No doubt, the reintroduction of the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN) at Nigerian ports marks a pivotal moment for the nation’s maritime sector. The automated tracking system, which allows real-time monitoring of cargo from origin to destination, holds immense potential for trade facilitation, security enhancement, and revenue generation. At the forefront of this initiative is the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), a key agency committed to ensuring seamless and efficient port operations.At a stakeholders’ roundtable organized by the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) on February 27, 2025, industry leaders voiced strong support for the NSC’s role in implementing ICTN, underscoring its strategic importance in enhancing transparency, reducing illicit trade, and improving Nigeria’s position in global maritime trade.Representing the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Celestine Akujobi, Director of Consumer Affairs, emphasized that the ICTN is not a new initiative to the NSC, as the Council has successfully managed it in the past before it was suspended. He reaffirmed that this time, the agency is fully prepared to execute the system efficiently, ensuring it benefits shippers, the government, and the entire economy.“The ICTN is a trade facilitation tool, not just a revenue-generating initiative. The Shippers’ Council is committed to implementing it in a way that enhances efficiency, reduces costs, and strengthens national security. The system is not a duplication of the Nigeria Customs Service’s (NCS) role—rather, it complements existing frameworks, as evidenced by previous collaborations between the NSC, Customs, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”Akujobi further dismissed concerns about cost implications, assuring stakeholders that any associated costs would be minimal and absorbed within the trade system. The primary objective, he noted, is to enhance cargo monitoring and eliminate leakages in revenue and security.Speaking, he said “The ICTN is not new to the Nigerian Shippers Council, it has been operated before but it was suspended, we are aware of that.”The most important thing is that we are moving forward, the ICTN started years ago, it was an UNCTAD advisory that Shippers Council of every country should monitor the movement of cargoes from port of origin to destination. “The UNCTAD advisory was to all developing countries following the demise of the liner conferences. “In the same vein, the Union of African Shippers Council met and discussed how to implement the cargo tracking, as early as 2006, sister countries have started the implementation of the Cargo Tracking, Others started 2011. “Today, there are over 20 countries both in the West and Central African subregions implementing ICTN.”Nigeria has tried it in the past and it was successful, I can attest to that. During that time, i was an officer in charge of ICTN as an Assistant Director then, it is true that it was later suspended, but I don’t think that the situation back then is the same today. This is why this Time around, we are determined to get it right.”For us at the Shippers Council, we are ready to Go ahead with it, we believe that any new innovation that is introduced, some people will say yes to it, while some would say No, but it is for us to look at all the positions dispassionately and how it would be of benefit to both the operators, the government and the generality of Nigerians.”It would not be a duplication to the role of the customs, this is because the first implementation that was done was in collaboration with customs and Central Bank of Nigeria, if it was going to be a duplication, customs would have complained against it then, they were topmost of the implantation committee at that time.”The federal government is not working against the interest of its citizens. If ICTN is not a trade facilitation tool, the government would not come up with it.”On the fears that ICTN would add to the cost of doing business at the port, it would be at a minimal cost such that it would be absorbed, the ICTN is not expressly to generate revenue” In a strong endorsement of ICTN, Assistant Comptroller General of Customs, ACG Charles Orbih, emphasized that cargo tracking is indispensable for national security. He cited numerous seizures of illicit arms and drugs at Nigerian ports and highlighted how ICTN would provide critical intelligence to intercept contraband before it enters the country.“We must rise to the clarion call of protecting our borders. Forget the cost implications—security comes first. The ICTN will allow us to track cargo digitally and scientifically, ensuring that threats are neutralized before they pose harm,” he asserted.Orbih also confirmed that Customs is ready to collaborate with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council on the implementation, acknowledging that the system will streamline operations and reduce clearance delays.”For the Nigeria Customs Service, security is paramount. Our information flow is based on tracking, and the tracking system that is being introduced by the Federal Government through ICTN is to enhance national security.”You can imagine if there was no information, the 840 arms and ammunition that we handed over to the management of small and medium arms unit recently in Port Harcourt, what would have happened to us in this country. “Last week again, we handed over 440 weapons to them again, and about 1,600 is waiting to be handed over at the Federal Operations unit. All these information, we must develop its efficiency for the good of our country.”The drug war is a massive one, and we must use all the systems being introduced by the Federal Government.”There is no week at every of our customs commands that we don’t hand over illicit drugs, whether at seaport or airport. We must all rice up to this clarion call.Across the world, advanced economies and neighboring African countries have implemented cargo tracking systems with remarkable success. Ghana, Kenya, Turkey, and Brazil have leveraged ICTN to improve cargo clearance efficiency, enhance security, and boost government revenue.Dr. Eugene Nweke, Head of Research at Sea Empowerment and Research Center (SEREC), pointed out that Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind in global trade facilitation.