The President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), High Chief Tochukwu Ezisi, has been inaugurated as a Patron of the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN).

His investiture took place on Thursday during the 4th MARAN Maritime Annual Lecture (MAMAL), an event that brought together leading figures from across the maritime sector.

Ezisi was accompanied by a large NAGAFF delegation, including the association’s founder, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam; Deputy President Simeon Nwonu; National Secretary Emeka Nwosu; board member Afam Chukwuma; and other members of the NAGAFF Board of Directors.

Charges are hurting trade, Ezisi warns

In his acceptance speech, Ezisi addressed the lecture’s theme, “Nigeria Ports Modernisation, Charges, and the Competitiveness Question.” He called for an immediate structural overhaul of port operations and an aggressive rationalisation of shipping costs.

Warning that the current tariff environment is stifling trade and reducing national revenue, he said the burden falls hardest on freight forwarders and other port users.

“Let us face the truth: the multiplicity of charges at our ports is a burden. Excessive tariffs, overlapping levies, hidden costs, these erode our competitiveness and drive cargo traffic to neighbouring countries,” he said.

He said Nigeria’s ambition to become the leading maritime hub for West and Central Africa depends on transparent, standardised tariff structures that are benchmarked internationally and attract shippers and foreign investors rather than push them away.

Strategy for regional leadership

To reclaim Nigeria’s regional leadership under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework, Ezisi outlined a strategy built on three pillars: operational efficiency, cost rationalisation, and targeted infrastructure expansion.

He said modernising the country’s maritime gateways requires a sharp cut in turnaround times, the removal of administrative bottlenecks, and sustained investment in deep-sea berths, modern terminals and multimodal logistics links.

Physical upgrades, he added, must go hand in hand with digital infrastructure. He wants full automation to replace paper-heavy clearance procedures so that logistics become seamless and predictable.

Ezisi also urged government agencies, private terminal operators and international shipping lines to work with the media and logistics stakeholders to deliver lasting port reforms.

He thanked MARAN for the appointment and praised the body for its role in holding the maritime sector accountable.

“MARAN has been the voice of maritime journalism, shining light where there is darkness, asking questions where silence would have prevailed, and fostering dialogue where division might have lingered,” he said.