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Dikko, Stakeholders’, Seek Cooperation To Lift Nigeria’s Shipping

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The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Dr. Abdullahi Inde Dikko has laid bare his organisation’s strategy to achieve seamless import processes in the country.

Speaking at a colloquium tagged, “Seamless Shipping in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges” organised by the Maritime Correspondents’ Organisation of Nigeria (MARCON) in Lagos, the Customs boss said the service has developed a Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) mechanism to eliminate bottlenecks in the nation’s import system.

Presenting a paper titled, “Pre-Arrival Assessment Report:  An Initiative for Trade Facilitation and Enhanced Cargo Security”, the Comptroller General said even though progress had been made by concessionaires and service providers in their efforts to reform and modernise the nation’s shipping processes,  adding that the full potentialities of trade facilitation as envisioned under the Revised Kyoto Convention were yet to be realised.

    Dr Dikko, who was represented by the ,Public  relations Officer of Customs,  .

Deputy Comptroller Wale Adeniyi, assured that the P AAR mechanism would entrench a regime of cost-effective and timely clearance of consignments.

His words: “It is gratifying to note that we now have in place a robust platform and a fully automated application system to build on. With its capacity for shared intelligence and risk management, the development of the P AAR application system will signal the dawn of a new era in fostering compliant trade in a secure environment.”

Time, he said, had come for stakeholders in the sector to work together with a view to delivering on the initiative.

“Our experience in implementing the 48-hour clearance of cargo has shown that only a seamless operation, involving all stakeholders collaborating and complementing themselves, can deliver the much-needed objective of cost-effective and timely clearance. No matter the advances recorded by Customs in automation, for instance, the marginal value will be insignificant if not complemented by similar developments in other stakeholder sectors. The entire shipping sector constitutes a long chain of which Customs is only but a part. As the saying goes, a chain is as strong as its weakest link,” the Customs boss said.

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dikko disclosed, had given her consent for the test-run of the PAAR initiate to commence.

The Customs chief insisted that his men and officers were fully equipped to handle the transformation of the sector. To demonstrate their readiness for the PAAR system, two customs officers- employed in 2011, Yaro Abdullahi Ibrahim and  Bukola  Omoniyi were assigned to do a presentation on the workings of the P AAR mechanism.

In their presentations, the officers explained that the mandate of Customs in the shipping sector was in the area of striking a balance in trade facilitation, security and revenue generation.

The P AAR mechanism, they added, as a one-stop shop for importers, clearing agents and other stakeholders to interact in a seamless way for the clearance of consignments.

The platform allows importers to submit all their import papers to all regulatory agencies through a single window and ensures that consignments are cleared before arriving the shores of the country, Customs explained.

Earlier in his welcome address, President of the Maritime Correspondents’ Organisation of Nigeria, Ismail Aniemu regretted that though much had been said in the past about improving

the imports and shipping system of the country, nobody was ready to take concrete steps in that direction.

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Maritime

Fall Off Container Crushes Woman To Death

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Tragedy struck on Friday, when a fully loaded 40ft container fell from a Mack truck and crushed a woman to death along Lagos, Ibadan Expressway.
The Tide gathered  that the Mack truck was on high speed when the incident occurred around NNPC inward Alapere, Ogudu, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
A statement made available to our correspondent in Lagos by the Director, Public Affairs and Enlightment Department of Lagos State traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Mr. Adebayo Taofiq, said a fully loaded 40ft Mack articulated truck fell on a Nissan car with registration number ABJ 692BG and instantly killed a woman at the rear of the car, while the car driver survived unhurt with the support of LASTMA officials.
Taofiq confirmed that the driver of the Mack articulated truck with his motor-boy ran away immediately the fatal accident occurred.
He said, according to preliminary investigation, the truck while on a high speed lost control as a result of a brake failure and rammed into a moving Nissan car on motion by N.N.P.C inward Alapere, Ogudu, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Lagos.
The rescue agencies at the scene of the crash were the LASEMA, Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service and the Police.
Also at the accident scene were the LASTMA General Manager, Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, LASTMA Director of Traffic Incidents, Event Monitoring, Enforcement and Compliance, Mr. Hakeem Adeosun, and the LASTMA rescue team.
General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Olalekan Bakare Oki, however, warned motoring public, particularly truck drivers, to stop over speeding and ensure their vehicles are properly checked, including the braking system, before embarking on any journey within or outside the State.
The incident attracted passers-by, who thronged the scene lamenting the unfortunate incident, accusing men of the ports task force of negligence.

