Ports Efficiency: Oyetola, others meet over ports decongestion

… Charges CG to enforce use of scanners

By Seun Ibiyemi

As part of efforts to ensure ports efficiency and competitiveness, the ministers of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, Transportation, Senator Said Ahmed Alkali and CG Customs, Bashir Adeniyi met on Monday and agreed that physical inspection of cargoes at the ports must be phased out.

They reasoned that the use of modern technologies like scanners was important to addressing the issue of ports congestion, so as to ensure efficiency and competitiveness.

To this end, the CG of Customs has been charged to enforce the use of scanners at the ports, just as they encouraged private investors to come in and invest in the deployment and maintenance of scanners at the nation’s ports.

These are contained in a statement jointly signed by the spokesperson to the minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Ismail Omipidan and the Customs spokesman, Chief Superintendent of Customs, Abdullahi Maiwada, on Monday.

According to the statement, the meeting, which was held at the ministry of Marine and Blue Economy and which had the Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria attending virtually, also resolved to ensure a new construction that will bypass the fixed scanner at Apapa, so as to ensure the unhindered progression of scanning process during crucial infrastructure development.