Arbitrary charges: Agent calls for leadership change at Shippers Council

The re-appointment of the Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Shippers Council, Hassan Bello, by the Federal Government has been criticised due to perceived non-performance of the regulatory agency in its ombudsman role in port operations in the last four years.

Professor Yemi Osinbajo, as Acting President, had approved the reappointment of Bello as the Executive Secretary of the Council for a second four-year tenure courtesy of a June 9, 2017 letter to the Council and signed by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Alhaji Sabiu Zakari.

Speaking to newsmen recently, Managing Director/Ceo, Uburu Maritime Services, Mr Pius David, said the current leadership of the council inherited more problems than it met on ground, pointing out that there have been frequent hikes in shipping charges by foreign shipping companies in the last couple of years without effective regulation by the council.

The freight forwarding agent lamented that the regulatory agency has created more problems for users of shipping services by not curbing the excesses of terminals and shipping firms that unilaterally introduced unapproved shipping charges, especially the Ports Additional Destination (PAD) levy since the first quarter of the 2017.

David alleged that the unit responsible for addressing shippers’ complaints often discourages operators by its excessive bureaucratic style.

Highlighting some of the shortcomings of the current leadership of the Shippers Council, the freight agent explained that: “I am of the opinion that another hand must be tested because there are people who understand this job better than him.

“Freight forwarding is the engine room of the industry and there are so many issues in the industry which I know may worsen come next year.

“There are other people in the council who understand the nitty gritty of what the council is lacking as regards the regulatory role and the re-appointment shouldn’t have come at a time when everyone is complaining about the arbitrary charges.”

“The charges introduced by shipping companies recently had been in existence since the first quarter of the year and the CEO of the council only came out last month to say that such charges are illegal because the media was able to promptly expose the charges to the public.”

Bello was first appointed Executive Secretary/CEO of NSC in 2013 following the expiration of the tenure of Captain Adamu Biu.