A foremost freight forwarder and Managing Director of Widescope Nigeria Limited, Dr. Segun Musa has stated emphatically that the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN) is a fraud and a surest way to further kill the economy.
Dr. Segun Musa stated this while interacting with the leadership of the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) who visited him at the headquarters of his company at Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos.
Musa, who is also the National Vice President of the Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), said the ICTN is not different from the Customs Risk Assessment Report that profiles all cargo coming into Nigeria.
He informed that the reintroduction of ICTN would further add up to the cost of cargo clearance, narrating that with the intervention of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) acting on his petition, the ICTN was suspended at the airport. He wondered why the ICTN, already jettisoned by the government, is being reintroduced by the government.
“ICTN is a fraud. This is a fastest way of killing the economy. We are waiting for them,” Musa argued.
The foremost freight forwarder called the Nigeria Customs Service to implement automation of cargo clearance and delivery, stating that the Customs had promised that the B’Odogwu would address cargo clearance and facilitate trade.
“I want to believe it is achievable. What we need is the full automation; we are against use of companies but rather individuals with their identity number in cargo clearance. Everything from inspection to delivery should be automated. This is where the integrity of the Nigeria Customs Service will come to play,” said Musa.
Whether Customs will allow the automation to work or Customs agents will declare correctly, Musa averred that the world is changing and Nigeria cannot be left behind, saying “Nobody wants a change. The world is migrating away from analog. This is why investors do not want to come to Nigeria. To advance our economy, we must embrace change – automation.”
Still speaking on the Customs operations, Dr. Musa said there is nothing special in the revenue collection by the Customs but what the nation needs from the Service is transparency.
“I was the lone voice calling for the privatisation of the Customs; anybody can generate revenue. The PIDA did it during the administration of General Sanni Abacha. Customs generating revenue is not special; a consortium can generate revenue while Customs is saddled with a border patrol. We did it before and we can do it again. If the Customs is not transparent enough, I will not hesitate to call on the government to privatise the customs,” Musa vowed.
He averred that incessant increase in customs duties and revenue target is an indicator that the national economy is not working and is also a lazy way by the politicians to run the economy.
He pointed out that “the Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) is a fraud. Agents should have gone to court to challenge it. It is illegal. The CISS money was meant for inspection agencies to run their operations. EFCC should have investigated the government over the trillion of Naira of CISS.”
