THE dust raised by the dwindling profile of crude oil price is yet to settle in Nigeria’s maritime sector. From about $120 per barrel about two years ago, price of oil now hovers around $40. Experts have predicted further drop in price.

Already, the worry some situation, which may remain unchanged throughout this year, is having spiral effect on the revenue and finances of the Federal Government.

Indeed, the state of affairs in the maritime sector has been further compounded by implementation of the Federal Government policy on Treasury Single Account (TSA).
Under the arrangement, Government agencies operating in the sector remit all revenues to dedicated accounts inline with the TSA policy, a shift from previous arrangements of retaining certain percent of revenue generated for “operations and other needs”.

The unfolding scenario, has compelled agencies such as Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) to scale down on most of their statutory operations and activities.

Ironically, maritime is one of the sectors the Federal Government is hoping on in order to bridge the revenue gap created by the slump in crude oil price in the international market.

However, experts are of the opinion that the Federal Government can take advantage of the situation by reforming its policies and infrastructure as part of measures to adequately harnesse revenue potentials in the sector.

For example, the Chairman, Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN), Val Usifoh, recently blamed policy summersault as being partly to blame for the decline in the volume of imports into the country.
He explained that the Federal Government policy on rice, automotive policy and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy Foreign Exchange (FOREX) restriction on certain product make it difficult for stakeholders to plan ahead.

He said: “People need to plan ahead. Business should be predictable so that when you are making investment, medium or long term, you are sure of where you are going. Importation is on the low ebb, business is down for everybody and if it is down for the importer it is down for the ship owner. It is a global trend but we are feeling it more because we are import dependent in the economy. When people cannot predict where to move their investment, it will be difficult to plan”.

He added: “Before the auto policy came into effect, 80 percent of the ‘Tokunbo’ (used) cars were coming to Nigeria and 20 percent go to Cotonu (Benin Republic) and all the second hand trucks were coming through Nigeria.

 That is the responsibility of the truck owners. They are in business to make money. All the truck owners should come together and provide a loading bay for their trucks.      They should provide the loading bay for their trucks because it is not proper for them to use their business to hamper other business operators in the Apapa and its environs.

Speaking in a similar vein, members of the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) have challenged the new Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi to tackle infrastructure challenges such as the perennial traffic gridlock along Ports’ access roads in Lagos State.

Speaking through its chairman, Princess (Dr) Vicky Haastrup, the Association also advised the Minister to work harmoniously with the National Assembly, especially the Senate Committee on Marine Transport as well the relevant House Committees to ensure that the Ports and Harbour Bill is passed into law.

Haastrup explained that the Port and Harbour Bill have been in the National Assembly for years “with each successive legislative assembly failing to pass it into law”.
Haastrup said: “The bill is at various stages of passage in the lower and upper chamber of the National Assembly in the seventh assembly.
“However, it was not passed into law until the lawmakers ended their session. You are aware that the bill, which has provisions for various aspects of port operations, especially the roles and responsibilities of key players in the nation’s seaports, also suffered the same fate in the sixth assembly. You will agree with me that the maritime industry is suffering because of its non-passage.
“That is why I want Mr. President and the Minister of Transport to work hard to ensure that the Port and Harbour Bill is promptly passed into law.
“I strongly believe that if the Minister of Transport and the relevant committees in the legislative arm of government work closely, the passage of the bill into law would no longer suffer any delay”.

She described the Apapa gridlock and poor state of the port access roads as a shame, adding that “ I have no doubt in my mind that the building of holding bay or parking lot will help to decongest the port access roads. It will also ease the traffic snarl in Apapa and its environs”.

According to Haastrup.  It is not the responsibility of Terminal Operators to provide loading bays to trucks coming inside the port to do business.  “That is the responsibility of the truck owners. They are in business to make money. All the truck owners should come together and provide a loading bay for their trucks.      They should provide the loading bay for their trucks because it is not proper for them to use their business to hamper other business operators in the Apapa and its environs”.

Urging the Federal Government to show truck owners the way forward, Haastrup said: “What happened to the loading bay that is 95 per cent complete opposite Tin Can Island Port Complex? Why is the Federal Government not putting it into immediate use to solve the gridlock in Apapa?

Describing the idea of asking trucks and other articulated vehicles to move on only one lane of the road while other motorists move on the other lane as  a temporary relief, Haastrup said it is tantamount to creating another problem in a bid to solve one.

