COMPT ONYEKA PARLEYS WITH JOURNALISTS OVER CUSTOMS PAPERLESS REGIME; SAYS ‘AM A TRADE ENABLER-PERSONIFIED’
The workability of the proposed Customs paperless operations scheduled to commence in the second quarter of this year took centre stage today, as the Area controller of Tin Can Island command, Compt Frank Onyeka parleyed with senior maritime journalists, giving a blow-by-blow account of how prepared the command has set itself to achieve success.
According to him, the maritime press is the first in among the several stakeholders he intends to meet to educate them on the strategies towards achieving seamless operations.
‘When I resumed here, you gave me support through constructive reportage. Here today, I also want to consistently crave your continued collaboration to make a big success of the paperless regime’ Reviewing the performance of the Tin Can Island Command for last year, he stated that the command generated N609 billion.
According to him, more than N116 billion was generated in January last year when compared with N145 billion raked into government account last month, a difference of more than N29.9 billion.
Compt Onyeka disclosed that going forward, ‘we want to do things differently this year. We want to be known as a trader enabler’ The Customs helmsman stated that they should be able to be releasing containers without seeing anybody.
Describing the Comptroller General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, PhD, as ‘a pillar behind the reforms, and one who doesn’t talk much’ he pledged that they would do everything possible to achieve the objectives set by the CG. He stressed that ‘I want to be known axx as a trade facilitator personified’
Though, he acknowledged that network could pose a problem sometimes, he noted that the officers whom he described as ‘serious but not lackadaisical’ will work harder than last year to deliver as expected.
When reminded that the paperless regime may be circumvented by officers and other operators alike, he said ‘we have 21st century officers, we adhere to global principles on trade’ Compt Onyeka expressed optimism that if the B’Odogwu could work, then the paperless operations will be a huge success.
On whether the paperless operation may not lead to congestion of goods at the ports, he doused the suspicion, saying it is a two-way thing. ‘We will bring you here, educate you on how to feed in data. Once you are able to use your laptop, you can drop your documentation online.
Declaring rightly will make it work.
The One-Stop-Shop situation will arise when issues are detected, but once you declare well, there will be no issues. In the spirit of the paperless operation, files will not be unnecessarily left untreated.
Where problems arise, they will be thoroughly discussed with a view to speedily dispense with it’ He said for the umpteenth time that he was determined to facilitate trade, giving hope to Nigerians by not strangulating traders.
The command’s strategy is to rake in ‘collectible revenue’ and not necessarily‘maximum revenue’
According to him, the Tinubu administration came in not to choke Nigerians but to make life worth it.
Explaining further how this paperless operation will work, he said once goods are scanned and images are clear, consignments declared with no ambiguity, they will be released, but if the images are not visible, they will be subjected to one hundred per cent examination.
He expressed confidence that the command will be on top of its game , saying once the risk machine flags the red flag, the consignment will be fully examined.
He noted that they are already aware of some countries where uncustomed goods originate from and they are on watch list. Notwithstanding their stance on trade facilitation, the Area Controller said they would not compromise on national security.
He promised to kickstart engagement with other relevant agencies inorder to ‘ensure we clear goods in good time and reduce cargo duel time in the seaport.