RAYMOND TEDUNJAYE, Lagos.
Piqued by the growing concerns over inefficiencies in Nigeria’s port operations, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has presented a bold and comprehensive strategy towards establishing a Standard Regulatory Framework in the maritime sector.
The NSC’s blueprint aims to harmonise port operations, reduce logistics costs, and align Nigeria’s ports with global best practices.
The Executive Secretary/CEO of the Council, Dr. Pius Akutah gave these insights while delivery a paper titled, “Ensuring Standard Regulatory Framework: What Strategies and Options?”, at the 2025 Association of Maritime Journalist Association of Nigeria (AMJON) with the theme: “Maritime Development: Training, Ports Efficiency and Shipping Imperatives”.
Nigeria’s port ecosystem, currently plagued by port congestion, overlapping agency mandates, and excessive documentation processes, ranks 130th out of 139 countries in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI, 2023).
Akutah who was represented by the Deputy Director, Regulatory Services, Ibrahim Mohammed said Nigeria’s continued poor ranking in efficiency, infrastructure, and timeliness underline the urgency for reform.
He stressed the importance of working port system by referencing the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2022 that, “A standard regulatory framework is not just a technical necessity—it is an economic imperative. Where regulation is smart and efficient, trade flows. Where it is not, trade chokes”.
Currently, over eight federal agencies, including the NSC, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), perform overlapping regulatory functions at ports. This fragmentation has created significant compliance challenges, with 49 per cent of port delays reportedly caused by multiple inspections and lack of agency coordination.
Mohammed pointed out that while the NSC and a few other agencies have begun digitalising operations, the majority still depend on manual processes, increasing corruption risks and causing delays.
To reform the sector, the NSC outlined a framework based on predictability, transparency, efficiency, inclusiveness, and technology-driven systems. Key features include: Codified regulations, regularly updated and published; transparent tariffs and sanctions; single-window digital platforms to reduce redundancy; active stakeholder participation, from importers to terminal operators, and the adoption of blockchain and APIs to centralize compliance monitoring.
These principles it says, aligns with the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which advocates for transparent and predictable port regulation to minimise trade cost.