The Executive Secretary/CEO of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) Barrister Hassan Bello has called on agencies in the maritime industry to collaborate with one another in order to move the sector forward.
Bello stressed this recently when he received the ‘Most Effective Agency in the Maritime Industry’ award from management of Global Business Edge Magazine, led by Chief Eugene Nweke, its Editorial Board Chairman.
Hassan Bello commended the zeal of the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi for embarking on the culmination of Single Window Platform that will capture all agencies in the sector in a single portal as he noted that the National Carrier, Single Window Platform and construction of Standard Guage Railway line across the country will aid Commerce in no small measure.
“They are top priority projects of the Hon. Minister and they are very significant. By the time it is crystallized, Nigeria and the way business is carried out in the ports will never remain the same”, he pointed out.
“The Port Portal has been launched by Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria’s Vice President and we still need to introduce it to the community. It will cut costs and cargoes will not spend a day at the ports. If it does, then punitive measures will be applied on the agency that is responsible for the delay “, Bello explained.
Bello appealed to institutions, elder statesmen in the maritime industry to look for avenues like the Alternative Dispute Resolution, ADR, so as to resolve some issues outside the Court. He stressed that due to legal processes the Shippers’ Council has not been able to perform some functions.
“We could settle some things outside the Court of law as soon as possible so as to not only facilitate trade seamlessly, but also to move the sector forward. If this is done, changes will take place in the Industry”, he pointed out.
While noting that Nigeria is filled with Customs brokers and not freight forwarders which is a specialized profession as is practiced globally, Bello hinted that the Council is working towards professionalizing the industry. “With the way the Minister for Transportation is going, in the next two years or less, human contact at the ports in Nigeria will be totally eliminated so as to do away with corruption which is dwarfing the Sector.
“The Council is developing truck transit parks that will streamline the country’s transport industry in line with international best practices. I call on freight forwarding bodies, truckers and critical stakeholders in the supply chain to come together and form consortium so as to achieve the best the sector can offer. I also call on all to embrace this change that is coming”, Hassan Bello appealed.
Earlier, Chief Eugene Nweke, the immediate past national president of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), pointed out that each year the management of Global Business Edge Magazine picks out through Vox Pop the Agency that has added value to the Maritime industry supply chain, “and Nigerian Shippers’ Council scored the highest among the other Agencies in the Sector”.
He also urged the Council not to relent in the good work. According to him, the management of the magazine utilizes the medium to reward hardworking agencies as a means to revamp the Maritime Industry.
