Lagos -The President of the Shippers Association Lagos State, Mr Jonathan Nicol, on Wednesday expressed hope that the kind of changes taking place in the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) would spread to other maritime agencies.
Nicol spoke in Lagos on the heels of the gale of retirements in the customs service and the appointment of six new deputy comptrollers-general and eight assistant comptrollers-general on Monday.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the shippers association was happy with the changes in the customs service.
According to him, the association also wants such changes to extend other maritime operations.
Nicol said that the association desired a new port order where business would be done according to international best practices and everybody would cooperate without cutting corners.
He said that the Customs comptroller-general took his time and did a lot of investigation after his appointment to study the situation and did a thorough investigation before acting.
“We have been following the footsteps of the comptroller-general. He took his time after the Federal Government appointed him to study the situation and a lot of investigation was done.
“What he is doing is a fall-out of his investigation and observation.
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“The agency (Customs) will be positive when we have a new set of officers on ground.
“It will take time for results to come out, but once there are changes, everybody will know the path to take and do things correctly.
“The changes in Customs will bring some positive approach to the administration of cargo management within the port system,’’ the shipper said.
Nicol said that the maritime industry was one of the areas in which the government could boost its revenue.
He said that the shippers association believed it was possible for cargoes to leave the ports within 48 hours. (NAN)
