NSC: Over N1bn Saved from Prompt Resolution of Complaints in Ports Operations

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) has said that it saved the maritime industry in the country about N1 billion from the improvement in the turnaround time the organisation takes to resolve complaints from operators.

Speaking at the 2nd roundtable discussion on: “Institutionalising Operational Efficiency through Stronger Compliance Function within the Agencies”, the NSC’s Executive Secretary, Emmanuel Jime, said the critical position of the maritime sector remained undebatable.

The event was organised by the Convention on Business Integrity (CBi), and Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) in collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation.

Jime, who was represented by the Coordinator, Port Standing Task Team (PSTT), Mr. Moses Fadipe, explained that the NSC would continue to ensure compliance to the rules by all stakeholders in the ports.

Unarguably, he stated that the sector was the major determinant in the conduct of international trade, which impacts mostly on the economy, explaining that it is important to provide a framework that fosters effectiveness, efficiency and ethics.

Noting that the NSC provides a regulatory system that advances the rights and interests of stakeholders, who often have conflicting interest, Jime pointed out that the ability of the organisation to effectively handle disputes was critical to the smooth operation of the sector.

 “We all know the maritime sector. You have a lot of actors, agencies and private stakeholders with different interests and everybody tries to foster their interest. So the shippers council will have to be in a position to resolve disputes from a neutral and independent viewpoint.
“So this makes NSC to be concerned with maximizing collective benefits to the stakeholders through collaborations, and hence, we have advanced certain actions that multiple individuals and groups benefit from which would be impossible individually.

“This has made us the ombudsman through that collective action embedded in compliance. So as we carry out this ombudsman mechanism, we have seen that over N1 billion has been recovered from resolution of complaints to by these stakeholders,” he stated.
Jime added that the council will continue to guard against unfair competition, abuse of monopoly through strict regulation, promote efficiency in the sector and minimise the cost of doing business.

“To achieve its mandate, the NSC instituted a compliant service mechanism to handle disputes, robust enforcement mechanism, provide guidelines on tariff setting to avoid arbitrariness and others,” he added.
In his remarks, the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Mu’azu Sambo, urged government agencies to strengthen compliance functions to sustain and maintain standards in the ports.

Represented by the Director of Maritime Services, Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Babatunde Sule, Sambo urged maritime operators to amplify their Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to support the PSTT.

He stated that the MACN had been instrumental to dealing with infractions  experienced across Nigerian ports over the years, leading to massive losses to the economy.
The minister added that the meeting would allow stakeholders review the level of compliance on the existing laws and also to plan the way forward for the sector’s optimal performance.

 “It is important to examine this level of compliance among port users.  it also is good to take proper look at risk assessment and also to know if what we do are the standard procedure and to  review way forward,” he stated.
Also speaking, the Chief Executive, CBI, a partnering agency in the sector,  Mr Soji Apampa, explained that the collaboration between the two transparency organisations,  CBI and MACN, had markedly reduced infractions.

According to him reports of infractions had reduced to 88 from a high of 266 incidents.
He expressed joy that the efforts of anti-corruption agencies, both government and private agencies, had placed Nigerian ports operation at enviable heights, stressing that the implementation of the Port Process Manual, helped in no small measure to achieve the feat.

“For port call, in terms of levies paid, it has reduced from $150,000 to $20,000. As regards complaints, from 645 vessels that arrived at the ports, 88 cases of complaints were recorded and 83 out of the 88 cases was fully resolved, with five still ongoing.
“Twenty eight large shipping companies have started using the help desk and pre-arrival notification system and this is a testament of the growing confidence reposed in the manual,” he disclosed.