Maritime

SON Restates Mandate To Check Fake Products

Published

11 years ago

October 31, 2014

The Standards Organiza
tion of Nigeria (SON) says it has a mandate to enforce and checkmate the influx of sub-standard products into the country.
Addressing newsmen in Lagos last Tuesday, the Director of Enforcement at the Port Operations, Engineer Bede Obayi said since importers have devised new methods of bringing in substandard products into the country, they are also developing new strategies to checkmate them.
Obayi said the assignment given to his Director General, Dr Joseph Odumudu by the Federal Government of Nigeria is to ride the country of fake, adulterated and sub-standard products and that the organization has been doing so with vigor.
He said looking at the SON Act, the organization has not even effected all the powers given to it and that more strategies are coming, to make sure Nigeria and Nigerians are not consumed by fake and sub-standard products.
Engineer Obayi, who was reacting to the allegation of arresting containers on Lagos city roads by the SON’s Enforcement Unit leveled against them by the Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFFF) said, neither him nor his Director General will carry out duties to impede on rights of importers, but that SON must do its job.
“How can you have container that is moving by night, when you know it is carrying sub-standard goods or did not even register such product with SON?
They said, we should go to their warehouses, as you know some Nigerians who are bent on not doing the right thing, if we allow such goods to get to their warehouses by night, by morning the goods are no more and as you know the goods will be sold to Nigerians whom we are to protect. My brother, as a patrioctic Nigerian, if we allow such, then we are not carrying out our mandate.” Obayi said.
On why the SON cannot hook-up to the Nigeria Customs portal, the Nigeria Trade Hub (NTH) to profile its products, Obayi said his organization was working with Niciss to develop its platform so as to be fully operational online, and then they will have something to take to the stakeholders and sensitize them, but for now they have to safeguard Nigerians.
Speaking further, he said that because the Standards Organizations of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) certificate were being faked by Nigerians in collaboration with manufacturers outside Nigeria, the organization decided to issue SONCAP in Nigeria whenever an importer presents his products manufacturing certificate to them.
All these strategies, the SON official said are to checkmate sub-standard products.
There has been a cool war going on between SON and the Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) over illegal arrests of containers along Lagos roads and the Western zone.
According to the founder of NAGAFF, Dr Boniface Aniebonam, the SON Act does not give the organization any power to arrest containers along the road, but to follow up to owner warehouses to effect such arrest.

Maritime

Lagos Ready For International Boat Race–LASWA

Published

3 days ago

September 22, 2025

Uchechukwu Okwum

The Lagos State Government says it is fully prepared to host the forthcoming international boat race, assuring participants and residents of adequate safety on waterways.

The General Manager, Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Emmanuel Oluwadamilola, while speaking to Newsmen, at the Weekend, said the state had over the years invested heavily in safety infrastructure to secure its waterways.

Oluwadamilola explained that Lagos had consistently enhanced facilities, making it the safest state for water transportation in Nigeria, with all necessary safety infrastructure in place.

He said patrol boats had been deployed, while collaboration with the Marine Police and the Nigerian Navy would ensure effective surveillance across the waterways.

He added that Lagos now operated a control room using advanced technology to monitor waterways, describing it as the best time to host such an event.

According to him, the government had also undertaken shoreline cleaning, provided security boats, and designated docking zones for vessels participating in the competition.

“We are delighted this race can now happen in Lagos, proving the state’s readiness and capacity to successfully host such an international event,” he said

Maritime

NCS Sensitises Stakeholders On Automated Overtime Cargo Clearance System

Published

3 days ago

September 22, 2025

Uchechukwu Okwum

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has sensitised stakeholders in Zones B and D ob the newly introduced Automated Overtime Cargo Clearance and Disposal System.

The sensitisation, held at the Customs Training College, Goron Dutse, Kano, at the Weekend, was themed ‘Driving Transparency, Efficiency and Accountability in Cargo Clearance’.

Speaking at the event, the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, said the initiative was designed to deliver an efficient, transparent, and technology-driven process for managing overtime cargo clearance and disposal.

Represented by the Controller in charge of Post Clearance Audit Zone B, Mrs Deborah Adeyemi, Adeniyi said the system would address congestion, paperwork, bottlenecks, abandoned cargo and delays in clearance processes that had slowed economic activity.

