Dr Kayode Farinto
KOREDE FOGO
A former acting president of the Association of Nigerian Licenced Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr Kayode Farinto, has urged the federal government to increase the age limit of foreign used vehicles also known as Tokunbo from 12 to 15 years.
According to him, the nation’s auto policy is still at the infant stage. It’s long overdue for the government to increase the age limit to 15 years.
He said, “The present government should have a mitigants to cushion the effect of harsh policies on ground, let us look at issue of official years of acceptability on tokunbo vehicles, we should shift it from 12 to 15 years. This will make a long way to assist the youth because while the government is insisting on 12 years, our auto industry is still at infant stage then, we need to make amendment to our policies.”
Farinto also called for the total reopening of all the borders in the country to vehicles, rice and other items.
He said Nigeria as a signatory to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), treaty on trade liberalisation cannot unilaterally shut some of its borders against trade and free movement.
According to him, government should create an enabling environment for transborder trade to thrive among its contemporaries in West and Central Africa.
He said, “we can’t just shut out borders against our neighbors. This negates ECOWAS convention which Nigeria is a signatory to. My advise is that we should make our borders open and let’s have an enabling environment for trade to move among ourselves.”
The former national publicity secretary of ANLCA, however, stated that the blue economy when properly harnessed, will create jobs, and generates revenue for the federal government.
“When people like us were clamouring that the Ministry of Transportation should be galvanised, they did not listen. We saw the fact that government can generate a lot of revenue from creating this ministry and it has been created now.
“The Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy will create employment for our youth on a yearly basis and the potentials in the high sea needs to be harnessed. That is why I wrote my paper and sent to the Minister. I have done that and I am sure the Minister himself has knowledge on marine insurance.
“He is not a greenhorn in that area and I am sure he is going to collate all these things and work with it. Going forward, if everything is put in place with the Blue Economy, in one or two years, Nigeria should be generating lots of revenue from there,” he stated.