She said: “Has the authority considered the implication of allowing those heavy duty trucks park for days in some cases for months on the bridges and the roads?     Apart from the security implication, do the authorities take cognizance of the heavy weight of these vehicles on the bridges linking the roads to Apapa? Have they taken a look at these bridges and the roads?
“Some of these roads and bridges were constructed over 50 years ago. They were not constructed to carry stationary weight for long hours, not to talk of days or weeks. Some of them already have cracks. When last did structural engineers and other professionals carry out thorough checks and studies of these bridges? If they have done so, what are the measures put in place in the short, medium and long term to implement the recommendations made by these professionals? I hope we are not waiting for one of these bridges to cave in one of these days before something is done.

The STAON boss also used the opportunity to call on the Federal Government to review its import policies on rice and vehicles.
Haastrup said the call has become necessary, noting that  the policies were fuelling smuggling into Nigeria.

Haastrup, who spoke on sundry issues, said: “There is no need to place any restrictions on the importation of rice into the country as it does not make any economic sense to do so.
“It is common knowledge that neighbouring countries such as the Republic of Benin and Togo rather than Nigeria are the ones benefitting from the restrictions on the importation of rice into the country.
“Since local rice producers cannot meet the present demand for rice consumption which is 1.7 million metric tons per annum, it makes no sense to restrict the importation of the commodity.
“I agree that we must look inwards as a nation but it has to be properly planned. It has to be gradual so that we do not lose the revenue accruing from import duty on rice to the ports located in our neighbouring countries.
“As I speak to you, all the rice imported into the Republic of Benin and Togo end up in the Nigerian market as a result of the porosity of our borders. Even if we keep security operatives at the land borders 24 hours, smugglers will still bring in the rice into Nigeria through the numerous illegal routes all over the place. We should not deceive ourselves. We cannot be losing huge revenues while our neighbours are gaining.”

Making reference to the National Automotive Policy, which was introduced by the former administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Haastrup said it had led to the near collapse of roll-on-roll-off terminals operating in the country.

Haastrup, who is also the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of ENL Consortium, operators of Terminals A and B of the Lagos Port Complex Apapa – said while the policy is not entirely bad, its implementation had been unnecessarily hasty.

She said: “The auto policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria is good. It is a good policy because over time it will help Nigeria and Nigerians to hold their own. It will also arrest capital flight and provide employment opportunities for our teeming youths presently roaming the streets for non-existent jobs.
“However, the implementation of the policy ought to be in phases and gradual. This is due to the fact that there are many things we ought to put in place before we start the implementation of the policy.

For instance, we need to put a structure in place. We need to have the infrastructural facilities on ground. We need a robust steel industry. We need to have regular electricity supply. This is because if you buy diesel at the prevailing price to power a generator for the production of a car, by the time you add other variables, the cost will be so high that it would be beyond the reach of an average Nigerian. The cost of the locally produced vehicles would be far ahead of the ones produced overseas. At the end of the day, the essence of the auto policy will be defeated,” she added.

To successfully tackle traffic gridlock along ports access roads in Lagos State, the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Habib Abdullahi has called for the the provision of adequate rail lines from the ports to major cities in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, stakeholders in the sector have blamed high cost of shipping in Nigeria and other African countries on low export volume within the continent.
Speaking at a forum in Lagos, they explained that the development is detrimental to intra-regional trade and economic development.

They explained that the design and location of ports in African countries do not make room for export trade, “whereas in Western states ports are designed purposely for exports”.
According to the stakeholders who spoke at the maiden edition of International Seatrade and Investment Convention, there are no direct trade routes amongst African countries, pointing out that 90 per cent of income in African countries goes into the funding of imports.

Executive Secretary, Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC), Hassan Bello, who spoke at the event, said friendly business environment play crucial roles in the development and growth of international trade especially export.
According to Bello, the competitive nature of export trade makes it imperative for Nigeria as a nation to put the necessary infrastructure in place.

He explained that sea trade involves a chain of activities/actors that facilitate the movement of goods in international trade, pointing out that for trade to contribute optimally to economic growth, “attention must be paid to the various aspects of the sector by investing in them for growth”.

NSC recently unveiled cargo tracking note to facilitate business transactions at the nation’s ports
Speaking at the forum, he identified the principal links as the Seaport and its infrastructure such as Ship or vessel and the cargo.

Explaining further, Bello said: “In addition to these, there are ancillary activities such as Freight Forwarding, trucking, insurance, banking, cargo surveying, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provision, among others”