 

By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos

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PTML Customs Posts N66.92bn Revenue In First Quarter 2024

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The Port Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML) Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has presented an impressive revenue record collection for the first quarter of 2024.
According to the Command, it collected the sum of N66,920,181,586.30 as total revenue for the quarter of 2024, which is N22,198,965,809.55 higher than N44,721,215,776.75 collected between January and March 2023, representing 49.6 percent increase.
The Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the Command , Compt. Saidu Abba Yusuf, who described the increase in revenue collection as a laudable feat , said the Command is more committed towards trade facilitation and support government drive for ease of doing business.
Comptroller Yusuf, who thanked the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, for initiating strategies to achieve faster cargo clearance, reiterared that PTML Command under his watch aims to surpass its record of three hour cargo clearance for compliant traders.
According to Yusuf, the launching of time release study (TRS), which is ongoing, and other deliberate efforts by the Comptroller General have contributed in the expansion of terminal space and promoting ease of doing business in PTML.
He also disclosed that the PTML Command has potentials to achieve two hour cargo clearance and surpass its existing three hours record, if port users compliance level is improved upon.
Comptroller Yusuf, who described PTML as one of the safest and most secure environment for RoRo (Roll On Roll Off) and general cargoes, also advised importets and their agents to take advantage of the incentives available for compliant traders such as fast track, advance ruling and possible migration to the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status.
He reminded port users in PTML of the robust and time conscious dispute resolution mechanism, which has contributed immensely to the revenue collection, trade facilitation and anti smuggling functions of the Command.
While commending the various government and private sector stakeholders for their cooperation and support towards realisation of government goal of revenue collection and prevention of unlawful activities, Comptroller Yusuf expressed optimism that the Command will surpass its annual target for the year.

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Maritime

Customs Comptroller Lauds Scanning Officers Over Efficiency

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The Customs Area Controller (CAC) of Apapa Customs Command, Comptroller Babajide Jaiyeoba, has commended the officers of the Non Intrusive Inspection Technology Unit (NIITU) for their invaluable contributions to the overall success of the Command.
Comptroller Jaiyeoba, who was on an unscheduled visit to the scanner site, reminded the officers of the importance of team work as a strong basis to sustain the gains of compliance and revenue collection recently recorded by the Command.
According to a statement by the Public Relations Officer, Apapa Command, CSC Abubakar Usman, Comptroller Jaiyeoba thanked Deputy Comptroller, Salamatu Atuluku, the Officer in Charge of scanning site, and encouraged the unit not to be deterred by complaints coming from persons who were made to pay accurate duties to government after issuance of demand notices.
The Customs boss stated that no business person who is made to part with money will be happy with officers that refused compromising the ethics of their job.
He noted that “The main reason for me coming here is to appreciate you. I may not see you, but I have seen your work and I won’t keep quiet about what I have seen about your work. You are doing very well. I just want to encourage you to work as a team. If you don’t work as a team, you give room for outsiders to come in and when they come in, they divide you, and when they divide you, achieving success will be very difficult.
“Do your work without blemish. Once you keep your arm straight, you can stand before anybody. Your work as a Customs Officer is to ensure that you do the correct thing.
“For those of you doing intervention in the form of Demand Notice (DN), there is no body who part with money that will be happy with you. They will want to play intelligent by hiding somewhere. When you fetch them from their hiding place, they become your enemy.
Whatever they write about anybody here will still come down to me and if anybody works well, the onus on me is to defend such a person .
“Just have it at the back of your mind that you owe yourself the duty of doing your work diligently whether anyone comes around as a friend or enemy. It is not enough for you to rest. The reward for hard work is more work. These demands require sacrifice so that you can maintain the status”.

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