Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, says the physical examination of cargoes by Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) officials is archaic.
Speaking at the maiden visit to the head office of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) in Apapa, Oyetola condemned the practice by NCS, saying, “The issue of Customs inspecting cargoes physically is archaic. We need to engage the Customs more.
“I witnessed the physical examination of a cargo yesterday and I wonder how much it would take to inspect the lot of cargoes piling around.
“I understand that about 6,000 cargoes are lying there at the ports not cleared. There must be an understanding as to when the cargo should be declared abandoned and use due process to sell them off.
“Some of the cargoes we were told have been there since 2011. What is the use of occupying that space? There is no economic advantage for keeping overtime cargoes for that long.
“We need to engage Customs to see the best way to evacuate them.
He further warned that the present government will not tolerate corruption at the nation’s seaports.
“I have gone round to look at the state of our ports, and it is very discouraging. I am not blaming anybody because the ports are old. I would want us to replicate what I saw today at Lekki deep seaport in other places.
“My concept of port development is more of Public Private Partnership (PPP), so it is important for us to start thinking about that”, he said.