Mazi Udeagha Nwosu, the Chairman, Association of Igbo Maritime (ASIM), Airport Chapter, in this interview with EJIKEME OMENAZU, spoke on the Federal Government’s policy of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ as it affects the airport, among other crucial issues. Excerpts:
How has business activities being at the airport in relation to the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ as a Federal Government’s policy?
The Federal Government has started applying Customs regulations in the Ports. We are not different from other ports, especially following the same Customs procedures in clearing cargo, although most times, we have urgent shipments, like perishables that will not stay overnight in the port. The moment they come in, they go out. Then, we now have to perfect it afterwards. That is the only edge we have above conventional ports.
In those kind of perishables, there is no kind of delay in clearance where there is invoice, as those kind of shipping are exempted from FORM ‘M’ because they are perishable goods.
This is because if you don’t keep it at correct temperature, it will spoil. You make your payment on invoice value and it will be released to you.
The only thing they can do for you is that you will bypass the normal clearing processes. Once you pay and submit it to the Controller, the Controller will release it to you and afterwards, you come and complete the procedure.
Do they examine the Perishables when they arrive?
Yes. They examine the perishables in the terminal to make sure that what you are claiming is actually what is on ground
How do you see the Federal Government’s policy on ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and its workability at the airport?
It is really a complicated issue. The Customs units are increasing by the day.
The aim of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ is to reduce or clear bottlenecks in business activities at the ports. But, we still have Customs units at the ports, which increase by the day. These units must examine your consignments and some of them intercept your consignments when they are outside the ports.
So, it is the same thing all over the ports, both air and sea ports. It is the same complain every other person is having, like this issue of ‘Strike Force’ that came up. If the DC in charge releases a consignment, it is a proof that he has gone through the process, looking at the consignment, checking every other thing, before authorising its release.
Now, releasing the goods, all other units will come up. Now, what is actually the essence of the Controller or DC in the ports when the ‘Strike Force’ still re-examine the consignment they had released? So, it is still the same thing.
Government is not serious about the policy. There was a time a circular came up as to the number of Customs Units and other agencies that will be in the ports.
I am not really sure it worked out because now, most of them are back in the ports. I don’t know the impact of Ease of Doing Business.
So, what do you suggest should be done?
If government is serious about Ease of Doing Business, they must have to take a very serious proactive measure about it. Now, we have a Single Window System. If a consignment is released through the Single Window, why are people disturbing the consignment again? Now, SON, NAFDAC are there. So, if consignment is released, why is it intercepted and seized again? Why is FOU on the road? Why is the Strike Force in the road? Why is the Comptroller’s Team on the road to examine cargoes that had already been examined and released at the Ports? If they don’t want Customs’ job done at the Ports, they can move it out from there. If anybody gets a consignment, let him take it out along the road where Customs can examine it and give you duty to pay. But, where they have full Customs operations inside the Ports, why disturbing the consignment when it comes out? If the government is serious about Ease of Doing Business, let it have a one clearance system.
Once a DC in charge of the final release of the consignment releases it, it stands released. Let no other person intercept it.
Do you think that the duplication of the units is a proof of distrust among them?
We are Nigerians. Those ones, they are not from the space. Some of them have worked in ports. So, instead of duplicating their jobs, what they need is total re-orientation.
For us to actually understand what it means to serve, the solution is not in creating additional units because most times, when you create these units, it is for money making, not for the government, but for those individuals.
So, this duplication, I don’t think it is worth it. It is called ‘business’ and it even makes clearing cost very high, as well as bringing about delay.
What about the issue of benchmark?
Well, like the Customs will always say, the issue of benchmark is Customs. If you check the CEMA law, there’s nothing like benchmark. Every consignment should be treated as it is.
You don’t dictate to me how much I buy my consignment abroad. Most countries, in their own clearing procedure, look at your invoice and not the cost. The most annoying aspect of it is that most people going into the internet to google, to check costs of items. It is unethical. You don’t do that. Customs does it. It is unethical. If I tell you that ‘yes’ I bought this item $1, if you are not satisfied with it and if I am convinced by your argument, you can raise a DN for me and not telling me that this item is supposed to be bought $14, that, that is the benchmark Customs has for it. I don’t think it is acceptable. I don’t think so.
Do you experience multiple Alerts here?
Yes, but what we have succeeded in doing here is centralising the Alerts, unless it is headquarters’ Alert from Abuja.
What’s your relationship with the Customs Assistant Controller (CAC) here?
The Customs Assistant Controller (CAC) is a woman, Controller Sonibo. Since she came here, operations have not been shut down for once, except at the initial time when they introduced the new procedure.
We misunderstood each other until we now sat down and worked out a way forward. However, she is very strict and tough person.
On Igbo Maritime, what is the actual issue here now?
I will always tell you of the peculiarity. The airport is like a community. We call ourselves ‘One big family’. We exist as a family.
Now Igbo Maritime here is one united body. If you compare it to other chapters, year in, year out, I can beat my chest to tell you that it is the only chapter that organises New Yam Festival, because, we actually want people to understand the Igbo culture.
We move with our Identity and every year, we celebrate it. In fact, it used to be a very memorable event, because, we normally bring cultural groups and we try to protect anything that concerns an Igbo person here, both professionally and otherwise. Our welfare is also taking care of.
