The Shippers Association of Lagos State has called for the abolition of the black market, stressing that foreign exchange should strictly be handled by banks. The shippers made the call at a one-day seminar tagged “Achieving Fair and Equitable Port Pricing System in Nigeria” organized by the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria in Lagos.
The President of the association, Rev. Jonathan Nicol said black market as a source of foreign exchange has not helped the country in any way. “It is encouraging currency trafficking. Besides, shipping companies and terminal operators use the black market exchange rates to increase their charges. According to them, they buy equipments and source for funds through the black market without recourse to the Nigerian Shippers Council for approval.”
He urged the new commercial port regulator, the Nigerian Shippers Council, to tell the federal government that shippers are not comfortable with the fluctuating exchange rate. “The unstable exchange rate makes it impossible for shippers to make accurate projections in their import and clearance transactions.”
Rev. Nicol also appealed to the federal government to take a critical look at the value of the Naira which he said is worthless internationally. He wondered why the Naira should continue to be worthless even when the country now exports “a lot of commodities that should have by now brought up our Naira to not more than N80 to the US dollar”.