“America has adopted advanced cargo tracking, and many African nations have implemented ICTN. Nigeria must follow suit to enhance revenue collection, trade efficiency, and security. The NSC must be empowered to oversee this process to ensure effective monitoring and compliance,” he stated.Continuing, he said “the only way for us to ensure checks and balances in our maritime sector is for us to introduce the ICTN, and bring good consultants that would administer it for us to achieve reasonable compliance. For the customs, whether you are compliant or not, they have their way of generating revenue, but it shouldn’t be like that. For safety and security, the ICTN is necessary, it is a trade liberalisation tool.”For us at SEREC, we believe that ICTN would bring reasonable compliance and checkmate activities of vessels.Shippers across in Africa after the suspension of liner conferences, the first country to set up this ICTN was Gabon, followed by Burkina Faso and others have also adopted it.On the issue of cost, we believe that every service rendered must have cost components, and every cost must have services. If at the end of the day, the ICTN would help checkmate freight charges slammed on us by international shipping lines, I think they are doing us a service.” he saidWhile some stakeholders raised concerns about ICTN, much of the opposition appears to stem from misconceptions and resistance to change.Lucky Amiwero, President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), questioned the legal backing of the ICTN under the NSC’s mandate. However, section 28 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, explicitly provides for electronic cargo tracking, ensuring a strong legal foundation for implementation.On the issue of cost, experts argue that while ICTN implementation may involve minimal fees, the long-term benefits far outweigh the expenses. Reduced demurrage, faster clearance, and better trade efficiency will ultimately lower the cost of doing business at Nigerian ports.Speaking at the MARAN Roundtable, Amiwero voiced serious opposition to the reintroduction of the ICTN.According to him “ICTN has been stopped three times, it is not an UNCTAD development, it is a regional thing that has to do with West and Central African Region, it is just a rule for people to look at freight cost and so on.”I was a member of the committee on Customs Reforms and we stopped the ICTN back then, we asked them to tie it to a service.You cannot operate a system without a law, the Nigerian Shippers Council does not have electronic device application internationally, as far as their law is concerned, it is just for Shippers interest. The ICTN started with the Nigerian Ports Authority, but it was stopped by my committee then because it was not tied to any service, there is no law backing it.”The Benin Republic ICTN was tied to their customs law, all other countries are also tied to customs laws, not to the Ministry of Transport or marine. If you are tracking any cargo, it has to do with SAFE framework which is a convension that brought in the customs to customs pillars, it is framework that brought about advanced cargo information, and all of these are actually enshrined in the present customs Act. So, under what law is the Shippers Council operating the ICTN? Or the NPA?”The NPA today is introducing export terminal fees and even the Eto call up system without any law backing them.There are multiple charges already existing in the Nigerian port system and that is what we are kicking against. We have lost our freight component to our neighboring countries where their ICTN is tied to services. Everything about the ICTN has been subsumed in the Nigerian Customs Service Act.”The freight components include the mother vessels that are berthing at our neighbouring countries, they offload their cargoes there, and the freight components is what generates employment. “The Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy is not involved in import and export activities, it is the Ministry of Finance that handle such matters. Shippers Council is under the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy while Customs is under the finance ministry. Another major opposition to the concept of the ICTN was Dr Segun Musa, Managing Director of Widescope Nigeria Limited and National Vice President of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) who believed that there is nothing special in tracking cargo.”The essence of the risk is that when a ship is on voyage, it might move from port to the other, and there might be a concealment at the next port of call. Whenever there is a concealment anywhere along the passage of the voyage or transit, it has already been taken care of by the customs service. “The customs are making use of the advanced manifest. So, whatever you concealed, the advanced manifest would reveal it, and whatever the advanced manifest cannot reveal, the physical examination or scanner would reveal it.”The ICTN cannot fly, we have said it before.If anyone has written to the presidency just to confuse them, we would also write to the presidency to educate them better.”My submission is that we cannot allow every business to use our agencies and few among us to enrich themselves.If the customs come out today and say they do not have the capacity to track cargo and do credible examination, I would be the first to write to the presidency for us to go back to the era of pre-shipment inspection. What they are Introducing to us in ICTN today is pre-shipment and destination inspection inspection. “If we are more knowledgeable, we should understand that ICTN can solve no problems in the face of destination inspection, it is contradicting the essence of destination inspection and telling us that customs cannot be trusted, so we should allow foreign operators to do the job of Customs and advise customs on what to do.As for Dr Mubarak Ibrahim Mahmoud who represented the Importers Association of Nigeria (IMAN) Special Task Force, the ICTN is a concept that goes beyond revenue generation. “We believe in IMAN believe that an ordinary Nigerian business man should not do his business at the expense of National security, neither should he do business at an entire cost to his hard work, therefore, we need a stabilisation between the state actors who are meant to check the import of cargoes in and out of Nigeria. “In as much as we want to make progress in a country that is as complex as Nigeria, we must recognise that it is not all the time that we must have a law backing an initiative no matter how good that initiative is before it can be good for us as a people. “This is the essence of leadership and having leaders that have the political will to make things happen, as far as the intentions behind the initiative is correct. An example of this is Port Reform exercise introduced by President Olusegun Obasanjo. “The ICTN goes beyond revenue generation, it is a trade facilitation tool. It is a game changer.”The customs needs capacity to initiate the ICTN operation into its cargo clearance and release mechanism for it to be effective, so that the ICTN would not constitute another problem. “We just concluded a National Single Window conference which has given us a knowledge that all electronic systems would be inculcated into the national single window. By so doing, customs would have less headache in managing the ICTN.On our part, we want the ICTN, but at no cost to an average importer who is an ordinary business man in Nigeria” he said The Nigerian Shippers’ Council stands at the forefront of a new era for Nigeria’s ports, driving efficiency, transparency, and security. The agency’s readiness to implement ICTN, backed by industry support and global best practices, positions Nigeria to maximize revenue, curb illegal trade, and improve ease of doing business.The ICTN is not just a system—it is a lifeline for Nigeria’s maritime economy. With NSC leading the charge, the nation is poised to unlock its full trade potential and solidify its place in the global logistics chain.As Nigeria embraces this transformative technology, all stakeholders must rally behind the Shippers’ Council to ensure that ICTN succeeds for the benefit of businesses, the government, and the Nigerian people.
