Freight Forwarders are concerned that the new scanners installed at the Nigerian ports may cause an increase in the quantity of cargoes to be cleared at the ports resulting in undue delays if not properly handled.
According to them, there is need to properly train officers handling the scanners to prevent delays in the clearing of cargoes, even though it praised the federal government for the installation of the new scanners.
A member of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders Association, Stanley Ezenga, told The Punch he was worried that the scanners may lead to an increase in the backlog of cargoes awaiting clearance at the ports.
He said that during physical examination, the officers handle more than 500 containers daily.
“The claim by the customs that the scanners can scan up to 500 containers in a day is good at least with that most of the problems facing the industry would have been addressed. Even during the physical examination, we found out that customs exit more than 500 containers daily. It means that if is scanning 500 containers daily, the other backlog would become a problem,” Ezenga explained.
During the commissioning of three scanners at Apapa Port last week, the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hammed Ali (retd), said the scanner has the capacity of scanning between 400-500 containers daily. He added that more scanners will be procured before the end of 2023.
Ezenga further said that more attention should be given to the issue of suspects, adding that most times the images on the scanners are unclear.
He noted that the scanners would reduce the stress clearing agents go through in positioning containers for physical examination.
Ezenga told The Punch: “However, the issue of suspects should be looked into because what this scanner does is, it scans randomly and most times the images are not uniform. And this results in dropping the container again for further examination, which eventually leads to additional costs. Even though what we initially advocated for was for the scanners to be at the quay so that as the ships are offloading the container, it would go through the scanning immediately and the images stored, so that when you come, they will analyse your images and release or go for a physical examination as the case may be. Not for you to wait until they bring the container before they scan it. If the thing is scanned at the point of discharge, all the images will be kept in the data. So, immediately you put in your container number, whatever is stored there will come out. Let us see how this one will work.”
According to The Punch, the founder of the Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria, Frank Ogunijemite, also said that the scanners already have a lot of issues, advising that the officers operating the scanners should be properly trained.
He said: “I cannot say it is wrong for them to commission the scanners. I think what they should have done was evaluate what the scanners can do. There are so many issues with the scanners. Who are the people operating the scanners? If they are customs officers, when were they trained? When was the last time they were trained? The scanners are not working properly and I still don’t know what is wrong with our people. Probably they can’t handle it very well or the people who are handling it have not been trained. There are a lot of complaints about that. Maybe people who are handling it before have retired or left the service. I think they could have test-run this thing before commissioning it. Even our own computers, if you stay away from them for some time, it will be difficult for you to operate them. So, I think these people should be retrained on the usage of the scanners so that we can maximise the usage as it was said it can handle 500 containers daily.”
Ogunojemite advised that other impediments hindering the usage of scanners should be addressed.
“We have to look at the capacity of the scanner and the people operating it because the scanner is not going to operate itself. We have to look at so many things, like the positioning, the people working there, the electricity and all that. We have to look at the impediments that will affect the usage of the scanners. So, I am of the opinion that they need adequate training on this and put other factors in place if we want to achieve what we intend to achieve.
“Without that Nigeria will always be excluded from the committee of maritime nations. And not only that, we have to consider other factors affecting the efficiency of our ports- infrastructural efficiency. They need to speed up the infrastructure over there too. What of the positioning of containers and other machines used in positioning them? So, a lot of things need to be considered. It is not just because there is a scanner that would make the port to be efficient. People need to be trained.”
The founder of the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria, Frank Ukor, said: “The number of containers handled in a day may not be enough for now but at least let them start with what they have. Gradually it will improve when we get more scanners. It is better to start. It can’t be 100 per cent at the beginning, but let them start. It is commendable that they are starting. If the images are not clear, they have to work out a way to make them understandable. You can’t say because it is not accurate you would discard the whole process. They should find a way to combine using scanners and physical examinations. They can do part of this and part of that.”
Meanwhile, during the commissioning of the scanners, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said that 120 officers of the NCS have been trained on how to operate the scanners.
