BEARS: SON Goofs

The Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) has taken up the onus to frequently engage port stakeholders on appropriate procedures to enhance the ease of doing business at the ports in line with the recent presidential orders on ports operations.

However, these seminars have become mere get-together with no effect on the industry or just an avenue to siphon monies as the conferences never address the pertinent issues in the sector as it affects SON. The height of this haphazard approach to programmes was highlighted when SON gave a paper which ought to have been delivered by a shipper/ importer to a freight forwarder. The first paper on “Promoting the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria – Importers Perspective” was taken by the President of the National Asoociation of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Chief Increase Uche and he spent a significant portion of the time narrating the history, role and significance of freight forwarding, rather than addressing the issue. An aggrieved Logistics Manager wondered aloud during Chief Uche’s lecture, “how does this speech connect to the issue of ease of doing business? Shouldn’t this paper have been given to the shippers since it says the importers perspective?”

The fiery NAGAFF Founder, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam also expressed his displeasure that most speakers at the event couldn’t marry their speeches to the theme of the event.