Eyes on Maritime

Just as the price of crude is falling in the international market, the price of naira against the United States of America (USA) is also falling. It is on record that the naira had slumped 18 per cent against the dollar as oil prices collapsed by almost half since June 2014. This had prompted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to lower banks’ trading limits and introduce a new dealing system in February 2015. This has succeeded in preventing lenders from buying dollars on the interbank market without matching orders from customers needing to import goods. With dwindling income accruing into the central till due to the decline in the value of naira against the dollar as well as the poor price of crude oil in the international market, calls for the diversification of the economy have become strident. Many stakeholders have called on the federal government to step up efforts in getting alternative sources of income to fund the budget. There are fears in some quarters that if this is not promptly carried out by the authority, Nigeria may become bankrupt in the months ahead unless there is a significant increase in the price of crude oil in the international market. Lagos base lawyer and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Olisa Agbakoba had in a letter early this year drew the attention of the government to the need to harness the enormous potential in the maritime industry for the benefit of Nigeria. The lawyer made it clear that the maritime industry can provide as much as N7 trillion annually if it is fully harnessed by the government. Since Agbakoba and others made the call, more attention is being paid to how the maritime industry can become a veritable source of income to the country. In fact, the federal government is now focusing on ways it can make the shipping sector the mainstay of the economy as many other countries that do not have crude oil have done. In a bid to actualise this, all eyes are now on the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). The Customs High Command had in a bid to fulfill its mandate in line with the new thinking doing everything possible to ensure that all loopholes of leakages in the system are blocked in all Customs formations across the country. The need to ensure that every kobo due for the federation account is fully paid and not diverted into private pockets has spurred the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Alhaji Inde Dikko Abdullahi to initiate ways to plug the avenues for leakages of government revenue. This is understandable. One of the reasons adduced for the inability of NCS to achieve the N1.2 trillion revenues target given to it in 2014 was the failure of the authorities to ensure that all revenue generated by the service are paid into the federation account. It must be noted that following its impressive performance in 2013, the federal government gave NCS a revenue target of N1.2 trillion last year.

This was not unexpected due to the fact that as a rule, the govern- ment always gives NCS a revenue target to meet as a way of boosting its revenue generation every fiscal year. While the service often strives to meet the revenue target and in some cases surpass it, it sometimes fails to do so. Impeccable sources close to NCS Headquarters, Abuja said one of reasons the service could not meet its target last year was the initial hiccup the service faced when it was saddled with the responsibility of managing the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR). PAAR replaced Risk Assessment Report (RAR) following the cancellation of the seven years contract given to the three scanner service providers (SSPs) by the Federal Government. The source told THISDAY that the initial opposition to the implementation of PAAR over a year ago hindered the service from attaining its set goals and objectives, including meeting the revenue target for 2014.

Continuing, the source who preferred anonymity said: “When we took over PAAR, there were a lot of challenges associated with the successful implementation of the scheme. This is normal with every new initiative. You have to grapple with a lot of things to ensure that it works.

“There was also a lot of opposition from the former scanner service providers. Many importers and freight forwarders who were apprehensive of losing what they were benefitting from the old order also kicked against PAAR. We were being bombarded left and right. If not for the strong will of the Comptroller General of Customs and his management team backed fully by President Goodluck Jonathan, the service would have abandoned the scheme. There were also backlog of RAR left by the former three scanner service providers that Customs needed to clear with a lot of leakages here and there. Naturally, human beings do not like change. They always resist it. PAAR was not an exception. If not for these initial hiccups, we would not only have meet the target but also surpass it”.

From its monthly summary report, not less than N977.09 billion was generated as revenue into the federation account by NCS in 2014. The amount generated by the Customs High Command was below the N1.2 trillion revenue target given to the service for last year. The monthly summary of its revenue generation in 2014 prepared by the NCS and obtained by THISDAY showed that the revenue was generated from sundry sources. These include import and excise duties, levies and other fees charged by the service. Rise in Revenue

Just as there is a lot expectation on NCS to become a veritable alternative source income in the face of reduced quantity of money accruing into the central till since late last year, there is also a high expectation on Apapa Area Command. As the command that has Nigeria’s premier port, ACT under its watch. If NCS is to make a head way in providing the requisite income to meet the growing needs of the country as contained in the 2015 budget this year, then Apapa Area Command must play a leading role. The command which