Maritime Journalists Hold Forum on 24hr Port Operations

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON) will on Tuesday, June 20, 2017, hold an all-maritime stakeholders town hall meeting at the Rockview Hotel in Apapa to discuss the recent executive order mandating a 24-hour operations at the nation’s ports.

Expected to grace the event are the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Mr Hameed Ibrahim Ali; the Director General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mr Osita Aboloma; representatives of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF); National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); and National Agency for Foods and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC).

Others are the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC), the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), heads of government agencies and private sector operators in the maritime industry,  among others.

It is no doubt that the numerous economic potentials of Nigeria’s maritime industry have for long been acknowledged but effort at harnessing and utilizing the acclaimed embedded resources have been elusive owing to policy inconsistencies and lack of commitment at implementing and executing policies to the later.

Worried by complaints from importers and exporters on how frustrating port operations were in Nigeria, the Acting President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, gave an executive order, mandating 24-hour operations at the ports.

At the forum on Tuesday, participants would discuss the issues and challenges facing the sector, things to put in place as well as what needed to be done to improve operations at the ports.

Also, attendees would try to answer if infrastructures on ground are adequate for the implementation of the 24-hour port operations executive order, with the Apapa Port as a pilot.