A maritime expert,
Chief Ernest Elochukwu, has said the nation’s maritime sector recorded increased volume of cargoes and development in the past 100 years.
Speaking to The Tide in Port Harcourt last Monday, Elochukwu, a former president of the association of Nigeria licensed customs agents from 2004 to 2005 said that more ports had been built in the country, compared to what it was in the past.
He said the ports had witnessed an increase in the volume of cargoes that passed through them.
There have been improvements in the already existing ports as well as in terms of the cargo handling and operational modus.
He said the customs have gone from the manual to electronic system in cargo handling.
The maritime expert said the nation’s maritime sector still needed more improvements inspite of the successes recorded.
Elochukwu said the cargo handling efficiency at the ports were still poor, stressing the need for improvement.
He said it took between two and three weeks for cargoes to be cleared at the ports while with modern equipment, it requires three days to be cleared.
He said some progress in the sector had been made, but the level of progress considering where the world is going to and resources available to the nation, the sector need to do more exceptionally.
He called on the government to pay more attention to the maritime sector because of its potential as revenue source to the government.

Philip Okparaji