Destination inspection creates jobs, wealth for Nigerians, says FOU boss

Following the demand of some stakeholders’ for the Federal Government to consider reverting to pre-shipment inspection of imports as a way of curbing illegal arms importation into the country, the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), has shared a contrary view.

Mohammed Garba, area controller of the command, said that Nigeria stands at a far greater economic and security advantage with destination inspection of imported cargoes rather than pre-shipment inspection.

Garba told members of the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria (SCAN), who were on a courtesy visit to the management of the command last Thursday in Lagos, that destination inspection neither causes nor promotes arms smuggling.

Destination inspection, he said, is an extant government policy that is in the interest of the society and the economy at large.

According to him, destination inspection creates jobs and revenue in-country because when goods arrive at the ports, Customs officers and other officers of relevant government agencies would have to inspect the goods before authorising them to enter Nigerian markets.

Garba said that the jobs and the accruing payment for the services would have been retained by the originating country, if Nigeria is still practicing pre-shipment inspection.

He further noted that not only arms and dangerous drugs were being intercepted by Customs, but all other smuggled goods, including those falsely declared or under-declared by dubious importers with the intention of short-changing the government of its revenue.

He disclosed that new scanners would be brought to the ports by the first quarter of next year to make cargo examination easier, faster and surer, adding that repairing the old and broken-down ones would throw up the challenges of updating and upgrading them, among other unplanned consequences.

Garba, who lamented that many smugglers especially those located at the border communities, in spite of the community relations efforts, have remained ignorant of the dangers of smuggling and use of smuggled goods, used the opportunity to solicit for media partnership with the NCS on awareness creation.

He further clarified that the Comptroller-General of Customs’ Compliance and Monitoring Unit is not in conflict with the FOU but is rather an ad-hoc body that compliments the efforts of FOU, adding that the CGC unit submits its seizures to FOU.

Meanwhile, Garba commended the motive behind the emergence of SCAN, describing it as “patriotic” and pledging support for the group so long as members pursue those ideals that they seek to entrench, including dutiful, balanced and unbiased reporting.

He urged members, whom he described as “genuine strugglers,” to shun the temptation of going to press with speculation or blackmail just for selfish and pecuniary ends.

Earlier in his address, Yusuf Babalola, SCAN President, had informed the FOU management team that the association was formed to purify the maritime journalism field through dutiful and conscientious reporting.

He regretted that a lot of ‘unprofessional and so called journalists,’ often gather for media events but do not make any effort to publish the stories.