Don't highlight negative reports about Nigeria, Customs pleads with Journalists…Says country doing well in exports

BY GODWIN OBI

The Area Controller, Tin Can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller Dera Nnadi mni has begged Nigerian Journalists, especially the Maritime Media not to de-market the country through their reports, as that would have devastating impacts on the fledging economy.

Speaking with Journalists in Lagos, Friday, shortly after the presentation of the Command’s half-year report (January –June), the Comptroller also observed that the country is not doing badly in her non-oil exports comprising agricultural produce and other finished products.

According to him, some of the media reports on the country’s economy including activities in the maritime industry, many of which are over-exaggerated and many others false, have a way of negatively affecting the expected inflow of both foreign and local investments into the country.

He argued that many foreign investors rely on the information they get through the media, especially now that the advent of the internet has reduce the world to a global village to guide them in their investment decisions.

He argued that in as much as the media must be allowed to carry out its watchdog functions, it must be done professionally and care must be taken not to de-market the country, insisting that the entire country suffers the negative effects of such false or unbalanced media reports.

“With over 200 million population, Nigeria is still strategic in Africa and her economy, which is one of the largest in the continent cannot be wished away. Nigeria is still the giant of Africa, so we should exercise caution when reporting activities in the maritime industry in particular and the entire economy as a whole”, he said.

On the increasing non-oil export activities at the Command, the Comptroller, who fielded questions from newsmen, observed that the country is not doing badly in her exports, arguing that with the current speed, Nigeria’s balance of trade would rise significantly.

Recall that the Command had in the first half of 2024 fiscal year handled a total of 489,594.50 metric tonnes of non-oil export, especially commercial agricultural produce such as cocoa, soya beans and self-adhesive, among several others with a Free-On-Board value of N1.32trillion.

This compares to the 291, 436 metric tonnes of non-oil exports recorded in the first half of 2023 valued at N182.3billion. Available statistics further show that in terms of value, Soya beans was the highest export commodity; accounting for N92.06billion while self- adhesive was the lowest export commodity with a value of N17.6million.

In terms of revenue, it recorded an impressive performance, netting N575.5billion for the first half of the year (January-June 30). This represents a 221.2 per cent growth rate when compared to the N260.3billion recorded in the comparative period of 2023. This also shows a difference of N315.3billion in real value over the figures of last year.

He attributed the improved revenue performance and export activities of the Command to the reforms and rejigging of its operational processes, which focused on improved service delivery and trade facilitation as well as improved stakeholder engagement, which has further boosted the confidence of the trading public in the Command.

The Comptroller also disclosed that the high revenue profile was further attributable to the efforts of the officers and men of the command as well as the stakeholders, especially the compliant ones, who have decided to play by the rules.