Apapa Customs intensifies engagement with stakeholders

Determined to boost cargo clearance, the Nigeria Customs Service, Apapa Area Command, has engaged stakeholders including importers, exporters and their agents on its One-Stop-Shop application.
The Service also assured stakeholders that the new initiative would address some of the challenges facing cargo clearance at the ports.
Speaking during the launch of the programme at the Apapa Area Command on Thursday, the Zonal Coordinator, Zone A, NCS, Mohammed Babandede, an Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs, described OSS as a smarter, technology-driven approach to cargo clearance that would enhance efficiency, transparency, and inter-agency collaboration.
“The objective of the initiative is to facilitate trade, and before trade can be facilitated, you must make sure that your declaration is correct. The NCS is ready to collaborate with you to facilitate trade,” Babandede said.
Explaining the process, the Project Manager/Technical Supervisor of the One-Stop-Shop, Mr Olawale Onigbanjo, said the OSS system is a centralised framework designed to streamline interventions on flagged or non-compliant declarations and boost trade facilitation across Nigeria’s busiest ports.
Onigbanjo stressed that the OSS is expected to reduce cargo dwell time from 21 days to an average of 48 hours, “cut demurrage costs for importers, foster accountability in port operations, and ensure that no revenue is lost.”
He reiterated that the initiative is also targeted at revenue recovery: “We will be able to track additional duties collected through the OSS process.”

“The key benefit is to reduce clearance time from 21 days to a 48-hour target, minimising wage costs and port congestion while enhancing trade facilitation. We want to improve our processes by eliminating redundant checks through single joint examination, replacing multiple sequential interventions with a unified approach. Our next steps, which we expect you to hold us accountable for, include providing an enhanced digital platform, capacity building for officers, stakeholder engagement, and implementing comprehensive performance monitoring,” he explained.

According to him, the strategic impact of the OSS initiative represents a significant step forward in Nigeria’s trade facilitation journey, aligning with global best practices while addressing local challenges.

“We also want to ensure that our notable partners and stakeholders are assured that their wage costs will be reduced. We want to ensure that we reduce their wage costs in the process,” he said.

Giving his remarks on the OSS framework, a freight forwarder, Kayode Aminu, underscored the need for the system to eliminate additional layers of checks and interceptions outside the ports.

“After we have gone through the OSS, are we still going to be intercepted by Customs units on the road and other layers of checks before the consignments leave the ports?” he queried.

Also speaking, the National Coordinator of Save Nigeria Group, Osita Chukwu, drew the attention of the service to delays, noting that the activities of other government agencies also interfere and increase delays in the cargo clearance system.

A consultant on shipping and foreign trade, Mr Bonaparte Onwuora, stressed that inefficiencies and delays in cargo clearance have continued to frustrate importers, leading to significant financial losses and eroding trust in the system.

Onwuora decried the recurrent harassment of cleared consignments in transit by officials of different government agencies, stating that the trend discourages compliance and efficiency.

Also speaking, the Apapa Customs boss, Emmanuel Oshoba, assured stakeholders that the nation’s premier port would be a model command for OSS.

The OSS brings all relevant Customs units under one operational roof, allowing for joint review, examination and decision-making at a single point of contact. Backed by the B’Odogwu digital platform, the system enables real-time data sharing, centralised documentation, analytical reporting, and seamless trader engagement through the Customs portal.