The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Managing Director, Mr Mohammed Bello-Koko, has urged the British government to address the negative labelling and rejection of exports from Nigeria by the United Kingdom (UK) as it is born of a preconceived hostile perception of Nigeria, rather than the quality of those exports. This is even as the NPA MD explained that Nigerian exporters have to pretend that their exports are from other West African countries before they will be accepted in the UK.
Bello-Koko made this call while receiving the UK Minister for Export, Mr Mike Freer MP, who was in Nigeria recently on trade facilitation and visited the Lagos Port Complex (LPC).
The MD who was represented by the Executive Director- Operations, Hon Onari Brown, said that Nigeria expects a commitment to the tenets of trade facilitation and so reports of goods being rejected because of their Nigerian origin is unpleasant.
He highlighted that the Nigerian government is on an export drive and has recently licensed 10 export terminals for swift transactions.
“We handle imports and exports. Now we are diversifying our economy from oil and we are glad to receive you at this time when we are looking in that direction.
“As partners in progress, we expect a lot from you. We are open to knowing areas we are supposed to improve upon to improve our export drive.
“We have made some strides in the area of exports. We just licensed about 10 export terminals, a kind of one-stop centre where all documentation from relevant agencies take place and the consignment is good to go,” Onari Brown said.
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Taking the Minister and his team through a rundown of operations at the premier port, the Port Manager, Mrs Olufunmilayo Olotu, stated that NPA has mapped out a portion of the Lilypond Transit Park as an Export Consolidation bay for the port and provided structures and systems to shorten trade process and ensure goods arrive their ports of destination in the best shape.
“Post Brexit at your end, post-COVID globally, the visit is quite timely. We already have in place structures and systems for goods leaving Nigeria to arrive at other places in topmost conditions but as my MD highlighted in his speech, we are beginning to have situations where our exporters need to remove our national brand and identity as Nigerians and take on the identity of a fellow West African country before our goods will be accepted in the UK.
“NPA Management has earmarked Lilypond as an export consolidation bay. We are working on minimizing export processes along the trade value chain,” the Port Manager stated.
Olotu advocated that exports from Nigeria should not be treated with any reputational bias, to enable the country to earn due recognition and value for her trade initiatives in the UK.
The Customs Zone ‘A’ Coordinator of the Nigeria Customs Service, ACG Adeyanju Modupe Aremu, who was also present at the meeting explained that the ongoing automation of trade processes by the Service would address issues of delays and place more accurate timelines on activities leading to the clearing of cargoes at the ports.
She disclosed that the Service would be installing a scanner at the Lagos Port Complex before the end of the year.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Commander at the port, Mr Inalegwu Ameh, assured the Minister of the readiness of the organization to support and share intelligence where the need arises.
Addressing stakeholders, Minister Freer said he takes away from the visit “the real drive for modernization to ensure the ports in Nigeria are amongst the best in the world.”
He described the port as a thriving port stating that “Across the globe basically in all the ports, the real pressure points is getting container ships in, getting them offloaded, getting them out and I think the government drive at digitalization will make sure that Nigerian ports really are world leaders at getting goods in and out as fast as possible but also speaking as a government minister, making sure to capture the right revenue that the government is entitled to.”
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