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CRFFN Charges ANLCA: Shun Any Temptation To Relapse To the Old Ways.

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Dr Farinto inaugurating the ASECO members

 

 

 

 

By Izuchukwu Ozoemena

 

 

 

 

The Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has appealed to members of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) to shun any temptation to relapse to the old days of disagreement and avoidable quarrel as witnessed in the last five years.

 

CRFFN Governing Board Chair, Alhaji Abubakar Tsanni made the appeal in Lagos, Thursday, at the inauguration of the Association’s Electoral  Commission (ASECO) expected to arrange and conduct election into the NECOM.

 

The six-man ASECO has Alloy Anokwuru and Mustapha Yakubu as Chair and Secretary respectively. Other members are Samuel One, Elochukwu Obiora, Tope Fatimehin and Lekan Babalola.

 

ANLCA also appointed Alhaji Taiwo Mustapha and Ozor Chukwura BOT Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively. Chief Kingsley Offor is the Secretary.

 

Tsanni harped on the need to sustain the new-found peace in ANLCA and ensure that those who fan the embers of crisis for selfish gains no longer have their way, going forward.

 

“We came here today because I want to know whether the association has truly reconciled or not because I still received some complaints from some members who say that they have still not settled. “

 

“What I am appealing to all of you is to stay in peace because if care is not taken another fresh fight will still come up because there are those who benefitted from the crisis,” he pointed out.

 

 

On the NECOM election, he said only members registered with the CRFFN would vote and be voted for while the Council remains an observer.

 

Apart from registering with CRFFN either as an individual or corporate entity, he emphasized, whoever wishes to contest or vote must clear all annual subscriptions, dues and renewal fees.

 

In his remarks, ANLCA Acting National President, Dr. Kayode Farinto regretted that following what he called issues of ego and selfishness, the Association passed through an avoidable crisis that spanned five years.

It was the younger elements in ANLCA who had nobody to assist them resolve operational issues in the ports that bore the brunt, he lamented.

 

“We have been fighting ourselves for no just cause but for two reasons- ego and selfish interest and that has not helped anybody in the industry. Particularly, the younger agents are the ones suffering from it. All of us seated here are CEOs that can find our ways in the port,” he said.

He appreciated the CRFFN Chairman and ANLCA leaders for the efforts to restore peace in the association.

 

“This peace is total, and we should all forget about our differences and selfish interests and focus on our profession. This is a healing period, and we will not appreciate anyone that wants to throw a spanner in this healing period because we have decided to swallow everything that has to do with our ego in the interest of our profession and the collective good of the sector.

 

Farinto appealed to use the healing period to rebuild the image of ANLCA and have a new Association.

 

On the NECOM election, he said all ANLCA members are free to contest for any position of their choice as long as they are qualified.

 

“Gone are the days that we produced half-baked graduates. That is why we have not had it right. If you are not a CEO of a registered company, you won’t know what our members are going through in the field. Immediately after the NECOM election, we will sit and chart a way forward,” he said.

 

 

In his remarks, the ANLCA BoT Chairman, Taiwo Mustapha appealed to members still nursing grievances to sheath their sword and join hands in the rebuilding process. He said the BoT under his watch will never compromise the standards of the election; it will be strictly based on merit.

 

“In the interest of ANLCA, the industry, our businesses and families, I plead with everyone to allow peace to reign. It has taken us five years to get to this level. It is high time we saw ourselves as one.” “In the election that we will be having, as the BoT Chairman and as far as I am concerned, no money will exchange hands. What we want to bring on the table is merit and credibility,” he said.

 

Speaking as Chairman of the new ASECO, Alloy Anokwuru assured that the election would be based on merit.

 

“The era of uploading and downloading is not applicable. If you know you are not qualified, don’t bother to come out,” he advised.

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Maritime Agencies

Customs Bans Stemming of Containers of Pharmaceutical Products To Bonded Terminals, Hands Over N9.2bn Illegal Importations To NAFDAC

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‎By Izuchukwu Ozoemena




‎Going forward, the Nigeria Customs Service has placed an indefinite ban on  the stemming of containers of pharmaceutical products to bonded terminals. This is official.

‎Customs Controller-General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi announced this in Lagos, Friday, in response to what he referred to as abuses and trade illegalities being perpetrated by offdock facilities.

‎”We will no longer allow stemming vessels down into offdock facilities. We can allow any other thing but because of the sensitive nature of pharmaceutical products and because of the abuse to which this concession has been subjected in the past, they will only be allowed or cleared in these four designated places: Apapa Port (right inside the port), Onne Port, PTML and at the International Airport. We’ll no longer allow them to be taken into bonded terminals.”

‎The Controller-General who was in Apapa to hand over 25 containers of unregistered and prohibited pharmaceutical products with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N9.2 billion to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) declared the aim of the restriction. This is to curtail the abuse by bonded terminal operators, many of whom have been implicated in the seizure of fake and unwholesome drugs.

