Mr. Bolaji Sunmola is the Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Consultative Council (NPCC), a group that focuses on advocacies geared towards development of Nigerian ports. In this interview with selected newsmen, the NPCC Chairman speaks about issues in Nigerian ports and prospects for development.
What are the top priorities of the NPCC as regards the Nigerian maritime sector?
In the NPCC, a competitive and efficient Nigerian port sector is what we envision. We are not surprised when you see us complaining about Togo, maybe now Ghana, I don’t know. It’s because we are not competitive enough, and our ports are not busy because we are not competitive enough. Other ports are coming up, there are developments that are coming, so it’s high time Nigeria sat up, to be able to measure up to this. From the perspective of Nigerian Port Consultative Council, all that we do is to drive economic growth. It’s to ensure the country is always improving its service delivery at our ports because it’s all about service. If we do not deliver service, then we will have missed it. God forbid; I hope our ports will not become a museum centre in the future. But it’s all about growth. NPCC is about driving growth, ensuring that our ports are competitive, ensuring the right things are done, ensuring that all the sectors within this community work together, ensuring that government policy too works in the direction of saying that they are thinking ahead of the users, and they are laying down the right pathway. Because without them, there’s not much we can do, because government has to give us a pathway. And of course, all this feedback comes from organisations like us to aid and to support their decision making. That is what we envision of Nigerian Port Consultative Council now and in the immediate future.
Almost all the agencies in the port have increased their tariffs which have made trade in the Nigerian maritime sector quite difficult. Many traders are looking at other neighbouring ports as alternative. What is NPCC doing as regards addressing some of these issues?
It’s a very worrisome thing. Let me pick it one after the other. The 4% of the Customs came at a very wrong time. It’s a bad taste for the whole economy. Thank God a lot of other organisations took that up and government quickly back-pedaled by ensuring that this is reviewed. I say Kudos to a listening government for that. But we should start thinking that it’s not our performance or increase in performance or patronage or revenue driven, that should not be the basis at which we’ll be rating our ports. This is because if we’re making our ports to be based on driving revenue without efficiency, then we’ll be doing a lot of damage to the economy and to encourage the port users to be more friendly. There’s a part of the government which needs to be done, which is important, which is to be more market-driven. And when you have the philosophy of being market-driven, you are putting the customer first. What are the needs of the customer? What are the requirements? What makes them happy? And then, of course, over a long time, you know that the resources will definitely come in. At the time when you are satisfying them, there will be no other places they could go. We should always have a long-term development plan. We’ll have a long-term plan that will ensure that our policies can sustain the timing at which we want and for the result we’re expecting of them.
The issue of the renewal of port concession agreement has lingered for so long. Stakeholders are worried that the federal government has not renewed some of the concession agreements of some of the terminal operators. What’s your take on this?
Really, from my own perspective, somebody raised it at one of the council meetings we had about two weeks ago, and we felt really worried about it. What is the undercurrent? Is the government trying to change their policy on concessioning? That’s a big, huge question. We are not seeing that sign. But where you have it lingering for more than five years and the renewal is not given, it behoves ordinary eye to see. But it’s important that the interests of our ports should be taken at heart and whatever it is that is bringing any disagreement or any issue, let them know. It is the people at the port, the port users that will suffer. I hope the government and the terminal operators will come to a quick agreement, and this will be resolved either way for the common users of the port to continue to have wonderful services provided.
Our most concern is that services and infrastructures at the port should not be played with. If this is lingering, we know it’s the nation and the economy that will suffer. So, we hope that this will be resolved as quickly as possible.
Recently, the NPCC issued a press statement about the fact that it hopes to be the data warehouse for the maritime industry. What has been the update on this?
NPCC works by committees and the committees have very distinguished members who have proven their mettle in the maritime industry. One of the committees is the Research and Development committee and fortunately for us, one of our members is a professor who has had so many years of experience working with the private sector as well, and worked as a public sector teacher, worked as a government employee at one point or another, is heading this committee. And they are having a lot of resource people within them too. In fact, today they had their inaugural meeting together. And they are putting things together, because that’s the arm of the council that is taking this up and don’t forget, our late Otunba Folarin (may is soul rest in peace) is a repertoire of information and data in the past. So, all of this we are trying to put together to ensure that once we have this particular committee fully set up, it will be a robust one. It will be a repertoire of information that will be a one-stop where people can reach into. We are putting all of this into planning. We are just at the planning stage. But I’m sure before the middle of the year, we’ll be able to launch out for others to come in and enjoy from the rich information and data that will be coming out from this department.
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With ports in Togo, Ghana, and even nearly; Benin Republic, competing for regional dominance, what specific steps do you think relevant agencies in the Nigerian maritime sector need to take in order to ensure that Nigerian ports remain the preferred choice for shippers?
It’s a shame that Nigeria is a consumption centre, but it’s not the beneficiary of all the ancillary profits that comes with what we consume. When we talk of the whole of West Africa, I think we consume more than 70% of what is imported. We have the population and our GDP is even one of the best. Yes, we have our own economic goals and all that to contribute, but thank God this government is doing all their best to ensure that the proper foundation is laid for our economy to stabilise. There can be no economy like Nigeria in the sub-Saharan sector of Africa. This is where it is happening. A country of more than 200 million people; I’m sure we are more than that, and with the enormous resources we have, there is no power that can play with the economy of Nigeria. It is only for our port to wake up and ensure that we put in the right system. And that’s why I give kudos to the National Single Window being championed by this present government. The government has ensured that it is not only been talking about it, but there is a lot of action that is going for it to come into play because we need it. Again, as I said, we need to make ease of doing business in Nigerian ports a priority for everybody.
Don’t forget, Nigeria is almost in every economy in the world and we are ready to do business in Nigeria. But the condition by which all these businesses will be organised is very important. So Nigeria should be able to put her acts together and ensure that ease of doing business is good and trouble-free. Of course, we can’t have a trouble-free environment, but one that will not make their investment threatened or makes them to lose all the labours that they have put in place, in the years to come by. So it’s important that we ensure that goods and services provisions in Nigeria are improved and all the agencies come together under this single window to ensure that it works. We will see the tremendous effect it will be on our economy. You see, all those white ports will be wiped away. And I’m serious about that. I know we have a lot of talk going into port developments too. Of course, we have our offshore arrangements and all that.
and then