At the early stage of Coronavirus outbreak in China otherwise known as COVID-19 and some parts of Europe, countries globally were faced with the challenge of containing the steady rise in the rate of spread especially as regards to reducing human contacts.
Consequently, countries were forced to shut down their airspaces to human traffic and other sectors of business to keep their citizens at home in order to contain the spread of the deadly virus.
But then, when the virus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the global shipping industry was faced with two hard choices: to either keep the port business operational to enable the movement of essential goods, or to shut the ports like the aviation sector, and face the economic consequences.
At the end, it was agreed that shipping, just like the food and healthcare sectors, was critical to the movement of essential goods especially in countries like Nigeria that depend on import to bring in refined petroleum products, raw materials for the local industries, finished consumer goods and most importantly, drugs for the healthcare system.
This was why, prior to the ongoing lockdown in Lagos alongside Ogun State and Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari directed on March 29, 2020 that Nigerian major seaports in Lagos would remain open for business during the lockdown.
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By implication, President Buhari directed that Apapa and Tin-Can Island Seaports, both in Lagos, must remain open for business during the lockdown in Lagos state.
To actualise this, the Hadiza Bala-Usman led management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) came up with plans to ensure that ports remained open for import and export businesses.
Firstly, the authority started discussions with state governments through the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 led by Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SFG), to ensure smooth movement of goods across states without hinderance during the lockdown.
Industry players believed that the smooth movement of goods would also help the NPA in dealing with congestion at Ports in Lagos, which has been on ground before the outbreak of the virus.
Similarly, the authority believed that the drive to address port congestion should not be relegated to the background, which explains why it started engagement with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to fast track the clearance of over 1,500 overtime containers.
Customs has already inspected 400 of such containers and they would be moved to the Federal Lighter Terminal in Ikorodu, said Bala Usman during her recent inspection of terminals in Lagos Ports to ensure ports remain functional at optimal level during the lockdown.
“While we are calling on all consignees to come out and collect their cargo, they should also be mindful that some of these cargoes that are considered overtime would be moved to Ikorodu where they would be auctioned in line with the guidelines stipulated by NCS,” she said.
Stating that lack of sufficient handling equipment has been identified as one of the reasons behind the congestion in the port, Usman warned that NPA in the revised concession agreement would ensure that there would be penalties for terminals that fail to acquire equipment needed to improve efficient service delivery.
BusinessDay checks show that in addition, the authority also rallied round all other government agencies responsible for cargo clearance at the ports by encouraging them to be at their respective duty posts to discharge their functions in line with the presidential directive.
Meanwhile, to reduce the cost-related difficulties experienced by port users due to lockdown in Lagos State, NPA also directed terminal operators to suspend all applicable terminal storage fees on consignments for an initial period of 21 days effective from Monday March 23, 2020.
Adams Jatto, general manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, NPA, who disclosed this in a statement, said the gesture was in recognition of the pressure, which the lockdown imposes on businesses.
He noted that the development imposed serious responsibility on the Authority to relieve this burden on its customers as well as attain the objective of the Federal Government’s Ease of Doing Business Policy.
“NPA recognises the financial implications of these policies on the terminal operators and will consider a shift in our operational charges to ameliorate the situation of stakeholders,” he assured.
BusinessDay also discovered that this directive generated several controversies at the nation’s port as terminal operators refused to comply due to the uncertainty trailing the repayment of the waived sum.
Terminal operators argued that the cost would be a huge burden on their bottom line, adding that there would be no need to waive rent charges as Nigerian ports and some commercial banks involved in receiving import duty payment have remained operational despite the lockdown.
However, NPA in a letter dated April 8, 2020 with reference number HQ/GM/MRS/OP/L.1/Vol. II/371 titled; “Re: Relief Measures to Port Users Due to Outbreak of Covid-19,” assured that the authority would payback using credit notes that commensurate to the rental reliefs granted by each terminal to consignees.
The sample of such letter, which was signed by Ugo Madubuike, general manager, Monitoring and Regulatory Services, for the Managing Director, and addressed to the managing director of Eko Support Services Terminal Ltd, a copy of which was obtained by BusinessDay, stated that the compensation would only cover cargoes situated in the terminal within the period under reference.
“The terminal must produce evidence of delivery records indicating waiver of rent for the period in reference. The compensation shall only cover storable cargoes within respective terminals as well as charges approved by the Authority and published by the terminal. Any charge outside these will not be accommodated,” Madubuike stated.
Confirming this, Bala-Usman told newsmen that the federal government would look at the amounts that terminals forfeited by giving importers rent-free days and would reimburse them through credit for the same amount.
She warned that going forward, this measure would not be encouraged in order not to give room for congestion.
Usman assured that the authority would work to resolve other challenges experienced by terminal operators due to the lockdown imposed on Lagos State, noting that the agency was collating the challenges of all terminal operators and would pass them to the appropriate agencies for actions.
She pointed out that the government was committed to having smooth operations at the port during this period in order to keep the economy running.
Apart from these efforts, the NPA and its shareholders also donated the 130-bed fully furnished Agura Hotels located in Abuja to the Federal Government, to serve as an isolation centre for COVID-19 in Abuja.
Jatto, who disclosed this, described the gesture as a social responsibility initiative aimed at supporting the efforts of the Federal Government to contain the spread of the virus in Nigeria.
He encouraged all Nigerians to follow all advisories issued by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and be confident that Nigeria shall overcome.
