The Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMOT), in partnership with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), is planning a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of compliance with maritime legislation and competitiveness.
Stakeholders in Nigerian ports will learn about the NSC’s role in port economic regulation at the program, which will be presided over by Dr. Magdalene Ajani, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transportation.
The NSC’s Head of Public Relations, Rakiya Dhikru-Yagboyaju, released a press release to spread this information.
The “Port Economic Regulator – NSC in Focus” event will take place on Friday, July 22, 2022 at 9.00 am at the Eko Hotel and Suites on Victoria Island, Lagos.
Prof. Bongo Adi, a marine economist, will present a presentation at this eagerly awaited conference with the topic “Promoting Competitiveness and Compliance in Nigerian Maritime Industry.”
The Nigeria Customs Service, organized private sector and shippers, CEOs of regulatory agencies, regulated service providers, maritime experts, lawyers, and other stakeholders are anticipated to attend the sensitization workshop.
You may remember that the 2006 Port Reform Program of the Federal Government gave private investors ownership of Nigerian ports.
In the reform, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) served as the port’s landlord and technical regulator while the marine industry lacked an agency with the authority to regulate the port’s economics.
Inconsistencies appeared in the shipping industry as a result of this. Anomalies include the application of various tariff heads by terminal operators and shipping lines/agents, the absence of container holding bays, the scarcity of contemporary cargo handling tools, etc.
The maritime stakeholders urged the appointment of a regulator for the ports in order to rectify the discrepancies. The Federal Government designated Nigerian Shippers’ Council as the interim port regulator on February 14, 2014. Prior to then, the Shippers’ Council consistently defended shippers’ interests. Nigerian Shippers’ Council was designated as the port economic regulator by the federal government in 2015.
In its capacity as the port’s economic regulator, NSC was tasked with establishing efficient regulations at ports. In collaboration with other governmental organizations, the Council has over the years launched a number of measures to bring order to the ports.