Maritime Advocacy Foundation Calls For Protection of Nigerian Shippers’ Interests Amidst Conspiracy To Repeal Shippers’ Council Act

Maritime Advocacy Foundation Calls For Protection of Nigerian Shippers’ Interests Amidst Conspiracy To Repeal Shippers’ Council Act

L+R publisher MMS and member MAF,Mr Kingsley Anaroke,and Fwdr.Dr.Eugene Nweke ,Rff,fnis,fpta,ksm,Head publicity,MAF

By Frank Odinukaeze

The Maritime Advocacy Foundation (MAF) has convened a press conference to address the proposed legislative changes that could significantly impact the Nigerian shipping industry.
The Federal House of Representatives, Committee on Shipping Services, has scheduled a public hearing for May 27, 2024, to discuss the repeal of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council Act (Cap.133 LFN 2004) and the establishment of a new regulatory agency.

The Maritime Advocacy Foundation MAF has expressed concerns over the bill, which aims to enact the “Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill”
. The foundation argues that this move disregards the vital role of shippers in the global economy as trade initiators and transport facilitators. Shippers are often seen as the backbone of international trade, contributing to job creation and economic stability worldwide.

“Shippers are the reasons Job creation thrives evenly across globe. The nomenclature known as import and export data are purely the making of the shippers” Dr Nweke stated.
Historically, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, established by the Decree of 1978, has been instrumental in protecting the interests of shippers within the country, unlike its counterparts in other West and Central African nations that engage in cargo sharing.
The MAF emphasizes that the council’s efforts have been complementary to the National Shipping Policy Decree of 1987, which focuses on ship owners’ interests.

The MAF’s head of publicity, Fwdr Dr. Eugene Nweke, highlighted the importance of the Shippers’ Council in maintaining fair trade practices, offering economic advice, and ensuring efficient delivery services to shippers. The council also plays a crucial role in monitoring compliance with international transport conventions, such as The Hague and Hague-Visby Rules, Hamburg Rules, CMR Convention for road transport, and CIM/COTIF Convention for rail transport.
The foundation warns that repealing the Nigerian Shippers Council Act would be a disservice to the nation’s founding fathers’ wisdom and the ‘renewed hope’ mantra of the current administration. It calls upon the Honorable Ministers of Transportation and Marine & Blue Economy to protect the interests of Nigerian shippers, who have significantly contributed to job creation and revenue generation.
“To say the least, the move to repeal the Nigerian Shippers Council Act ( Cap. 133 LFN 2004) is a deliberate insult to the wisdom of our nation’s founding fathers.
We therefore, call on the Honorable Ministers of transportation and marine & blue economy to boldly save the interests of our shippers who had over the years sustained job creation in the country in addition to their contributions in revenue generation for budgetary objectives ” MAF submitted.
MAF argued that the role and importance of the Nigeria Shippers’ Council are immense,adding that, “A nation’s shippers council functions to ensure it provides for and protects the interests of its national shippers from:
a). Protection against unfair trade, unfair competitions and bad business practices.
b). Help at maintaining economic and trading stability, offering advisory and recommendations on informed trade realities and statistics to other relevant agencies.
c). Evaluate trading climates and proffer solutions and
remedying market failures, protecting the environment and proffer an economic management idealism.
d). Ensuring that infrastructural services are delivered efficiently to the shippers, on the basis of fair competition and satisfactory delivery services to the shippers by the logistics services providers.
e).Identifying the least factors impeding cost of production and quality services in the chain. it also ensures the identification of suitable services that shippers want or required in every sub chains.
f). Possessing a legislative oversight jurisdiction to monitors and enforces compliance by other agencies via prompt consultation and professional engagements.
g). Offer advice and information of general character on duties. collect, analyze and publish trade related activities statistics, data and forward recommendations and position statements to the appropriate agency & quarters for the purpose of upholding compliance and thus protecting the interest of the shippers.”
These objectives, among others, MAF noted are what the Nigerian Shippers Council has kept fate with, for over 36 years.
” And today, the best form of appreciation, is to repeal its Act for some undisclosed intents”
Mr Kingsley Anaroke,publisher of MMS and a member of MAF argued that the reason to repeal the Nigeria Shippers’ Council Act is untenable ,moreso when the Council has bills before the National Assembly which has not been attended to ,and why come up now with a bill to repeal the Nigeria Shippers’ Council Act.He said instead of pushing for the repeal of the Nigeria Shippers’ Council Act,effort should be geared towards passing the Council’s bills that are already before the National Assembly.
According to him , calling for the repeal of the Shippers’ Council Act is a conspiracy by ” Economic Hit Men” to cover up clandestine acts of some interest groups .
He submitted that there is nothing wrong with the Nigeria Shippers’ Council Act, and therefore argued that repealing the Nigeria Shippers’ Council Act would be further elongating the hardship currently being experienced by Nigerians
In conclusion, the MAF urges the press and the public to resist the proposed repeal and support the protection of Nigerian shippers’ rights and interests, akin to the respect afforded to shippers in other countries.
“ours is a solicitation and a call on you all, to please join us in resisting this clandestine move to repeal the Nigerian Shippers Council Act ( Cap 133 LFN 2004), and by extension support calls to protect our ever hard working and innovative Nigeria shippers like other countries does. Let’s counteract the activities of the army of occupation in high places” MAF submitted.