The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Pius Akutah, has announced that all service providers and users are required to register and obtain certification to be recognized as legal operators in all the seaports in Nigeria. The CEO of NSC made the call in Calabar on Thursday, February 9, at the launch of the User Guide booklet for stakeholders in the Calabar Port catchment area.
Represented by the deputy director of stakeholders’ services in NSC, Celestine Akujobi, noted that the new registration portal is a milestone as the NSC upgrades from manual registration to a fully automated registration platform. He said: “The platform is interactive as the physical interface is eliminated.
From the convenience of your office desk, your company can be registered online without having to visit any of our offices as long as you fulfil the requirements and make the necessary payments.” “The registration exercise is in various categories and attracts a token fee as the motive is not to generate revenue but to meet the administrative charge of running the platform, among others.”
“All service providers and users must register and obtain a certificate of registration before they can be adjudged as legally operating at the nation’s seaports. It is therefore important to register with the NSC to avoid being sanctioned.”
Numerating more benefits of the interactive online platform, he stated that it will assist the Economic Regulator, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), to build a database of service providers as well as genuine shippers and other stakeholders operating in the port system. Also, it will enable industry practitioners to transact business and operate in a safe and secure business environment. As well as sanitizing the ports and eliminating the challenges of faceless shippers in the port system.
The NSC boss noted that sanctions will be applied for failure to comply with appropriate registration and proper certification. These sanctions include cancellation of registration certificate/license to operate at Nigerian ports, denial of access to the Council’s complaints resolution mechanism, blacklisting of defaulters, and imposition of prescribed fines when needed.
Earlier, in her welcome address, the Director of NSC, South-South zone, Glory Onojedo, represented by Mrs. Patricia Osuma averred that the Port as a critical infrastructure needs to be competitive, to guard against monopoly and free for potential players to enter and exit for its users to enjoy the benefit of competitive pricing and efficient service delivery. At the event, participants were guided through the application process, fee structure, annual renewal of registration, upload of required documents, and download of registration certificate.
