Barefaced, Illegal Overreach in Nigerian Ports: The NAGAFF Planned Bonded Terminals Inspection

The Nigerian ports system has long been plagued by disorder, weak institutional oversight, entrenched corruption, and the unchecked influence of non-state actors. Into these vacuum steps the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), which has increasingly positioned itself as a quasi-regulatory authority, despite lacking the statutory mandate to do so. In this special report, our editor, Eguono Odjegba takes a look at some of the issues.

The Core Problem

Regulatory usurpation: NAGAFF’s move to inspect bonded terminals nationwide is not simply advocacy; it is a direct encroachment on the statutory responsibilities of agencies like the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC).

Institutional failure: Perhaps, it must be stated loudly and clearly that the silence of the Federal Government and security agencies (DSS, Port Police, Marine Police, NIMASA, etc.) signals either complicity or incapacity. It is also safe to conclude that this seeming abdication of responsibility may have emboldened trade unions and associations to fill the vacuum.

Security risks: However, allowing non-state actors to conduct “inspections” of bonded terminals risks trespass, confrontation, and disruption of legitimate operations. It undermines the chain of custody and compromises cargo security.

Corruption reinforcement: These sorts of overreach feeds into entrenched rent-seeking practices, where compliance becomes a bargaining chip rather than a legal requirement.

Implications

Trade disruption: Bonded terminals are critical nodes in Nigeria’s logistics chain. It is therefore an understatement that unauthorized inspections can delay cargo clearance, increase costs, and erode investor confidence.

Erosion of professionalism: As we say it jokingly in local parlance, this reinforced attempt by NAGAFF to police bonded terminals, males me ‘laugh in Idoma language’. For crying out loud, NAGAFF is a group of freight forwarding practitioners, no more; no less. Regulation requires technical expertise. Freight forwarders acting as inspectors trivialize the role of trained professionals in customs, maritime safety, and logistics oversight.

International credibility damage: Nigeria’s ports already rank poorly in global competitiveness indices. Allowing associations to masquerade as regulators further undermines the country’s reputation in international trade.

What Should Be Done

Reassert statutory authority: Agencies like Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Ports Authority, and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council must publicly and firmly reclaim their regulatory space. This is perhaps, the more reason President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his handlers must expedite the process of studying the legislative bill for the upgrade of the NSC into the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulator, already passed by the National Assembly; for presidential assent.

Curtail non-state overreach: To prevent Nigeria from sliding into a banana republic, trade associations should be restricted to advocacy and internal compliance, not external enforcement. It is sad really, when we find all sorts of questionable groupings along our port’s corridors, posing as enforcement organs, and constituting unimaginable nuisance to the flow of trade.  Unfortunately, these monstrance’s are often backed with police officers who are assigned by certain police top hierarchies to provide them protection these strange groups with authority as it were, to engage in these illegalities.

Strengthen surveillance: The Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and port security commands must monitor and prevent unauthorized intrusions.

Institutional reform: Nigeria’s port governance needs urgent restructuring to eliminate overlapping mandates and clarify accountability.

This development is not just about NAGAFF but is symptomatic of a deeper systemic collapse of port governance. If left unchecked, Nigeria risks turning its ports into contested spaces where legality is optional and authority is for sale.