Stakeholders flay agencies for non-compliance with executive order

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Boniface Aniebonam

Perceived non-compliance with the Executive Order that directed some government agencies out of the ports, may further pose a major setback to port operations unless strict measures are taken.
  
The Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s Executive Order had scaled down the number of agencies inside the ports from about 11 to eight, but operators bemoan the adamant attitude of the concerned agencies to exiting the ports.
   
The Chairman, Toiletries and Cosmetic Manufacturers Group, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Ikeja Branch, Ikpong Umoh, at a lecture organised by Financial Business Team on making the port environment more business friendly criticised the incidence of multiplicity of regulatory agencies, which has continued to escalate the cost of doing business.
   
He said until the agencies are fully harmonised into a single platform, it will mar the executive order on the ease of doing business.On the compliance level, Umoh said some government agencies are yet to adhere to basic operational principles, noting that they are still defaulting by providing dysfunctional contact telephone lines, and emails that are not working.
  
Prompt and unencumbered communication between agencies of government and the business community, he said, is critical to easing the business environment.Umoh advised service providers to come out clean and rectify the avenues of communication in order to comply with the ease of doing business initiative by reducing human contact in port areas.
   
The Founder, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, expressed concern that the agencies of government are not working in sync with each other, adding that collapse of the ports system is imminent based on the present state of the port system.
    
He said the key to building a functional system is to ensure that laws are implemented while defaulters are brought to justice, noting that when these are met, achieving the objectives of the ease of doing business initiative would not be a difficult task.
   
The Customs Area Controller, Ports and Terminal Multiservice Limited (PTML), Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, Modupeola Aremu, said the policy is aimed at making Nigeria compliant with global best practices in port clearance, noting that it can be achieved through a collective action plan.
  
Represented by the Deputy Controller in charge of enforcement, Dennis Egure, Aremu said: “We must not frustrate the policy through our deliberate inactions, as together, we can make Nigeria the world’s most attractive hub.”