Full digitization of Nigeria ports begins March 2021—Bello, NSC Ex Sec
The ongoing efforts of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), under the Executive Secretaryship of Barr Hassan Bello to fully digitize operations at the Nigerian seaports will come to fruition by March 2021.
Speaking on a Radio Nigeria Current Affairs Programme monitored in Lagos, he said already, processes have commenced adding that the Council is working with relevant stakeholders to achieve the March target
Bello averred that “It is important that our ports are contractless, it is paperless. This will reduce the waiting time and evacuation of cargoes, it will simplify the procedures and make them transparent and it will reduce cost.
We have some digital transactions. However there are still some evidence where we have to move faster and that will help the target we have set for next year.”
According to him, “digitization of seaport operations will among other benefits raise the significance in tracking of cargoes to various destinations across the world.
“It is a tool that will enable each country to know what is coming into that country. Even at the point of loading, we will have the manifest more than any other transport document, the advanced cargo information…
“We look at the particulars of cargoes, the origin, the value, the cost and many other things you can find, because we have already accessed everything that is coming. We are just waiting for the ship to come to Nigeria before we start full digitization.
During the phone-in session of the Radio programme, a caller, Miss Ada Udaze urged the NSC to sustain the tempo of the digital initiative to improve operations of the nation’s port even after the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said “Keep up the tempo even after the Covid-19 pandemic is over. After all, there is positive fallout that has been coming out; we just have to keep hope alive by following protocol as recommended by the government. God bless Nigeria.”
Business Hilights gathered further that some contributors on the social media applauded the commitment of the management of the Nigerian Shippers Council to sustain the nation’s economy during the Covid-19 lockdown.
It would be recalled that Barr Hassan Bello recently secured a second term in office following President Muhammmadu Buhari’s approval of his stay in office following good track records over the years.
