“If govt had adopted CTN revenue generation at port would have quadrupled – Barr. Hassan Bello
"If govt had adopted CTN revenue generation at port would have quadrupled - Barr. Hassan Bello
“If govt had adopted CTN revenue generation at port would have quadrupled – Barr. Hassan Bello
Segun Oladipupo
A former Executive Secretary (ES) of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Barr. Hassan Bello said that if Nigeria had adopted the use of advanced Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) in the port, the revenue generation at the sector would have multiplied by four times.
He said this in his opening remark at the 10th anniversary of Primetime Reporters held in Lagos on Wednesday.
The theme of the event is Leveraging Technology To Maximising The Potential of Nigeria’s Blue Economy
Explaining, Bello said lack of technological deployment in the industry had hampered the requisite development in the sector.
He maintained that deployment of technology would eliminate corruption in the ports.
His words, “Efficiency is what can make the blue Economy work and you cannot talk about efficiently without technology
“If we had adopted the cargo tracking system, we would have quadrupled our revenue generation in the port today.
He added that “Advanced cargo tracking system and a single window system are indispensable for a technology-driven port operation. These are critical. The blue economy will not do well without adequate deployment of technology.
“Blue economy is ocean based economy, but does not stop there. It supports energy and fishing is a major industry in the blue economy. Everybody must have contribution and benefit from the blue economy.”
“Our ports are not maximally efficiently driven by technology. When I was at the Shippers Council, terminals were not technologically driven and we had to set a target for them and I am happy that by the time I was leaving, the terminal operators had reached 50% technology integration in their operations. We can stay in our office and work on the bill of laden, importation documents and everything about the port business,” Bello emphasised.
The former Shippers Council Executive Secretary insisted that once the ports can operate through technology, corruption in the port system would be eliminated as too much human contact is responsible for the deep-rooted reported at Nigerian ports.
“A port is not supposed to have people all over the place. An efficient port is the one that is driven by technology. I remember when we visited Singapore’s biggest port with some lawmakers. I can still recall when one of them asked me if that was a seaport, and I said, yes. A port is not supposed to have too many people doing business. Once you have too many people in the port, this drives corruption. This is the reason for the corruption in the port.”
