The Nigeria Customs Service says it is ready to take over from service providers handling Destination Inspection services at the nations seaports by the end of December this year.
The image maker of the Tincan Island Port Customs command, Mr Chris Osunkwo, hinted in an interview that officers of the service had been duly trained to take over from the service providers.
According to him, “Operationally, we are very prepared to take over the assignment from the service providers because we have undergone various kinds of training. We are not afraid of any shortcoming because we now have the knowledge and technical know how to operate and manage the scanning machines.”
He added that officers who had undergone training had also been working with the service providers to acquire practical experience on the job.
Osunkwo said that “Customs officers, for a long time now, had been deployed to complement the efforts of the service providers,” adding that, “they had been working hand in hand with them over time, even if they quit today, our officers will not have problems because it has been integrated into part of what we do.”
It will be recalled that the December 31, 2012 expiration of the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis of the seven year contract for the service providers was initially extended to June 30, 2013. The Federal Government later granted them another six months which will expire by the end of December this year, with the belief that the service will take over scanning machines in January 1st 2014.
On the delay of cargos, Osunkwo, declared that examination of heterogeneous imports was consuming much time, noting that “by the nature of our growing economy, majority of the importers embarked on heterogeneous imports which could cause delay sometimes, unlike when the bulk of the imports are homogenous.”
He, therefore, advised importers and agents to always make honest declarations of their goods to avoid time wasting during cargo clearance process.
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