Port Community System: Customs CG harps on robust inclusion of maritime stakeholders
Maureen Aguta
In a bid to ensure the effective implementation of submissions reached at port stakeholders’ summits, Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, on Thursday in Lagos, called for a robust inclusion all relevant stakeholders and their low ranking operational officers to achieve improved efficiency.
Adeniyi who was represented by the Customs Area Controller of Tin Can Island Port Command, Dera Nnadi said that the functionality of the Port Community System (PCS) will not be realized in a port environment characterized by disunity and conflicts which arise from the misunderstandings among tactical low cadre officers.
The customs boss made the call while speaking at the 4th edition of the JournalNG Port Industry Town Hall Meeting themed: “The Imperative of PCS for Integration of All Players in Nigerian Port System,” stressing that some challenges within the PCS and the application of innovative trends at ports are linked to confused tactical officials of security agencies.
His words: “Capacity building and sensitization should also include the officials at the rank and file. You would find that PCS is well understood by the elite operators and officers; but at the tactical level there isn’t this high-level understanding. This confusion leads to conflicts between these security agencies and operators”.
Adeniyi, however, lamented that Nigeria has a poor culture for collating data, stressing that the historical inadequacies of policymaking and planning have been results of incomprehensive data in Nigeria.
According to him, planning for port expansion and infrastructural developments should be guided by the available data indicating cargo throughput increase.
Meanwhile, he expressed delight that the 2023 Comptroller -General of Customs (CGC) conference themed: “Leveraging Data Analytics for Secure and Efficient Trade Facilitation in Customs Operations,” showed a change in the narrative as the nation hopes to optimize the huge opportunities in port operations via efficient collation and utilization of data.
He equally commended the Federal Government for approving the domiciling of a National Single Window in the Federal Inland Revenue Service, even as he observed that the Customs NICIS II system has other agencies and stakeholders but still needed to link more players in the port industry.