NSC laments lack of synergy among Maritime agencies
By Seun Ibiyemi
The immediate past Executive Secretary/CEO of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Hassan Bello, over the weekend lamented that there is lack of synergy among maritime agencies in the maritime sector
Bello who was giving his valedictory message in Lagos after completing his two terms as NSC boss lamented that it is quite unfortunate that some agencies think that maritime sector belongs to them.
According to the former NSC Executive Secretary, “If you are in a government agency, that makes you a public servant. It is not the other way round, and we all contribute our quota. Remove arrogance and ignorance and serve the people, because that is what you are there to do.
“Unfortunately, some of us in some institutions think they are there as lords. No, it is the stakeholders that are lords.
“My colleagues at Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), we have to start the building block, because there is a lack of synergy. We have to operate on the basis of equality because no agency is better than the other. All of us have a role to play – is it NITT, NIMASA or whatever.
“Agencies are not graded by their budget but by what they contribute. It is very unfortunate that some agencies think that maritime starts and stops with them. No, it cannot be. Some agencies are all the time defending charities and that is not good. They spend so much money defending charities and neglect what they have to do. That is why we have a problem, and that is what the Nigerian Shippers’ Council will not take from anybody, not now, not tomorrow, not forever.
“We are all equal and all have contributions to make; real, and not cosmetic cooperation. When I wrote to Bashir Jamoh and told him, you have a change to make. That the shipping companies are complaining that you are making them bring manual documents. It has to be electronic. Why do you demand this from them? He told me that in two weeks’ time, this will stop. That’s how it ought to be.
“The same thing with the Nigerian Railway Corporation. We told them that we have to have the rail to move cargoes, and there was cooperation every day until this happened.
“We are working together with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and doing things that are saving the economy. Why can’t I have similar cooperation with a sister agency under the Federal Ministry of Transportation? As Head of an agency, you are not better than anybody.
“And now, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, through the intervention of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, is involved in the concession agreement. What is wrong with being in the concession agreement? You are the only party to that, why not democratise? Why won’t freight forwarders have something to say on Lekki Deep Seaport? And now that the Shippers’ Council is being invited to participate in looking at the Lekki Deep Seaport in the quarterly meeting, that is good because we bring ideas together.
“If Nigerian Shippers’ Council’s idea on traffic was bought and executed, there would never have been traffic on the Apapa port road.
“We are happy that we have a Minister of Transportation who has been diligent and a permanent secretary who understands that every agency has to contribute. There is no big agency because big agencies crumble if they don’t do what they have to.
“So, I want this to be taken into consideration that we need and must have genuine collaboration among maritime agencies. NSC is the lead agency of the port manual and this came because of its neutrality and professionalism, and this has to be looked at. We cannot have an agency lording over another agency. An agency is as good as its relationship with its ministry. You cannot be above your ministry.”
