ABUJA: The Airfreight Stakeholders forum of the Nigerian Shippers Council embarked on a facility tour on the ground handling company headquarters located at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The team led by its Chairman, Toyin Olufade was received by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of SAHCOL, Dr. Oluropo Owolabi.
The forum is made up of about 18 stakeholders among which are: Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN),Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Association of Nigerian Licensed Custom Agent, (ANLCA),Nigerian Customs Services, (NCS), Airline Operators, National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); went round the newly constructed ultra-modern warehouse of the company located at the Cargo Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Speaking on the forum’s visit, Olufade said the team was at SAHCOL to have a first-hand assessment of facilities on ground and to see how they could be explored to promote international trade in the country.
He equally said the visit would avail them the opportunity to market SAHCOL facilities to both importers and exporters within and outside the country.
Other members of the forum who spoke on their experiences during the tour expressed delights at the level of investment and facilities put in place by SAHCOL.
According to the spokesman of the company, Basil Agboarumi, a member of the visiting team who wanted to know the ability of the warehouse to ensuring uninterrupted power supply for its facilities, was impressed when she was told that the company relies on three 500 KVA generators to power the equipment and facilities, notwithstanding the recent improvement the nation is witnessing in power supply nationwide.
Agboarumi said some of the facilities toured included the Bulk-break area, Cold room sector, Freezers, Radioactive room; Human remain sector, Dangerous goods section, Valuable section, Custom examination section, Loading Bay and Unit Loading Device (ULD) storage.
Responding to the council’s statement, Dr. Owolabi who commended the team for its initiative to have first-hand information on the SAHCOL facilities for them to have adequate information on how to sell the company while promoting external trade for Nigeria called on Nigerians to invest in the packaging sector of the economy.
He said doing this would create a balance of trade between Nigeria and countries with which she has bilateral relations, since most airlines bringing imports to the country are usually ferried back empty.
“We need to package our products here for international trade. It is very unfortunate to see big cargo aircraft flying into Nigeria only to drop cargo without flying anything out of the country.
We don’t necessarily need to depend on exports to European or American countries, but we could do it among countries in the West African region or the African continent. We have millions of tones of yam tubers, mangoes pineapples, cashew nuts and other agro products that could be well packaged for exports to all these countries, instead of allowing them to rot away here.”
SAHCOL said it is poised to become a reference point where the efficiency of a successful flight operation is born. Hence, in addition to the completion of an ultramodern first-of-its-kind Custom Bonded Cargo Warehouse at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, SAHCOL is committed to ensuring that ground handling to its customers is seamless.
SAHCOL was bought over by the Sifax Group in December 2009, after its successful privatization by the Federal Government of Nigeria. Within this period, SAHCOL has invested in continuous personnel development for optimum performance, good customer services, purchase of modern equipment and massive infrastructural development, which has helped reposition the company to meet the expectations and needs of its growing list of clientele.
