Shippers’ Council Rallies More Shipping Firms To Halt Deposit Charges On Nigerian Consignments
. Trains Staff On Advanced Media Techniques
By Abimbola Abdullah
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has intensified efforts towards ensuring that more shipping firms abolishes the deposit charges on Nigerian consignments.
Already, the CMA CGM has announced its removal of such charge thereby creating a relief for Nigerian importers.
The Executive Secretary, NSC, Pius Akutah, at the 2025 Annual Retreat of the Public Relations Unit of the Council in Lagos, said the council is working relentlessly to ensure that more shipping companies follow suit.
According to him, deposit charges by shipping companies have been one of the major complaints by importers, who expressed worries that the process for refund is very cumbersome whole some of them forfeit the money sometimes.
He said the Minister for Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola has directed them to quickly look into the matter. “We have engaged the shipping companies and some other companies who are planning to have an insurance policy to cover that, rather than have the deposit.
“For CMA CGM, we have engaged them on the container deposit and they have taken the bull by the horns to remove the deposit entirely.”
Commenting on the Nigerian Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill, the NSC boss said “the bill has been passed by both chambers of the National Assembly, and the process of working on the bill to put it in proper perspective that can be sent to the Presidency for assent was just concluded recently, so we are hopeful that the National Assembly will forward that to the President for assent in few weeks to come.
“We are looking at the efficiency of the sector, which everyone has complained about. This bill has come to create that efficiency in the sector, it has come to protect the investment and also prevent those who are not serious about the sector from coming in, especially those that will come and mess up things,” he said.
Commending the Public Relations Unit of the Council for improvement over the years, Akutah said the theme for this year’s retreat – Team building: Strategic Planning, Sharing Ideas To Stay Ahead of Competition- resonates its activities for this year and the plans towards our transmission from the Nigerian Shippers Council to the Nigerian Port Economic Regulatory Agency.
The Executive Secretary, said: “I’m expecting that the outcomes of this retreat will shape the way that we carry on with our Press activities. So I’m expecting a very robust outcome from this retreat for which we can build on to achieve the success that we intend to achieve,” he said.
Director, Strategic Planning and Research, NSC, Olurotimi Anifowose, enjoined the staff to always look at opportunities to market the council and keep upgrading their skills to impact positively on the image of NSC.
Asst Director, Public Relations, NSC, Rebecca Adamu appreciated the support of the Executive Secretary and management for making the retreat a reality.
Adamu urged members of the unit to improve on their deliveries saying, “this retreat is our opportunity to reflect, refresh, and re-strategize—to ensure that we remain not just relevant, but impactful in the way we communicate the Council’s vision to the public.
“We are confident that by the end of this retreat, we will have stronger ideas, clearer goals, and renewed motivation to elevate the Council’s image, foster stakeholder trust, and stay ahead in a highly competitive space”.
