· Says other countries now copy Nigeria’s model
A foreign sailor, Captain Vivek Menon, who is now in an associate director, Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN), has hailed Nigeria’s journey from bad records to leader in port transformation and better ease of doing business.
He spoke at a strategic session on transformation of eastern ports held at Swiss Spirit Hotel, Port Harcourt.
The session was born by the drive to transform eastern ports just as was done in Lagos ports has continued to dominate maritime space in recent times.
It took place on Thursday, May 11, 2023, when a crucial ‘Regional Stakeholders Meeting’ on promoting compliance to
the Nigerian Port Process Manual (NPPM) and Standard Operating Procedures
(SOPs) on Vessel Clearance in Eastern Ports took place.
It was held in collaboration with the Port Standing Task Team (PSTT), the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN), and Convention on Business Integrity (CBi Nigeria).
The meeting was intended to create a platform that could bring together port
users from the organised private sector and Integrity Alliance to explore ways of working together with the PSTT and Port agencies to strengthen import and export processes and promote compliance to the NPPM and Agencies’ SOPs as a means of extending the gains of the PSTT’s interventions on vessel clearance to Eastern ports.
The meeting, which was chaired by the National Coordinator, PSTT, was titled “Promoting Compliance to the Nigerian Port Process Manual (NPPM) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on Vessel Clearance through Collective Action in Eastern Ports”.
The PSTT’s participation in the meeting is said to be designed to communicate the serious commitment of the Federal Government to extending the gains of the ongoing port reforms to Eastern
ports for the benefit of all port users across the country.
Captain Menon’s presentation at the strategy session was a highlight. The international organization MACN appears to police the maritime world.
Menon said he used to sail to West Africa once a month. He said he stopped two years ago to take on new roles in the maritime sector.
The Captain added that the journey to transform the maritime operations around seaports has been an important journey since 2012.
Explaining how MACN works, he said it is a private sector initiative by shipping companies all over the world in response to rising cost of doing business as well as low rating in ease of doing business around the world.
He said it was agreed that the private sector operators too part of the problem, and that they first admitted that they did not know how to solve it alone. “All countries have anti-corruption laws but they were not implemented.
“We agreed to work with our companies’ values and now see how to meet the governments for their own change of attitude.”
The work done by MACN seemed to attract attention such that many companies decided to rush for membership. “Now, we have 191 companies subscribing from around the world. Now, both parties do their parts. You sign the commitment document.”
He said though the agreement is an international affair but having signed on, the work is local. “We found a methodology that works for us. It is evidence-based, not mere perceptions.”
He affirmed what CBI had revealed last time, saying Nigeria was one of the highest in cost of doing business (corruption) because of non-compliance with SOPs 10 years ago. “Now, Nigeria has shown huge progress. Other countries are now eager to work with Nigeria and are copying the model.”
He however noted that entire Nigeria maritime sector is critical, not just for Nigeria but the entire West Africa and the world.
The task now, he stated, is to create ways to bring other international communities to partner with Nigeria. “We present our results and it works.”
The crux of the scheme, he stated, is to know that enforcing SOPs and responding to breaches is the only way to make Nigeria a shining example in Africa and the world. “We are proud of the work done in Nigeria. This meeting is very important to see that the task continues.”
