‘Why Nigerian ports are yet to go fully automated years after concession’

Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Hassan Bello, has said absence of full automation of activities at the Nigerian ports, 10 years after concessioning is due to lack of a regulatory or supervisory body to insist on best practices.

Bello stated this in Abuja, while explaining that a regulatory agency ought to be put in place to monitor compliance with best practices of operations at the ports, adding that such an institution has the duty to insist on full automation of services.

He said the reason Federal Government concessioned the ports in the first place is to improve the ease of doing business, as well as, raise the level of efficiency and revenue generation. So, unless a strong regulatory framework is put in place to regulate commercial activities at the ports, efficiency and competiveness needed for growth will be lacking, even as he said that resort to manual ways of discharging duties at the ports negates the object of a concession.

He said: “A situation, where port operators are left to audit themselves, creates room for shady practices, especially at a time the Federal Government is keen on curbing corruption in various levels of public establishments and beyond.