BusinessDay 12 Dec 2017

BUSINESS DAY
Quick-Takes
a different look at business &market news
How not to reform SARS
For more than
two weeks,
youths on
twitter have
waged a campaign
tagged #END-
SARS. It is in response
to the well documented
abuse that the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad
(SARS) unit of the Nigeria
Police Force has
been putting Nigerians
through over the years.
Amnesty International
has over the years documented
many of these
atrocities. But now, citizens
using the power of
social media are narrating
their ordeals in
the hands of these very
brutal police unit. And
the stories have been
very heart rending, a
depiction of man’s inhumanity
to man. Obviously,
SARS, which is
symptomatic of Nigeria
security agencies generally,
have little respect
for the rights or lives of
citizens when they are
arrested. Even of more
concern, is that you do
not have to be a criminal
to be arrested by SARS.
You just have to be in the
right place at the wrong
time or the wrong place
at the wrong time. Either
way, once you are picked
up by SARS, you have
little chance of walking
NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I TUESDAY 12 DECEMBER 2017
C002D5556
The Refineries are coming but…
coming on board. Petrolex
Oil & Gas Limited
announced on 6
December, plans to invest
US$3.6 billion in a
250,000 barrels per day
refinery project. Chief
Executive Officer of Petrolex,
Segun Adebutu
told Bloomberg that the
“front-end engineerscot
free without paying
a bribe or getting
tortured.
The truth is that
SARS, like most security
organisations in Nigeria,
is broken and needs
urgent reforms to make
them fit for purpose. But
as it is often the tendency
of the Nigeria Police,
they are always quick to
deny these atrocities,
despite the fact that it is
obvious that many Nigerians
do not consider the
police credible.
In response to the
campaign, the Inspector
General of police has
announced a hurried
and cosmetic re-organisation
of SARS, which
Even Nigerians
line up in long
queues struggling
to get
some fuel for their cars,
hope is rising in the
horizon, as more companies
announce their
intention to set up refineries
in the country.
Nigeria has three refineries
that have been
comatose for more than
two decades, despite
promise after promise of
each government to get
them fixed. Perhaps, Nigeria’s
refineries could
easily qualify as the
longest mechanical fix
award in the world.
But tired of waiting
for the government, the
private sector is beginning
to intervene, even
though there is still little
or no government support
in sight, in terms
of enabling policies.
The 650,000 barrels per
day Dangote refinery
has reached advanced
completion stage and is
expected to largely help
Nigerian become almost
self-sufficient.
But other private sector
operations are also
will largely not meet the
yearning of Nigerians.
What Nigerians want
is an accountable and
responsible SARS and
police force that respects
their rights, even when
they are in the wrong.
Sadly, the Presidency
has been largely silent on
an issue that deals with
the fundamental human
rights of its citizens.
What the country
needs currently, is the
immediate setting up of
an Independent Police
Complaints Commission
(IPCC) like what
is obtainable in the
UK, whose members
are none police officers
and independent of the
police and even the government.
Their tenure
should be guaranteed
and they should be given
the power to handle
criminal and non-criminal
complaints made by
members of the public
against the police force.
The IPCC should be given
the power to sanction
a police officer where
it is established that
he has clearly abused
his position. This is the
minimum reform needed
for the Nigeria Police
Force and even all other
security agencies. Anything
short of this is just
cosmetic and should be
ignored. Nigerian lives
matter.
ing design” is ongoing
and that the plan is to
complete construction
in 2021. This is another
good news that will create
jobs and help Nigeria
in its drive to stop
the importation of refined
products into the
country.
But the government
must also move fast to
deregulate the downstream
sector and make
it easier for companies
to raise the finance that
they need to operate in
the sector. Without deregulation,
it is difficult
to make these projects
bankable. Most entrepreneurs
going into the
sector are taking huge
risks, possibly hoping
that the government will
see the sense in deregulating
the sector soon.
Opening-up Eastern ports to
decongest Lagos port
One of the
greatest hindrances
to
efficiency at
the seaports in Lagos is
congestion. This is due
to the incessant traffic
gridlocks and bad
state of the port access
roads, thereby, making
it impossible for importers
to take delivery
of their consignments
as and when due.
The worrisome
aspect of this ‘congestion’
is that apart from
Apapa and Tin-Can
Island seaports that
handle over 85 percent
of cargo imported into
the country, Nigeria
has seaports in Calabar,
Warri, Onne and
Rivers that remain
under utilised. Four
of these seaports put
together do not measure
up to one of the
seaports in Lagos in
terms of volume.
Ironically, the
majority of shippers
(importers and exporters)
that use Lagos
ports are located in
the South East, South-
South and Northern
parts of country. As a
result, these importers
pay double in cost to
move their cargo from
Lagos by road to their
warehouses located in
their states.
Here, bulk of the
Lagos ports importers
are constrained
against their wish to
import through Lagos
ports since container
laden vessels do not
frequent the Eastern
ports owing to barriers
such as lack of political
will to open-up these
ports, shallow draft of
water channels leading
to the ports and security
concern deterring
shipping liners from
patronising the ports.
Considering the fact
that cargo must get to
the final destination at
the right time, in good
condition and at the
most economic cost,
South East, South-
South and Northern
importers, therefore,
must use Lagos.
For instance, in
terms of cost, shipping
companies charge as
much as N800,000 as
deposit per container
where the consignee’s
address is outside Lagos
against N150,000
if the destination of
consignment is Lagos.
Also, importation
of some products e.g.
pharmaceutical products
are restricted to
Lagos ports of Apapa
and Tin-Can Island
only, hence, the above
mentioned regions
with their very huge
pharmaceutical markets
are forced through
government policy
and directive to import
their goods through
the Lagos ports, thus
leaving other ports of
the regions unviable.
Lagos ports are also
the only legitimate
ports for the export of
non-oil products.
Therefore, to address
the problem of
congestion currently
rocking Lagos ports,
government must
start finding ways to
review some import
and export guidelines
militating against the
viability of Eastern
ports. The government
should also muster the
political will to make
the ports outside Lagos
viable by addressing
the infrastructural
challenge facing them.
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