The Federal Government has been urged to make good legislation to ensure that the ports are efficient.
Amaechi Marcel Ofomata, Chairman, Amaecom Group, made the appeal on Saturday.
Ofomata also charged ports regulatory bodies to provide a conducive environment for exporters and importers.
He spoke on the sidelines of the commissioning of the company’s group headquarters in Abuja.
He said: “It is glaring to the face of everyone. Times are hard. Exchange rate has made life and business not worth it. The President should be able to look into Nigeria’s economy, more importantly if he wants the survival of everyone, he should look into the ports.
“The ports hold a very significant position in the economy of every country. The structure of those ports are very important. They play a key role. They determine what comes into the county, so if there are wrong policies around ports, we are already in trouble.
“The ports should be able to decide what comes into the country. The regulatory body that regulates the quality of goods should step up.
“Also, the charges at the ports are not helping us. So much money that has been spent on clearing has increased drastically by 500% in the past few years. Two/three years ago, the cost of clearing used to be within a million and two, but a container has a clearing price of about N5million.”
He said Amaecom had grown from supplying its customers items obtainable in the traditional market to manufacturing “our unique and quality Amaecom branded products.”
“We have grown from one Amaecom brand to seven other companies in the conglomerate including: Amaecom Buy Now, PayLater; Amaecom AutoFinance; Fabric Mobility and Logistics; Mitichel and Michelle Business School, a training institute of our conglomerate; The Marcel Ofomata Foundation, a Corporate Social Responsibility Arm of our conglomerate; Amaecom Foam & Chemical Industry and Royal Citadel Value Homes,” he added.
Chief Sir Benito Ozigbo, Chairman Advisory Board, Amaecom Global Ltd, said the company would neither be cowed nor threatened by the influx of Chinese products into the country.
“We are not threatened by the influx of China-made products into the country. We can’t be threatened because of the quality we maintain. We have had the quality for over 20 years.
“What we are known for is quality. We don’t buy products from the market. We produce them now. We have factories in China and Nigeria. So, every product you get that bears the Amaecom logo is produced by us and the quality is guaranteed.”
