Absolutely. It will reduce the cargo congestion and pressure on the Western ports. Just as you mentioned, this has been put on the table more than 10 times. I want to believe that this time, because of the election fever and the fact that the government has a lot of resources at its disposal, they may want to match what they have been saying with action.
If that eventually happens, it will reduce the pressure on the Western ports. I find that there is easy access from the Eastern ports towards the northern part of the country. A lot of containers and export cargo that I handle move from Abuja to Port Harcourt.
So, I see a lot of pressure being reduced from this part of the country. The Eastern ports will become very busy hubs if they are properly developed. You can see that some activities are already picking up there.
In a nutshell, it is going to be a game changer. The pressure on Lagos can be reduced significantly.

I still want to believe that it is about the political will of the government. The structure of the Eastern ports is not something that was created recently. Even the main ports have become obsolete, and there is little or nothing happening in some of them. The problem is basically the deficit in port infrastructure. That infrastructure deficit is affecting the performance of the Eastern ports.
The last time I visited, I saw some changes, but much more needs to be done, especially with the access roads and the truck call-up system. The call-up system has become a protracted issue. For reasons known to the practitioners there, it has not worked properly as it does in Lagos.
But, all in all, I believe it comes down to the willingness of government to put its foot down and ensure that the necessary things are done.
Look at Calabar. It is open to other countries. We also have superstructures and oil-related industries around Calabar. I am not sure they are functioning optimally because of the infrastructure deficit at Calabar Port.
A whole lot needs to be done. The Eastern ports need to be opened up and developed. Healthy competition between the Eastern and Western ports will, in the long run, give Nigeria a better performance index and better value.

The most important thing people are not taking note of is that the leakages revolve around terminal operations and shipping lines. Our focus is always on Customs.
Customs has been able to stabilise and modernise its processes. If you are ready to comply, you will find it relatively easy to go through the Customs process.
The real challenge is the lack of capacity within the terminals and the port environment. A lot of inland activities are also contributing to the problem.
The modern port system is still not efficient, and we have a whole lot of inland container terminals whose priority appears to be how to collect charges and make money, rather than service delivery. That is where the real problem lies.
Cargo delivery has been segmented into different processes. You have the pre-arrival processes, arrival processes, cargo delivery and exit processes, and then post-clearance processes. These were all meant to facilitate trade.
But you cannot complete the arrival process with Customs when the shipping line has not completed its own part of the process.
There is a lot of confusion. In some cases, shipping lines change their charges several times. You cannot plan with the importer or trucker anymore.
All these are leakages and wastefulness, and eventually, the cost is passed on to the consumer.
For instance, you need a cargo manifest before you can generate your pre-arrival assessment report. But shipping lines are sometimes not ready to provide the necessary information because of their own arrival protocols.
Then you have the terminal operator, who is expected to position the container for Customs examination. When the importer is ready, the terminal should also be ready.
There are so many processes involved, including examination and withdrawal of cargo. If you are not careful, a container can be moved from one location to another before the importer eventually clears it. All these things add to the cost.

Let me give you an example. If my container landed at a terminal located within the port premises and I am told the charge is about N790,000, you then discover that moving the same cargo from one point within the port to another can attract another significant charge.
Sometimes, it is practically as if you are taking the container from the vessel, dropping it somewhere and then paying again to move it to another location. There are a lot of issues around pricing.
Even for small cargoes, say two or three cubic metres, what we call less-than-container-load cargo, you have different charges from the shipping line, terminal and other service providers.
Nobody really knows the full cost line.
You can have different charges from terminal to terminal and different charges for the same type of container. That is why we need transparency in the entire cost structure.

Customs will tell you that Nigerian shippers are not truthful. But Customs now has, ( I believe it has), the capacity to determine the correct value using the five valuation principles recognised globally. The problem still persists.
I believe the present crop of Customs administration we have in Nigeria is one of the most capable we have had. I may be wrong, but from my experience, they remain capable of helping us advance towards a best-practice environment.
I believe the leadership is showing that it really wants to help the Nigeria Customs Service compete globally and is willing to do its best to achieve that.
I don’t see why we should still have a Customs officer telling an importer to simply take a particular price and use it when the Nigeria Customs Service has the capacity to determine the correct value.

First and foremost, all associations need to be strong. It is in the interest of those who want to take advantage of the processes in the port environment that the associations remain weak.
What is the purpose of an association? Simply put, to me, as a student of advocacy, there is nothing more important than advocacy.
Advocacy on behalf of members, advocacy on behalf of Nigerian shippers who are supposed to be our principals, and advocacy on behalf of the country itself. We need to learn how to represent our image properly.
If we have people who lack the requisite knowledge leading an association, then the advocacy is lost. I have said in the past that ANLCA has been the lead agent. We need to do more. I want to see an ANLCA that operates the way it used – to going in and out of the National Assembly and tackling bills before they become Acts.
In the last three years, I am not sure I have seen sufficient representation, whether from ANLCA or other freight forwarding associations.
Too often, it is when the soup is already cooked that the associations want to raise their hands and say, “Let’s discuss it.” We have gone past that level.

I will leave that for posterity to judge.
Just as you said, ANLCA that I knew and served was deeply involved in advocacy. I have already told you that the purpose of any association is advocacy.
None of the associations appears to have the level of communication presence that the Nigeria Customs Service now has.
Customs is updating information every day and responding quickly to issues in the online media.
How many times have you seen an advocacy issue where an association invites journalists to come and cover it?
There is no more advocacy.
Suddenly, they invite you to parties. They invite you to press conferences and issue press releases. Where is the advocacy? Where do you see the exchange of ideas?
I don’t want to say it should become an argument between an association and a government representative, but there must be engagement.
All associations need to think backwards and understand that an association is more than carrying a name. It is about service and, importantly, advocacy.
ANLCA or any other association should not just be about being close to the port, going into the port and coming out of the port. There are too many things an association can do to improve the trade.

I was in Uganda for a conference and I saw something interesting. Uganda Customs has a laboratory. They have chemists, physicists and other professionals working there.
It is not just about arguments from an air-conditioned office. If there is a dispute over a product, they can take it straight to the laboratory and conduct the necessary analysis.
I don’t know where there is a Customs laboratory in Nigeria that I can simply drive into and say, “I want a critical analysis of this product.”
A lot of money is being wasted because of this.
I would like to see a standard laboratory established, preferably within or accessible through the Nigeria Customs Service, where disputes can be resolved through scientific analysis.
That would help to separate issues when arguments arise.
Where is the go-to institution when I have a dispute?
For instance, if Customs says I should pay $10 million and then changes the assessment to $15 million, where is the mechanism that protects me while the dispute is being resolved?
At present, I may be required to raise the $15 million and lodge it with a bank as a guarantee while the argument continues.
If I cannot raise that $15 million, then the Customs position becomes very difficult to challenge.
There has to be a better mechanism for resolving such disputes without putting the importer under unnecessary financial pressure.