Ease of doing business, productivity to increase at seaport as new SOP begins
Few days back, the Nigerian port industry witnessed the launch of a new operational technology known as the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and the Port Service Support Portal (PSSP) put together by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Transport.
The SOP is a work reference guide that informs the general public on the operational process of each government agency and operator at port. This guides the shippers and their agents on things to expect and that which they need to do to receive quality services at port.
To the federal government, the introduction of this new technology was borne out of the desire to make Nigerian seaport competitive and, to become a user-friendly port in line with the international best practices.
This is coming at a time when cargo clearance at the nation’s seaport has become extremely difficult given the bottlenecks that delays fast clearance at port, which results to long cargo dwell time estimated at 21 days.
Recall that at the launch in Abuja recently, Yemi Osinbajo, the vice president described the SOP and the PSSP as a game changer that is very significant to the development of the national economy given their benefits.
These benefits, he pointed out, will lead to more efficient port administration and ease of doing business in the country. Stating that improved procedure in the port was necessary as it will make trade easy; the vice president confirmed that this will result to easy delivery of imports and export to shippers, thereby reducing their ill experience in the port.
According to him, productivity can only increase in an atmosphere of transparency and efficiency, even as he expressed believe that the SOP and PSSP will enhance port capacity.
Industry close watchers believed that this new procedure will only enhance the operational capacity of the port terminals that are currently operating below capacity if properly implemented, by reducing the high levelled human contact that creates clearing bottlenecks at port.
Hassan Bello, executive secretary of NSC, who noted that the introduction of SOP was aimed at boosting efficiency at the nation’s seaport, also stated that it will increase the level of automation at port, which would in turn boost the federal government’s revenue drive by reducing leakages.
“Greater use of automation will address the issue of corruption caused by high level of human contact at the port. The Council was concerned about the dwell time of cargo in the ports, automation and all best practices, thus the development of SOP,” he said.
Explaining that the PSSP will be managed by the Council while the SOP will equally be enforced, he called for the legislation of both in the National Assembly for all agencies to know their roles and apparently take them more seriously.
In his view, Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation, said the adoption and harmonisation of the SOP was to enhance transparency and accountability. This, he noted, will ensure the achievement of a user-friendly business activities in the ports for greater economic performance.
“SOPs will minimise variation and promote quality through consistent implementation of processes or procedures within the organisation, even if there were temporary or permanent personnel changes. The SOP helps to establish operational standards, foster accountability and thus, serve as a corruption prevention tool.”
Dakuku Peterside, the director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA), who confirmed that SOP and the PSSP will enhance efficiency in the maritime sector, also stated that the new initiative will further promote excellence and service delivery that will make the nation’s port a place of reference.
While expressing the readiness of NIMASA to key into the reform process of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, which according to him, is in line with the Digital Transformation Strategy of NIMASA, Peterside also called for other agencies and relevant stakeholders to collaborate in the mission of bringing the desired changes to the sector.
He said the new procedure will ensure customer satisfaction and eliminate the incidences of corruption, especially through human contact in port service delivery system.
Uzoamaka Anagor-Ewuzie