By Steve Agbota
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko, has urged the British government to address the negative labelling and rejection of exports from Nigeria by the United Kingdom as it is born of a preconceived hostile perception of Nigeria and not the quality of those exports.
Bello-Koko made this call while receiving the UK Minister for Export, Mr. Mike Freer , who was in Nigeria last week on trade facilitation and visited the Lagos Port Complex (LPC).
The NPA boss, who was represented by the Executive Director, Operations, Onari Brown, said that Nigeria expects commitment to the tenets of trade facilitation and so reports of goods being rejected because of their Nigerian origin is unpleasant.
According to him, the Nigerian government is on an export drive and has recently licensed 10 export terminals for swift transactions.
“We handle imports and exports. Now we are diversifying our economy from oil and we are glad to receive you at this time when we are looking in that direction. As partners in progress, we expect a lot from you. We are open to knowing areas we are supposed to improve upon to improve our export drive.
“We have made some strides in the area of exports, we just licensed about 10 export terminals, a kind of one-stop centre where all documentations from relevant agencies take place and the consignment is good to go,” he said.
Taking the minister and his team through a rundown of operations at the premier port, the Port Manager, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Olotu, said that NPA has mapped out a portion of the Lilypond Transit Park as an Export Consolidation bay for the port and provided structures and systems to shorten trade process and ensure goods arrive their ports of destination in the best shape.
“Post-Brexit at your end, post COVID globally, the visit is quite timely. We already have in place structures and systems for goods leaving Nigeria to arrive other places in topmost conditions but like my MD highlighted in his speech, we are beginning to have situations where our exporters need to remove our national brand and identity as Nigerians to take on the identity of a fellow West African country for our goods to be accepted in the UK.”