“This initiative marks a turning point in our operations.

“With the Automated Overtime Cargo Clearance and Disposal System, we are demonstrating that Customs can be both a facilitator of trade and a guarantor of integrity,” the CGC said.

Adeniyi explained that the platform would enable the stakeholders, including consignees, customs brokers, terminal operators, and customs officers, to apply, track and receive approvals online without physical contact.

He said the system was backed by the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, which provides the legal framework for electronic processes, overtime cargo timelines and disposal consignments after 120 days, with provisions for condemnation, auction or other disposal methods.

The Custom’s boss listed the benefits to include transparency through time-stamped actions, accountability through strict timelines, efficiency in terminal operations and data integrity with all documents integrated on Customs servers.

He urged stakeholders across the commands in Kano/Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger and Kogi to familiarise themselves with the process, train their teams and constructively engage with Customs officers for effective implementation.

“The Nigeria Customs Service is not merely automating a process, we are transforming a culture.

“Delay, opacity and congestion are being replaced with efficiency, transparency and accountability,” the CGC said.

In his remarks, the Customs Area Controller, Kano/Jigawa Command, Mr Dalhatu Abubakar, assured the stakeholders that the command was committed to eliminating overtime cargo.

“As terminal operators, with proper sensitisation and capacity building, we have no reason to admit cargo as overtime in Kano.

“I urge you to take this opportunity seriously to achieve that,” he said.

Also speaking, Chief Superintendent of Customs, Headquarters, A. A Abdulkadir, explained that the system was not new but a digital transformation of the manual overtime cargo clearance process, which comes with added simplicity and efficiency.

The Chairman, Clearing Agents Association, Kano, Alhaji Hafiz Rilwan, on behalf of the stakeholders, commended the CGC for the initiative and pledged to support its implementation through wider sensitisation.

Maritime

Minister Tasks Academy On Thorough-Bred Professionals

Published

3 days ago

September 22, 2025

Uchechukwu Okwum

Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has charged the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) to remain committed towards producing thorough-bred professionals for the maritime industry.

Oyetola gave the charge at the 2025 third quarter Citizens’ and Stakeholders’ Engagement of the Institution, in Oron, Akwa Ibom State, with the theme ‘Implementation of the National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy for Onboard Training of Nigerian Merchants Navy Cadets and the Critical Needs of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria’.

Represented by the Deputy Director, Research, Planning and Statistics, MAN, Joshua Ayebameru, the minister urged the authorities of the institution not to compromise standards.

Oyetola said “Over the years, the academy has trained qualified personnel for the maritime industry. The academy remains a cornerstone institution in the maritime sector.

“Through its programmes, training, and commitment to excellence, the academy continues to produce the manpower required to keep the sector vibrant and competitive”.

Oyetola further stated that the engagement was to enable stakeholders brainstorm on how to advance Nigeria’s marine and blue economy through collaborations, training and innovation.

He insisted that seafarers, cadets, and other maritime professionals from the institution must be well-equipped to compete globally and to drive the growth and sustenance of the sector.

The minister called for stakeholders collaboration towards developing the maritime sector, saying, “the future of Nigeria’s marine and blue economy depends on all of us”

In his remarks, the Chairman of MAN’s Governing Council, Kehinde Akinola, said that the council had developed a comprehensive five-year strategic development plan for the academy.

Akinola said that the plan, when approved, would accelerate institutional reforms, enhance training standards, deepen industry linkages, and reposition the academy for greater efficiency.

He said that the governing council was partnering shipowners and operators to secure practical training for the cadets.

“It is an obligation because we must prepare our cadets to meet international standards,” he said.

Earlier, Dr Kevin Okonna, the Acting Rector of the academy, Dr Kevin Okonna, noted that the academy, within the past 10 months, had been repositioned to enhance teaching and learning.

Okonna said that the institution had been collaborating with maritime professional associations and the academy’s alumni to facilitate the employment of more maritime professionals.

“We have employed about seven marine professional lecturers to enhance cadets teaching and learning.

“We have also obtained the commitment of shipowners and their associations to provide onboard training opportunities for our cadets,” he said.