Traders at the Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort Calabar, Cross River State have applied to the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) for permission to evacuate their goods following poor patronage.
The Traders at the resort, according to the Area Comptroller of the NCS for Cross River State, Calabar Free Trade Zone and Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Bamidele Akande, have written to Customs, informing it of their desire to quit after 60 days of receipt of the letter.
Akande said during a courtesy call on Security Adviser to the governor, Mr. Rekpene Bassey, that the retail outlet operators wrote seeking permission from Customs to evacuate their goods from Tinapa, which also enjoys a free trade zone status.
He also said businessmen from Aba in Abia State were reluctant to do business at Tinapa because of the bad state of the Calabar-Ikot Ekpene-Aba road and the shallowness of the Calabar water channel which does not allow bigger vessels to come in with imported goods.
According to him, his mission in the state is to see to the improvement of relationship between Customs and the state government and its people.
He said: "Our focus is effective communication so that the people do not run afoul of the law on import and export and others. Trade facilitation is our work. The state government has a lot to do to improve revenue generation at the port. On our part, we shall strive to see that there are no bottlenecks in our revenue collection efforts.’’
Bassey assured Akande that there was no cause for alarm as the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) has taken over the management of Tinapa and appealed to the traders to reconsider their decision.
He commended the smooth relationship between Customs and the state government, saying that the cooperation is evident in the participation of NCS personnel in the Calabar Carnival.
Bassey said the Calabar-Itu-Ikot Ekpene-Aba road was bad because it was under pressure due to the heavy trucks that ply it and appealed to the federal government to repair the highway.
He added that as the NCS generates revenue, government should redistribute it to "cushion the biting effect of unemployment and poverty in the society."
"Our porous borders are responsible for the influx of arms and ammunition and account for nearly 60 per cent of Nigeria’s security and crime concerns presently. The NCS would therefore do well to work in concert, coordination and collaboration with other security agencies to stem this ugly trend. "It is also needful at this point in our history to establish an independent border patrol agency as is done in the United States to effectively secure our vast land, air and maritime borders. Another concern of general nature is the high inflow of sub-standard, inferior, pirated and adulterated goods into Nigeria,’’ he said.
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