NIGERIAN PORTS: FIXING THE CROWDS

The Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA needs a new approach to crowd control within its ports premises. Crowd control is critical to NPA’s compliance with the International Ships and Ports Facility Security, ISPS code, which ultimate goal is to rid the ports of miscreants and every other conceivable threat to security at the ports.

Speaking during a project inspection tour in Lagos in August, the Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen disclosed that the Federal Government is working to fast-track the completion of the 450-capacity Trailer Park at Tin-Can Island that would span from Coconut Bridge to Liverpool Bridge. When completed, the park is expected to provide accommodation for the many trucks that are now lining the length of the expressway and blocking access to the ports and other installations around Tin-Can Island.

This is laudable as it is a giant step in the Federal Government’s long-drawn combat with traffic holdups in the Island. But trucks are not the only resources that require accommodation at Tin-Can Island Port. The human community is among the worst hit by the concessioning exercise of 2006 that put every available space up for grabs.

In one sense, concessioning has improved the performance indices of the ports especially in the area of cargo throughput and capacity utilization. That is encouraging news as it provides explanation for the explosion in number of Dockworkers, Freight Forwarders, Truckers and other businesses that offer ancillary services to ports operation.

But the same story could also carry less cheering headlines. Reports of raids by the Nigerian Customs Service and their Police accomplices filled the news media earlier this year to the point that the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF had to file a protest letter to President Goodluck Jonathan. In the letter, the association appealed to the President to use his good office to set matters straight regarding the incessant raids and arrests that had sent a number of innocent Freight Forwarders to detention. The notion of the Customs and the Police then and even now is that the crowds milling around the ports are miscreants who must be flushed out of the system at all cost. But who actually constitute the rabble at Tin-Can Island Port?

Incidentally, the so called miscreants are licensed Freight Forwarders, entrepreneurial Truck Owners, experienced Truck Drivers, enterprising Food and Recharge Card Vendors, and other skilled and vibrant human resources who offer essential services willingly for the smooth running of the ports. It is interesting to know that among the rabble are University and College Graduates with qualifications ranging from National Diploma to Doctorate Degrees but who are at the ports either by choice, by stroke of chance, or by force of circumstance. Granted there are, among the crowd, people whose stock-in-trade is to steal and engage in sharp practices at the ports as in every human society, but they are numerically insignificant in relation to the many that are doing genuine business offering critical ancillary services to the ports community. But why are they usually found under the bridges, inside parked trucks, wrecked autos, and in every available space in sun and in rain rather than inside a building?

The reason could still be traced back to the year 2006 when the ports were concessioned and every plot of land around the ports was partitioned and given out to concessioners. The concessioners, in turn, employed barricades and fences, keeping every other person out in the rain. No provision was made for the Trucks, Truck Owners, Drivers, and thousands of Freight Forwarders who make up the downstream of the entire web of logistics and supply chain. It is under this circumstance that these practitioners, exposed to adverse weather conditions, also become easy targets for the Police and Customs whenever they go hunting for miscreants.

It is encouraging that criminal acts by miscreants attract serious consequences in form of arrests, arraignments and the imminence of imprisonment. Logically, the priority should be for law enforcement agents at the ports to do what it takes to ensure lawbreaking is tackled, and not ignored. The law has even provided ways to rein in crime syndicates with the power to cow those paid to watch over them. With the much orchestrated miscreant mantra, one may begin to wonder if these miscreants roaming the ports are the ones actually responsible for the huge revenue losses accruing from underdeclaration and cargo concealment. The truth is that importers and their agents who get away with underdeclaration and concealment do so with the aid of Customs. In fact, the idea of the Federal Operations Unit of Nigeria Customs Service intercepting freight containers on the highways is a serious indictment on the efficiency and effectiveness of Nigeria Customs.

During the Presidential Media Chat of September 29, President Goodluck Jonathan, commenting on the obvious rot in the Oil & gas industry laid emphasis on the huge impact of illegal crude oil export on the economy of Nigeria. In his usual candour, the President dismissed the widespread perception that poor masses could be involved in cross-border and cross-Atlantic crude oil theft. According to him, only the rich and influential can involve in such crime. And the President is very correct. Similar conclusion could be drawn on the issue of ports inefficiency which manifest as underdeclaration, cargo concealment, huge revenue losses, high tariffs, unjustified demurrage charges, operational delays and other anomalies. These can easily be traced to Importers, Customs, and Terminal Operators who, in this context, could be referred to as the real miscreants.

Alas, keeping Freight Forwarders, Truckers and other related businesses out in the rain does not, on its own, fix the crowd control challenge. Neighther does the recent ban on tricycle operation make any difference. For a fact, many routine functions of these service providers are legal. Earlier at a workshop on Improving Port Accessibility and Crowd Control organized by the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport, CILT, stakeholders had called on NPA to introduce new measures for crowd control. They observed that Tin-Can Island port has its peculiarities in terms of proximity to an area of dense population and that has created a major challenge in crowd control.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, expressing concern over the inhuman crowd control measures of the Indian Police, advocated standard operating procedures and crowd control measures that are effective and focused. “We also cannot have an approach of one size fits all”, he said in august 2010 at the DGP/IGP conference in New Delhi. The PM’s call comes even as forces are faced with violent mobs who throw everything from stones to boulders at policemen, often injuring them seriously. The situation at Tin-Can stands in total contrast to this report from India. While the PM is advocating a civil approach for a violent situation, the Nigeria Customs and Police are employing violent measures for a non-violent situation. In essence, their one size fits all approach to crowd control has resulted in violent raids, forceful arrests, and unlawful detention of innocent workers going about their normal duties. In short, while the Federal Government is taking practical measures to manage vehicular traffic through provision of infrastructure for roads and parking lots, the ports management is employing brute force as a crowd control strategy.

As in all management, effective crowd control must include planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and evaluating.  Particularly critical to crowd control and management is defining the roles of parties involved in activities going on in the area, the quality of the advance intelligence, and the effectiveness of the planning process. To have an effective plan, NPA must be aware of the make-up and purpose of the crowd at Tin-Can and plan accordingly. Irrespective of the fact that crowds mill around the ports premises as if haphazardly, a good number of the individuals identify with one recognized trade union or more.  These identities must be recognized and respected. Those not yet identified must be directed to appropriate trade unions and associations while those offering vital services that do not fall under any of the existing unions have to be categorized and unionized. The overall aim of effective crowd control, in this regard, should be to identify individual elements of a community and give them a sense of belonging under law.

The transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan is encouraging creativity and entrepreneurship, which we all know cannot thrive without an enabling environment. And we cannot, as a nation, expect to create a model society when individual members of the community do not have access to any means of livelihood. The Nigerian story cannot be told accurately if government authorities continue to lift models from textbooks each time they are faced with real situations. Besides, the ISPS code does not suggest stifling of creativity and entrepreneurial spirit neighter does it recommend raids, arrests, and imprisonment as models for port security. Above all, our intelligence agencies and research institutes must come up with recommendations and ideas that are capable of turning real situations to models.

Chigozie Chikere

Member, the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport, CILT Nigeria

Phone: 08039504536

E-mail: grandefather@yahoo.com