‎CGC Adeniyi described the seizure of pharmaceutical products as a direct fallout of the strategic Memorandum of Understanding with NAFDAC and the inauguration of the implementation committee between the two bodies in November 2024.

‎Explaining the  Service’s position regarding current licensing fees, he  stated that the current licensing fees for bonded terminals in operation stand to be reviewed as they no longer align with  current realities, haven been in place for about a decade.

‎”The increase in the fee of the license has to be such that it will be difficult or impossible for those who are not serious to own and operate a bonded terminal.

‎”So, we are already in the process of reviewing the license fee. We will carry the stakeholders along and do things that will reflect current situations”.

‎He acknowledged the role inter-agency collaboration and intelligence-sharing have  continued to play in enforcement.
‎ This enhanced cooperation has delivered measurable results in protecting public health and discouraging illicit trade.

‎”The MOU framework enables Customs and NAFDAC to conduct coordinated operations and joint investigations, systematically tracing illicit pharmaceutical sources and deploying targeted enforcement strategies against criminal networks”.
‎A rundown of the contents of the
‎ 21 forty-foot containers and 4 twenty-foot containers of counterfeit and dangerous pharmaceutical reveals  unregistered sexual enhancement drugs like REDSUN and HYEGRA among others.

‎There are also codeine-containing cough syrups (including CSC brands), antibiotic injections such as oxytetracycline and artesunate, pain relief medications containing diclofenac sodium and paracetamol.

‎Also included are skin-lightening creams, hip and breast enlargement products and
‎numerous tablets bearing fake NAFDAC registration numbers.  Expired food products, veterinary medications and antimalarial drugs also featured.

‎“The Nigeria Customs Service, in partnership with NAFDAC and the NDLEA remains uncompromisingly committed to the battle against merchants of death who pursue illicit profits from businesses that destroy lives and communities,” Adeniyi stressed.

‎“This MOU- facilitated coordination enables swift responses to emerging threats, and I commend the Director-General and her dedicated team whose technical expertise, combined with our enforcement capabilities, has created a formidable barrier against criminal networks seeking to compromise our borders”.

‎“Under the coordination of the Office of the National Security Adviser, our joint operations have resulted in the seizure of over 200 containers followed by coordinated destruction exercises, with unregistered pharmaceutical products comprising 63.7% of seizure values, highlighting the scale of threats that could have inflicted devastating damage on human lives and our social ecosystem if permitted to infiltrate our markets,” he stated.

‎Adeniyi who emphasized that the Service has significantly enhanced her intelligence network and technological capabilities to detect and seize unwholesome goods warned all stakeholders including haulage operators, bonded terminal owners, or any other international trade facilitator that  anyone implicated in illegality stands to face the full force of the law as there are no sacred cows.

‎He commended commended officers and men at the Apapa Port Command for being vigilant and professional in their duties.

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Maritime Agencies

Lekki Deepsea Port Set To Clinch 500,000 TEUs, Becomes Trans-shipment Hub In West Africa

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Yang Xixiong (left) and Daniel Odibe (right) at the media parley, Thursday.





‎By Izuchukwu Ozoemena





‎Yang Xixiong, the Chief Operating Officer, Lekki Port has said the deepsea port which commenced operations in 2023 has come to place Nigeria in her rightful position as a shipping hub that has assumed her rightful position and relevance in regional and global economy.

‎The CEO who disclosed this in Lagos,Thursday, while rubbing minds with members of the press assured that the new port has stabilized and would, going forward,continue to raise the bar of relevance to international standards.

‎“We continue to push the envelope, set the bar higher to uphold our position as West Africa’s deepest sea port,” Xixiong announced.

A section of critical facilities at the Lekki Deepsea Port.

‎“The result of our unrelenting commitment to world-class standards is visible in the gigantic footprints we are putting on the map of maritime trade in Africa, deploying technology, driving operational efficiency, and shaping regional trade,” he added.

‎Already, Lekki Port has commenced trans-shipment operations to some regional ports in West  Africa such as Togo, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

‎In his intervention, Daniel Odibe, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, who spoke further on the increase in trans-shipment  capacity added that recently, Lekki Deepsea Port conducted a trial trans-shipment to Onne Port.
‎Odibe said, “We had our first trans-shipment operations in 2023, which is the first in the Nigerian economy.

‎Between January and June, 2025, the port processed 222,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) of cargo and has her hands steadily on the plough to jerk up the performance so as to achieve the targetted record of 500,000 TEUs by the end of the year, a development that reflects a growing confidence in the port’s ability to achieve maximum operational capacity as per international standards.

‎“Before now, countries like Togo, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire used to be the trans-shipment hubs for Nigeria-bound cargoes. You know what that means for our cargo? They spend more time coming to us. They incur more costs because they are double-handled in those trans-shipment hubs, all because Nigeria didn’t have a deep-sea port.


