should introduces full automation asap. It will have a positive impact on the economy because the percentage of revenue generated from the seaports constitute part of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and it attracts other beautiful advantages.
The infrastructure is one of the numerous variables that contribute to the inefficiency of the operations at Nigeria’s seaports; nevertheless, there are many more factors.
As a result of the circumstance, the processes of transferring cleared items out of the port environment are being held up, which results in a significant amount of delay for commodities that are being imported.
Full automation of the customs clearance procedure at seaports is something the industry has to work toward achieving since it will result in a more streamlined and effective clearance system.
The port environment provides no other justification for these trucks to be parked along the roadways. Due to this, there is increased traffic entering and leaving the port, and at times, complete backups.
There is slow in clearance of the goods which this kind issue will happen goods getting expired at seaport and it is important to clear this goods to afford unwanted goods getting into the country. Fast way of clearing goods should be create so to afford goods from getting spoiled
It is possible for the trailer park to be located in another state, and private businesses will be responsible for gaining approval for any necessary logistics. When the containers are complete and ready to be collected.
The majority of the containers that are discarded at Nigerian seaports have passed their expiration dates; yet, Nigeria does not have recycling operations where these containers can be re-manufactured.
It’s sad that the Nigerian government has handled the country’s seaport so poorly, given most other countries use sophisticated machinery and electronic systems to speed up the clearance process.
Due to the situation, the procedures for transferring cleared things out of the port environment are slowed down, which causes a sizable delay for the importation of goods.
There are a great number of elements that contribute to the inefficiency of the operations at Nigeria’s seaports; nonetheless, the infrastructure is one of the many variables that contribute to this inefficiency.
There is a significant delay in the delivery of imported goods because processes for moving cleared items out of the port environment are slowed.
We now have expired container in the seaports with several complains from operators has shown inefficiency on the side side of Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) and the incompetency display by our government.
The maritime officer admits that full automation must be used in the sector for the procedure to be seamless and simple for everyone. The clearing time, daily traffic, and population at the harbor will all decrease if the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) implements a fully automated clearance system.
The majority of containers dumped at Nigerian seaports are no longer in use. Sadly, Nigeria lacks the recycling facilities necessary to manufacture them again.