By Steve Agbota
In the last two years, vessels turn around, port regulation functions and other maritime activities witnessed significant development under the leadership of immediate Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Emmanuel Jime.
The Council was able to tame issue of corruption between ship inspection officers and captains through the implementation of the Nigerian Ports Process Manual (NPPM), which was supervised by Jime.
However, when the Federal Government appointed Jime as Hassan Bello’s replacement, many industry operators were skeptical of his ability and capacity to fill the shoes of his predecessor at the Council.
Bello’s energy and passion for the growth and development of the industry endeared him to stakeholders some of whom were rooting for the government to retain him. With the announcement, Jime got to office and quietly began to study his environment before lunching out his initiatives.
But for his being a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority, it could safely be said that Jime was relatively unknown in the port industry, much less in its operational runway, from which a colossus with the highest possible visibility and proficiency has just bowed out.
Two years down the line, the primary assignments of the NSC as the ports economic regulator and the driver of shipping business and development has, to the surprise of many, carved out an enviable sustained traction in all indices of performance.
While most stakeholders are of the view that he has been able to grasp the workings of the Council and has been seen running with it, a few are of the opinion that the Council would have fared better if he was allowed more time to finish some of his initiatives.
Managing Director of ENL Consortium, Mark Walsh, said that Shippers Council has done well in the last two years.
He said further: ‘‘I think when I look at the situations on ground, they have been working directly with terminal operators and shipping companies to try and move the industry forward.”
On the accusation that the Council is not doing enough in terms of regulation of terminal charges, he said: “I think they have been involved much more with the terminal operators, they are also coming to check and monitor the terminal operators and they need to be commended.”
Also speaking on the issue, former National President of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and Chairman/Chief Executive Office, CEO of Skelas Group, Olayiwola Shittu said Shippers Council has been reaching out to stakeholders in the industry in its consultation efforts.
According to him, the Council has tried to reach out to stakeholders seeking for cooperation.
“That is something that is very scarce in our industry where there is stiff competition among leaders of the government agencies but the Council’s leadership has tried to reach out to other agencies. They have made us know that stakeholders can work together but the handicap is the Act setting up Shippers Council. There is just no power for enforcement; they are not given any teeth to do what they are supposed to do.
“They are supposed to be commercial regulators, they are even supposed to be regulating the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); but in fact these agencies co-operate with their detractors.
“Those they are supposed to be regulating have the sympathy of their colleagues who do not want Shippers Council to survive; but the Council has tried to weather the storm. We just hope that one day, either this government or another will let the Shippers Council function at its best and let us see whether Shippers Council will drive the train,” he added.
Assessing the Shippers Council two years to date, former National President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF, Eugene Nweke, said the Council is not a revenue driven agency like NIMASA and NPA.
‘‘So, you would not oftentimes see what Shippers Council is doing because Shippers Council is not awarding contracts on waterways, port repairs, etc, but they are giving their all to safeguarding the industry.
‘‘The direction they are heading to in the industry is in line with their establishment law because of this specific role they play so that the shippers’ interest is taken care of. You can see the in-depth and the commitment of the people.
“Their in-depth commitment in the role they play on behalf of the shippers, building everybody on business operation and agility in the industry, all leading toward producing the conducive environment for shippers and consumers and the other users of the industry services. That is the key role of Shippers Council is playing.
“Look at this, you are trying to ensure that goods get to the shippers and encouraging other shippers across other state to come on board and pursue common purpose,” he said.
Ports Economic Regulation
Whereas the appointment of the Council as the ports economic regulator generated some sorts of rivalry amongst agencies of government in the maritime industry, it is on record that Jime inherited the issue. By providence, the NSC ex-helmsman also succeeded in the advocacy, appeals and negotiations that allowed for the narrowing of the misunderstanding.
Having, to some extent ,secured the support of those who felt otherwise, the Council has since commenced its regulatory tasks even though that the takeoff may not have been quite easy in view of drawbacks here and there owing to traditional rivalry amongst the agencies.
But by and large, the industry is submitting more and more to the necessary economic regulation and Jime and the Council were on top of this, offering advocacy, implementing efficient port services policy direction, monitoring, deepening engagements in the area of disputes resolution between shippers and liners, and between shippers and terminal operators, etc.