‎”The story is in our favour right now. We are now talking about international trans-shipment. We are now doing international trans-shipment to other West African countries such as Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan, Togo and Cotonou.

‎”Currently, you have ports like Warri, Calabar, Onne, and then we have inland ports like Onitsha and Burutu. Some of these ports, foreign vessels don’t go there because the draft is low. So the idea here is to have cargoes for those ports. That will open up economic opportunities in those areas.

‎“We did some trials last year with Onne. It had some challenges, but again, it was an eye-opener and we are looking at restarting that again this year in collaboration with the shipping lines and baggage operators.”

‎On cargo throughput volume, Odibe assured that cargo volumes are now gradually improving steadily despite initial hiccups arising from instability in the rate of the Dollar.

‎Currently, the port receives between 10-12 vessels every month. The record, he added, is steadily picking up.

‎“Volumes fell because of Naira depreciation and the removal of fuel subsidy; this caused a setback in our projection. As of 2023, when we started operations, we did 54,289 TEUs, and as of June of this year, we have done 222,000, and we are projecting 500,000 TEUs.”

‎Odibe also stated that the vessel turnaround time at Lekki Port currently stands at 48 hours as against one hour and 25 minutes for truck turnaround time, while cargo dwell time is 16 days.





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Maritime Agencies

MAMAL 2025: MARAN Demands End to War Risk Premium, Set to Expose Maritime Fraud in Gulf of Guinea.

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‎By Izuchukwu Ozoemena




‎Come August 28, 2025, the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) will host the 3rd edition of her annual Maritime Lecture (MAMAL) at the prestigious Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos.

‎This year’s lecture will spotlight the ongoing international fraud perpetrated by foreign shipping lines under the guise of “War Risk Premiums” on vessels calling at Nigerian ports, aiming to draw the Federal Government’s urgent attention to the issue.

‎Speaking on the theme of MAMAL 2025 which is “Addressing the Burden of War Risk Insurance on Nigerian Maritime Trade,”MARAN President, Mr. Godfrey Bivbere, strongly condemned the war risk insurance, describing it as an international fraud burdening the economy of Nigeria and other developing countries in the Gulf of Guinea.

‎The extra war risk insurance (WRI) levied on Nigeria-bound vessels varies significantly. For instance, a very large crude carrier (VLCC) can incur a WRI surcharge of $445,000 per voyage, while a new container vessel may face a charge of $525,000 per voyage. Beyond this, some shipping companies such as Maersk, have introduced additional fees like a transit disruption surcharge, while others impose a war risk surcharge of $40-$50 per 20-foot container.

‎MARAN contends that these exorbitant charges are further strangulating Nigeria’s already-strained economy.

‎Also, despite Nigeria’s Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola recently confirming that Nigeria has not recorded a single pirate incident in the past three years, the imposition of war risk premiums continues unabated.

‎Oyetola credits this peace in the Gulf of Guinea to the multi-billion naira Deep Blue Project, a robust maritime security initiative spearheaded by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

‎Despite these commendable efforts by the Federal Government, MARAN is concerned that foreign shipping lines continue to unjustly extract millions of dollars from Nigerian shipowners in the name of War Risk Insurance Premium, even though there are no demonstrable risks in the region.

‎In March 2025, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, Director General of NIMASA, met with a delegation from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led by Kristin Skov-Spilling, where he passionately appealed to the international community to acknowledge Nigeria’s significant progress in securing its waters. He emphasized the critical need for a corresponding reduction in war risk insurance costs.
‎Dr. Mobereola stated, “The Nigerian government has demonstrated a strong commitment to maritime security, leading to nearly zero incidents of piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea over the past four years. Despite this, vessels coming to Nigeria continue to pay high war risk premiums, which is unjustifiable given the improved security landscape.”

‎Speaking further on the upcoming MAMAL Annual Maritime Lecture 2025, MARAN President Godfrey Bivbere asserted that international shipping companies operating in Nigeria have shown “lackadaisical and complacent attitude towards the economic and social wellbeing of Nigeria as a nation.”

‎He explained that MAMAL 2025 aims to thoroughly examine the perceived threats, realities, and profound implications of persistent Extra War Risk Insurance (EWRI) on Nigeria’s maritime trade and the wider Gulf of Guinea (GoG).

‎Providing more details about the highly anticipated conference, which has consistently served as a crucial rallying point for all maritime stakeholders due to MARAN’s respected voice, Bivbere added:
‎”The Summit will also explore issues leading to the classification of the nation’s waters as high-risk zones, roles of classification societies like the Lloyds of London, the roles of core stakeholders like NIMASA, Nigerian Navy and other maritime and security operators.”

‎According to Bivbere, “The MAMAL 2025 is expected to draw over 500 key stakeholders, including maritime security experts, shipowners, terminal operators, international shipping lines, diplomats, insurers, regulators, and legal experts.”

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