By Kenneth Jukpor
As part of efforts to address the numerous challenges affecting the carriage of goods in country, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has revealed that a law to regulate the carriage of goods by rail will soon be introduced in the country.
The Executive Secretary of the Council, Mr. Hassan Bello, stated this during a courtesy visit of the leadership of Nigerian Chamber of Shipping (NCS) to the Council’s headquarters in Lagos, yesterday.
Bello expressed optimism that the law when operational would enhance trade in the country, even as he maintained that it was pertinent for Nigeria to emulate other regional countries which had laws guiding the carriage of goods.
The NSC boss also admonished the Chamber to give attention to Inland Dry Port (IDPs) and Truck Transit Parks (TTPs) projects of NSC to enable the projects acquire international recognition.
Meanwhile, in a bid to leverage on the high level of human capacity at the Chamber to address Nigeria’s port sector problems, the NSC boss expressed readiness to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chamber of Shipping.
Bello also said that the Council would form a three man committee to liaise with the Chamber to find out ways to boost the efficiency of the Nigerian port system.
“There are lots of issues the Council will handle with Chamber of Shipping. I will be appointing a three man committee to work with the Chamber and see areas of cooperation. If possible, we would sign an MoU even though we are by right members of the Chamber already”
Earlier, the President, Nigerian Chamber of Shipping (NCS), Mr Andy Isichei commended the Nigerian Shippers’ Council for the pivotal role it has played as Ports’ Economic Regulator.
According to him, the commendable efforts of the Council earned it the Ease of Doing Business Award by the World Bank.
He expressed delight on the effort of the Council towards tariff negotiation with service providers, adding that it assisted in addressing the menace of arbitrary imposition of tariffs by providers of shipping services.
However, he urged Shippers’ Council to ensure that necessary infrastructure in the maritime sector are put in place to attract foreign investors to the ports.
