Nigerian Ports, Fertile Ground For Corruption – ANLCA Boss

The President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has described Nigerian Ports as fertile ground for corruption and a place for sharing the national cake.

Olayinola Shittu in an interview with The Tide correspondent at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa said although corruption is found in all strata of the country but the ports are seen as a national cake.

“Corruption is everywhere and no nation has grown without corruption but the ports are fertile ground for corruption as they see it as a national cake,” Shittu stressed, pointing out that it is the duty of everyone to ensure that the menace is wiped out because it affects the nation’s economy.

He observed that the cumbersome nature of importation process in Nigeria is an anormally compared with other West African sub-regions, adding that multiple checks by customs officials and other agencies on imported goods was an indication of loss of trust and confidence in the agencies engaged in the duty.

According to him, “if all of us do what is right, multiple checks must disappear. If there is nothing to hold against somebody, corruption will not thrive. This development affect the economy of the country, so it is the duty of the individual to do things right to bring a change.”

The ANLCA boss who explained that the job of the association is to assist the customs service in the implementation of government policies and programmes as it concerns importation, educate the importer on government policies and their functions to government noted that Nigerian factor affects the importer who pays dues to the government.

“Multiple checks has never done any good to the nation,” Shittu declared and condemned the lifting of ban on the importation of tooth pick and other products that are not important to the people.

“Lifting ban on tooth pick is making it a luxury when there are a lot of products needed by Nigerians such as textile materials and others,” he noted, adding “there is no wisdom in the importation of contraband.”

Shedie Opara