Running any kind of business in Nigeria is pretty difficult. You need a will stronger than that of a mountain climber; the determination of a marathon runner; the focus of a motion photographer and most importantly, the patience of Job. Managing even a roadside kiosk in the country is not for the faint-hearted. You give your all and even then, nothing is guaranteed. You could still get all your fingers burnt.
The shorter the distance…..
Nothing is certain in the Nigerian business space. However, your cross is heavier if you rely on imports for your products or raw materials. Beyond passing through hell to secure FOREX either from official or informal channels, you will still be required to pay twice, what someone importing the same volume of identical goods into South Africa will pay to ship a from New York.
For those with knowledge of elementary geography, the distance from New York to Nigeria is about 4, 000 miles shorter than the mileage from New York to South Africa. Why then does the Nigerian importer pay twice what his South African peer pays? Simple. Ports operations in Nigeria are inefficient; the officials are largely corrupt and in place of modern sophisticated scanning and documentation equipment, ports officials in Nigeria work mainly with all manner of outdated tools which creates all forms of delays, confusion and multiple losses.
So in addition to paying just 50% of what his Nigerian counterpart pays to import from overseas, a South African importer would also have the privilege of clearing his goods and selling off his wares weeks in advance before the Nigerian gets the opportunity to clear his goods at the ports.
Impunity Unlimited
Strangely, this situation has continued to deteriorate and the government appears helpless to stand up for its indigenous business operators. The NPA officials have not been very proactive in handling matters of ports administration and this may have emboldened the foreign terminal operators to bare their fangs on virtually all the guidelines by the federal government.
Nigerian businesses are milked dry at the ports through systemic inefficiency, shylock charges and other expressions of impunity by foreign ports actors who have no care in the world whether the local economy grows or sinks. The fact that Nigerian consumers are made to pay sky-high prices for basic goods when they should pay less means nothing to the ports operators. It does not concern the foreign ports operators that many importers when they weigh the gains of clearing their goods amidst the various bottlenecks simply abandon them and move on. These should definitely mean something and the concerned authorities at the federal executive and legislative arms of government must step in immediately to stop the haemorrhaging losses most Nigerian importers suffer as a result of the untidy business practices at the ports.
The culprits
What are the specifics you may ask? Who should be called to order and what are they not doing right? Shipping operations at the Lagos Ports was concessioned in 2006 to several players including APMTL, PTML, Ports and Cargoes and Five Logistics Limited. All of these operators manage imports brought into the country through various shipping lines including Maersk, Grimaldi, of SIFAX and Commet Shipping.
While the level of inefficiencies amongst the operators vary with a few being somewhat better than others, what is, however, true is that none has adopted international best practices relating to cargo handling and ancillary functions.
The costs
Importers are made to wait unnecessarily before getting hold of their cargoes. This has brought about untold hardship to the businesses that rely on these imports to be in operations. Now because of the needless delays in cargo clearance, unnecessary gridlocks build on the roads and logistics companies whose trucks have to take the cleared goods from the terminals to different parts of the country simply responded to the challenge by ballooning their charges, sometimes by as much as 1000%.
Former Anambra Governor, Peter Obi recently lamented that the cost of moving a single container of goods from Apapa to Onitsha jumped from N70, 000- N100, 000 in late 2015 to N700, 000- N1 million as at September 2019. In addition to paying the inflated delivery charges, importers also pay heavy demurrages because of the lengthy differential between the arrival of the containers from overseas and the time it takes to clear them.
Recall also that the body of licensed clearing agents at the ports recently had to go public with the claim that importers still pay heavy demurrages and storage fees even after the Ports Authorities had directed that such payments be suspended in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic which has seen a great reduction in human and economic activities. Why would foreign shipping lines and ports operators continue to impose extortionate charges on Nigerian businesses contrary to government directives?
The way forward
It is about time the federal government and members of the national assembly began to take these mindless flouting of official directives at the ports seriously. It must be emphasized that this is a country governed by laws and that directives by agents of government cannot be violated without consequences.
This is not a time to seek “settlement” or play games by those who should call the ports operators and shipping companies to order. It would be a crime against the business community if the government keeps paying scant regard to the plight of Nigerian importers who continue to operate in the country by the force of their sheer will and grit.
Issues of bribery and other forms of corruption at the ports must be squarely dealt with. Even more importantly, a proper investigation into the activities of the various stakeholders in the Nigerian import business ought to be initiated. Anyone found to have compromised government directives and put the investment of Nigerians at risk must be severally dealt with in line with the dictates of the law.
Deal with it or…
This is an SOS to those in charge. Something urgent must be done to stop the rot and impunity at the ports and ultimately, protect the heavy financial investments of Nigerians who use the ports. These strategic players in the nation’s economy must be insulated from the greedy instincts and inefficient streaks of foreign businesses and unpatriotic Nigerian bureaucrats and influences.
