The Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria has said the hike in duties has made it difficult for importers to take delivery of consignments.
The National President of APFFLON, Frank Ogunojemite, in a statement, noted that vehicle importers were mostly affected.
According to him, the hardship associated with bad government policies is very high.
“The level of hardship and deprivation associated to bad policies is very high. The Federal Government has succeeded in emasculating private businesses as importers now find it very difficult to take delivery of their consignments, especially vehicles, due to an unimaginable increase in export duty. We hope that the incoming administration will look into these areas and make life better for citizens,” he stated.
Reacting to the ultimatum by the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria to shut down the seaports over the failure of the government to address some of the challenges in the sector, he said, “I plead with the labour union and leadership of MWUN to consider the very difficult economic situation and explore a better way of bringing the Federal Government to the negotiation table instead of shutting down the ports.”
He expressed concern that the action may worsen the country’s cause untold hardship to the economy.
It will be recalled that the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress had threatened to shut down the seaport over the Federal Government’s failure to improve the welfare of workers in the maritime industry.
The APFFLON boss said that the current economic situation was not giving anyone any joy.
He added, “Nigerians were being held down by very unfriendly trade and monetary policies that need to be urgently reviewed to enable the citizens to have their lives back.
“Nigerians are frustrated and do not have the latitude of patience to keep enduring the hardship and that is why the government should carefully weigh the implications of every policy before implementation and leaders of various groups must not take any action that could worsen the situation.”
He urged the Federal Government to speedily look into the welfare of workers, saying workers deserve their wages and entitlements.
“Any ploy targeted at denying them such rights is not in the interest of the nation,” Ogunojemite stated.