What effort are you, the Igbo Maritime members, making to ensure that the Ports/ICDs in the South East become operational?
Actually, they constituted a study group for that. I don’t know if you know recently that there were plans to shut down Enugu Airport. And I think the national president is taking it serious.
It is like they have made presentation to Ministry of Aviation and there are some issues that were brought up about the airport being close to the market and the Mast.
It is like they want to have tripartite meeting with the Enugu State government, Ministry of Aviation and Igbo Maritime to look at it. If possible, the Mast should go down, if it’s actually why they want to close the Airport.
So, what we can do is limited because it is purely government’s decision and policy. There was a time the Ports were designated, that this Port is for pharmaceuticals that will go there, the other, Textiles, and the idea died naturally. That time, Port Harcourt Port was basically for textiles, but along the line, it didn’t work out again.
Which government policy does not favour your people, is it not proper for them to speak up?
Well, people have been speaking up. May be, I don’t know as a group, but as individuals. The height of my disappointment is the people representing us, our Senators and members of the House of Representatives. Their own is more political, looking at things from the point of APC and PDP. They should start looking at things from the eye of an Igbo man, from the eye of what we are going to achieve; not how this policy is affecting us as PDP or APC states, but how this policy is affecting an Igbo man because we do more of imports.
Anything that affects imports affects the economy of Igbo man. Do you know that we are into merchandise, buying, selling and manufacturing, and most of the raw materials are imported?
So, if we start looking at actually how those things affect an Igbo man and not the political aspect of it, I think it will of more benefit to us. If a Senator wants to stand in the Chamber and speak, let him know that he is representing an Igbo state, not APC or PDP state. That is the part of problem that we have. But, I know that anyhow, by God’s grace, we will get it right. But now, I don’t even the voice that is speaking for the Igbos; even the Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
Look at the South West, look at the their governors now looking at what they call the ‘Oduduwa’, South West Integration.
I don’t know if the rail line issue is favouring them. They want to see the possibility of connecting the South West through the rail and their industries to move around.
Nobody cares where you are from as far as you are operating in the South West. They will achieve it because they always speak with one voice. Nobody speaks for us.
Look at the roads in the South East. In fact, a research now says it is in the South East that you have the worst network of roads. I don’t know the last time you pass Port Harcourt to Aba. Imagine a container from that place to Aba. That road is totally written off. Could you imagine that it would take a container a journey that is not supposed to be 40 minutes, it takes a container more than 24 hours from PH to Aba.
It is as serious as that because if it rains, they will now be going into some of those villages. In some of those communities in the South South, militancy is so high.
Lives are being lost through militancy and cultism. This is straight road that will take you nothing more than 40 minutes to get to Aba. Then, I don’t know if you have passed through Calabar to Aba, Aba to Ikotun Ekpene road. Ikot Ekpene road is now impassable.
So, where are those containers supposed to be coming from? From Calabar or from Port Harcout, getting containers into Aba is a nightmare.
Now, another question I may want to ask, a company from China wants to start building a Dry Port in Ibadan. In fact, the former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, was there a month ago with the Senator.
Now the Dry Port is fully operational. The same time, they wanted to start rehabilitating the Kaduna Dry Port. The same, time they gave us approval for the Dry Port in Osisioma, Abia State. The place is overgrown with grass. What are our governor’s doing? What people don’t understand, the Dry Port in Kaduna was not government property.
In fact, the National President of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Tony Uju, is a member of the Board and other two or three Igbo men are members of the Board of the Kaduna Dry Port.
And it was Governor Nasir el-Rufia that brought the public sector together to develop the port. We have governors in the South East. Could you imagine that what they are working is that all containers that are meant for the North will move on rail from here (Lagos) to Kaduna, and then they will clear it and deliver to the owners?
Now, imagine that all containers meant for South East move through rail to Osisioma, but our governors are not doing anything about it and the industry. But must we wait for the Federal Government to do everything for us? El-Rufai galvanised the private sector and got them into developing that port.
Now, look at the one happening at Kaduna. Before you know it, every container going from Kaduna to Ilorin area, all of them will move through rail to Ibadan Dry Port. Our people in the South East are doing nothing. No regional integration, every man on his own. Like, I said before now, no one is speaking for us.
What is your final word for the Igbos in Maritime?
We need to come together by droping our egos. There are these things I always tell my fellow Igbo; you always feel and think you are better than anybody. We have to bring down our superiority complex. We are not better than the Youruba and Hausa.
The moment we start looking at them as equals, the better. Also, the moment we start coming together and fighting our common cause, irrespective of whether we are from Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Abia or Ebonyi, the better. When the Yoruba are doing something about Oduduwa, nobody thinks of Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Oyo or Lagos. They come together as Oduduwa. So, we really have to drop those things.
What words do you have for the Federal Government?
For the Federal Government, the issue of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ must be taken seriously. If it means setting up another committee that would really go to the ports for on-the-spot assessment, to see actually if the Executive Order by the president is fully implemented. Things will change and business will improve, if this is done.
The post FG Not Serious About ‘Ease Of Doing Business’ Policy – Nwosu appeared first on Independent Newspapers Nigeria.
Source: Independent
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