Mohammed Shosanya
The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) is partnering with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to establish a Consumer Protection Regime (CPR) at the port.
The Executive Secretary of NSC, Emmanuel Jime,disclosed this in Lagos, at the sensitisation programme for stakeholders on consumer rights and responsibilities in the port and shipping sector.
jime,who was represented at the event by the Director of Human Affairs, NSC, Adaku Okam, Jime said the consumer protection regime intends to ascertain the challenges of various regulated service providers and users and to propose solutions.
He disclosed that the collaboration started in 2020 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two agencies.
“The consumer protection regime aims to achieve seamless operations with little or no infringements of rights. We will use the platform to disseminate sector-based information on the subject, and provide an avenue for stakeholders to give feedback on infringements of rights and possible areas that need improvement if necessary,” he said.
He explained that the collaboration between the two agencies will encourage competition and protection of consumers.
Jime said to educate maritime stakeholders about consumer rights and responsibility in the port and the shipping sector “to ensure that all stakeholders are carried along in the process of developing the CPR so as to build trust and confidence before rolling out the scheme”.
Speaking,FCCPC’s Executive Vice Chairman, Babatunde Irukera,who was represented at the event by the Director of Legal Services, Tam Tamunokobia, said:“If all we do has not expressed the interest of consumers, we have failed. In everything we do, the consumers should be first whether at the port or at the point of entering into an agreement. We must ensure that the consumer is protected.
“We need to push the frontiers of our cooperation and collaboration to a higher level and I commend the council for collaborating with us. We need to collaborate effectively, if you look at the council’s act and ours; in both ways collaboration is highlighted.
“Where there is effective collaboration we find out that there is no room for fighting for an area or the person in charge of a place. When we collaborate, the consumers will be the beneficiaries.”