By Fredrick Wright

FREIGHT forwarders and truckers have formed a synergy to checkmate, coordinate and control movement of good from the seaports without recourse to bribery and extortions.

  The new mechanism would be implemented by the Committee of Freight Forwarders and Maritime Truck Owners (COFFAMAT).

  President of Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Remi Odugbemi, stated that the groups are tired of extortions on the port access roads and therefore believed that this new mechanism would ease and enhance smooth evacuation of cargoes from the ports.

    Odugbemi said the twin factors of extortion and bribery are cankerworms that have eating deep into the system.

  “But some group of people sees the problem as an opportunity, and they are doing this days and nights to enrich themselves. Hence, they do not want the problem solve,” he alleged.

  According to him, the side effect on the masses are the rise in prices of all the commodities in the markets, as the cost of clearing are being added to the cost of importing.

  He added that the consumers bear the final brunt of the cost arising from the inadequacies.

    Besides, he noted that the neighboring countries are competing closely with Nigerian ports in terms of cost of clearing of goods, therefore snatching some of the cargoes that would have come through the ports.

   He said: “The freight forwarders and truckers have formed a synergy to start checkmating, coordinating and controlling the goods on container trucks days and nights, with a view to drastically reduce or totally remove the monster called extortion along ports access roads.

  “We have gotten a method tagged- Trucks Scheduler System, to regulate the movement of trucks and tankers, by which all the trucks would be made to remain in their private parks until they’re booked and called to come into either transit park, loading points in ports, factories or tank farms, as per the capacity of each points without spillover.

  “This is feasible, it’s achievable, if it would not be regarded as idea from ‘minor important'” he said.

  Ogungbemi expressed fears that, “those that are benefiting from the chaos would not support this idea as it would exposed their antics, tricks and greed. They are working against it already. They don’t want transparency,” he said.

   The National Coordinator of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) 100% Compliance Team,  Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko, said the traffic congestion on Apapa and port access roads has turned a horrible dimension.

   He said: “Enough is enough. We can no longer accept it. We own the cargo while the transporters own the truck. I see no reason why somebody will come and extort money from us.”

   According to him,  “We have written letters to the Governor of Lagos State. We have written to the Commissioner of Police,  Lagos State,  we have also written to the Task Team.

  The compliance team  coordinator therefore warned that henceforth shipping companies should provide holding bays for their empty containers as no compliance would any longer be acceptable to them.

  He made it clear that the NAGAFF 100% Compliance Team and Truck Owners Association which also has other members of the Associations Like Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents(ANLCA), Council of Managing Directors, Association of Registered Freight Forwarders in Nigeria(AREFF) etc, decided to come together to fight this common course with each of the associations leading at one point or the other.

By Fredrick Wright

FREIGHT forwarders and truckers have formed a synergy to checkmate, coordinate and control movement of good from the seaports without recourse to bribery and extortions.

  The new mechanism would be implemented by the Committee of Freight Forwarders and Maritime Truck Owners (COFFAMAT).

  President of Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Remi Odugbemi, stated that the groups are tired of extortions on the port access roads and therefore believed that this new mechanism would ease and enhance smooth evacuation of cargoes from the ports.

    Odugbemi said the twin factors of extortion and bribery are cankerworms that have eating deep into the system.

  “But some group of people sees the problem as an opportunity, and they are doing this days and nights to enrich themselves. Hence, they do not want the problem solve,” he alleged.

  According to him, the side effect on the masses are the rise in prices of all the commodities in the markets, as the cost of clearing are being added to the cost of importing.

  He added that the consumers bear the final brunt of the cost arising from the inadequacies.

    Besides, he noted that the neighboring countries are competing closely with Nigerian ports in terms of cost of clearing of goods, therefore snatching some of the cargoes that would have come through the ports.

   He said: “The freight forwarders and truckers have formed a synergy to start checkmating, coordinating and controlling the goods on container trucks days and nights, with a view to drastically reduce or totally remove the monster called extortion along ports access roads.

  “We have gotten a method tagged- Trucks Scheduler System, to regulate the movement of trucks and tankers, by which all the trucks would be made to remain in their private parks until they’re booked and called to come into either transit park, loading points in ports, factories or tank farms, as per the capacity of each points without spillover.

  “This is feasible, it’s achievable, if it would not be regarded as idea from ‘minor important'” he said.

  Ogungbemi expressed fears that, “those that are benefiting from the chaos would not support this idea as it would exposed their antics, tricks and greed. They are working against it already. They don’t want transparency,” he said.

   The National Coordinator of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) 100% Compliance Team,  Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko, said the traffic congestion on Apapa and port access roads has turned a horrible dimension.

   He said: “Enough is enough. We can no longer accept it. We own the cargo while the transporters own the truck. I see no reason why somebody will come and extort money from us.”

   According to him,  “We have written letters to the Governor of Lagos State. We have written to the Commissioner of Police,  Lagos State,  we have also written to the Task Team.

  The compliance team  coordinator therefore warned that henceforth shipping companies should provide holding bays for their empty containers as no compliance would any longer be acceptable to them.

  He made it clear that the NAGAFF 100% Compliance Team and Truck Owners Association which also has other members of the Associations Like Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents(ANLCA), Council of Managing Directors, Association of Registered Freight Forwarders in Nigeria(AREFF) etc, decided to come together to fight this common course with each of the associations leading at one point or the other.