The Council has achieved certain level of interventions that can be said to have given it a fair sense of control even though not yet in absolute terms, as it is with everything that is new and still struggling to assert itself, this time, the Council’s authority as the ports economic regulator.
For instance, the NSC, in no uncertain terms, has challenged the Maritime Command of the Nigerian Police Force over its involvement in cargo clearance processes in whatever guise as illegal and should be discontinued.
The Council has also made it clear to the NPA and Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority, (NIWA), that none has a direct duty to impose and or determine costs of barging and evacuation of containerised cargoes from the port without its concurrent approval.
Also, the Council has taken very bold steps at reinventing the Ports Community Committee in such a manner as to be at par and in sync with the processes already established by the NPA, which hitherto executes the assignment.
There is also a growing tempo in sensitisation and advocacy of the Council’s status as the economic regulator in the light of the prevailing executive order and their concomitant super structures.
Whereas there have been reported cases of pockets of opposition here and there amongst critical players and development partners, such posturing has not in any way invalidated these powers except that they helped to reinforce its criticality in the current circumstances.
The proof lies in the Council’s increased powers of arbitration in import-export trade and shipping disputes, as well as operational costs regarded as arbitrary and overly oppressive for trade.
Gradually, there is an improved industry understanding of the status of the Council in relation to its authority as the ombudsman whose interventions can no longer be ignored or neglected without consequences.
Nigerian Ports Process Manual and PSTT
The Nigerian Ports Process Manual (NPPM), is one of the superstructures through which the NSC has been able to maintain its oversight port economic regulation role, and which has performed impressively and achieved fantastic results with visible efficiency quotient.
While NPPM simply encapsulates the general and specific rules for an efficient ports system, the PSTT is given the mandate to drive the process and to ensure compliance. Every port user and player is wholly subject to the process.
Under Jime, PSTT, a sub-organ of the NSC, is on record to have cleaved through various human barriers and restored efficiency to port trade across board.
He further ensured that the Council evaluates the cost component of the entire shipping value chain through constant monitoring and engagement while promoting efficient service delivery as embedded in the NPPM.
The NPPM is actually a harmonisation of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), that were being operated by different entities now brought in as one document upon, which everybody have now arrived at as a consensus. This is the document that will guide how the port industry functions.
In order to implement, the PSTT was establishmed. Both the NPPM implementation and its oversight by the PSTT are led by the NSC under Jime. Of course, these are inter-agencies platform, but basically the NSC now drives it effectively.
Referencing the effectiveness under Jime, a source in the industry told Daily Sun: “Today, we are happy to report that for instance, the average turnaround time in our ports has reduced drastically due to the activities of the PSTT which has ensured the following of the strict provisions of the NPPM guidelines, so that now, there is joint boarding of vessels, for instance.
“There is also joint examination of cargo. In the ports we had different agencies of government who took their time and decided at their own pace whenever they will perform a function. This is no longer the case. We believe that if you save time in the manner in which cargo examination is done, if you save time in the manner in which you board the vessels that have berthed in our waters, there is tremendous amount of efficiency that is then brought to bear on the conduct of business in the ports.
“So, I am happy that we have been given the tools by the establishment of this particular document and of the work of the ports having Task Team that has collaborated and assisted all the other divisions that are present in the NSC.
“Don’t forget the PSTT under Jime’s leadership has also extended its activities to cover access into the ports. We all remember many years ago, the gridlock that visited access into the ports, whether it is in the area of the trucks coming in, whether it is in the area of containers that were littering the ports. Now there is sanity, some level of order is beginning to develop and we can only continue in that pathway, because it guarantees that we can be more sustainable in the way we are ensuring quality service delivery in our ports.”
One of such successes is in the area of improved export system hitherto heavily impaired by unwarranted super structures put in place simply to extort.
In 2022, the export base recorded exponential progress against increased export volume due, mainly to the activities of the PSTT which has helped to clear the port access roads, especially the Apapa-Ijora end of the Lagos port axis.
Speaking on the development, Jime in a media report, said that driving in and out of Apapa which use to take several weeks and sometimes months for export cargo, can now be done in a day.
The export business stakeholders said that the effort of the PSTT has been responsible for the astronomical rise in the volume of export cargo from both Apapa and Tin-can Island ports.