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Shippers: Why 25 needed to sign for Nigerian cargo, but only one in S'pore?
A GROWING sense of impatience is arising among Nigerian shippers as they realise it takes 25 signature to clear cargo from a national seaport while it only takes one official to sign in Singapore.
More maddening still is to discover this is a considerable improvement and the result of reforms the reduced the number of signatures from 46 required before.
"Recent disclosure by the Nigerian Shippers Council that it takes over 25 signatures to clear a cargo is worrisome. This was corroborated by the Manufacturers' Association, which attested to the archaic and crude method of cargo processing," writes Francis Ezem in the Lagos National Mirror.
"This is a clear departure from what is obtained in Singapore, where it takes only one signature and takes less than one hour after discharge from the vessel for the cargo to leave the port." he said.
"The same applies in Denmark, where it takes a maximum of two signatures while in the Cotonou Port in Republic of Benin; it takes a maximum of five signatures for a cargo to leave the seaports.
What must be done is a wholesale transfer to electronic data interchange, he said. "Most successful businesses run using modern tools. Information Communication Technology - ICT - has reduced the world to a global village," said Mr Ezen.
"It is therefore worrisome that the Nigerian port system has yet to adopt modern tools and equipment that enhance speedy cargo handling.
"There is huge infrastructure deficit in the maritime industry. In fact the government needs to spend US$10 billion per annum for 10 years to be able to address this deficit" said Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) president Frank Jacobs.
Writing on behalf of the Licensed Customs Agents, Lucky Amiwero addressed Nigerian President Muhammandu Buhari, saying that all the container scanners had collapsed.
Investigations showed that with the current poor state of the scanners, which stakeholders also attributed to poor maintenance, the service has resorted to 100 per cent physical examination of containers, which wastes time and fuels corruption.
"It takes less than five minutes to scan one 40-foot container while it takes a minimum of eight hours to do a 100 per cent physical examination on the same size of container including additional cost associated with offloading and reloading the container after the exercise," Mr Amiwero said.
More maddening still is to discover this is a considerable improvement and the result of reforms the reduced the number of signatures from 46 required before.
"Recent disclosure by the Nigerian Shippers Council that it takes over 25 signatures to clear a cargo is worrisome. This was corroborated by the Manufacturers' Association, which attested to the archaic and crude method of cargo processing," writes Francis Ezem in the Lagos National Mirror.
"This is a clear departure from what is obtained in Singapore, where it takes only one signature and takes less than one hour after discharge from the vessel for the cargo to leave the port." he said.
"The same applies in Denmark, where it takes a maximum of two signatures while in the Cotonou Port in Republic of Benin; it takes a maximum of five signatures for a cargo to leave the seaports.
What must be done is a wholesale transfer to electronic data interchange, he said. "Most successful businesses run using modern tools. Information Communication Technology - ICT - has reduced the world to a global village," said Mr Ezen.
"It is therefore worrisome that the Nigerian port system has yet to adopt modern tools and equipment that enhance speedy cargo handling.
"There is huge infrastructure deficit in the maritime industry. In fact the government needs to spend US$10 billion per annum for 10 years to be able to address this deficit" said Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) president Frank Jacobs.
Writing on behalf of the Licensed Customs Agents, Lucky Amiwero addressed Nigerian President Muhammandu Buhari, saying that all the container scanners had collapsed.
Investigations showed that with the current poor state of the scanners, which stakeholders also attributed to poor maintenance, the service has resorted to 100 per cent physical examination of containers, which wastes time and fuels corruption.
"It takes less than five minutes to scan one 40-foot container while it takes a minimum of eight hours to do a 100 per cent physical examination on the same size of container including additional cost associated with offloading and reloading the container after the exercise," Mr Amiwero said.
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