Okey Uba is the managing director, Ebony Express, a fast growing courier outfit in Nigeria and secretary general of the Association of Nigeria Courier Operators (ANCO).
Uba who holds Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN); possesses simple and gentle personality.
He has attended several courses in courier management and has worked at the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) from where he resigned to establish Ebony Express.
He spoke to peter ugwu highlighting factors that have inhibited the development of the sector in Nigeria and other sundry issues.     *

 
Courier Sector 2013

The whole events centered on how to make the industry grow. There are certain challenges we have in the industry, viz-a-viz the issue of regulation.

Courier is a very wide industry; unfortunately, it is yet to be fully harnessed in Nigeria. And like I would always say: you really need an enabling environment that will guarantee return on investment (ROI), proper operations and the likes, before you can tap into the industry.

The operators cannot make headway in an incoherent environment. For the indigenous (courier) companies, licencing and renewal fees pose very big challenge, because they are on the high side in comparism to other sectors.

Expectations from the Regulatory Bill

I think it boils down to the general view of the Government. It is not as if the operators do not crave for a Regulator or, as if the industry operates without a regulatory department (as in the CRD capacity), but the truth is that you cannot give someone some pieces of meat and deny him the teeth to chew them or the necessary “weapons” to fight the war against irregularities in the sector.

When you do that it appears like the person does not know what he is doing. Meanwhile, the officials at the Courier Regulatory Department (CRD) of NIPOST are worth their onus, but they lack the equipment to work, which starts with the provision of enabling laws.

As a matter of fact, it is portraying them as toothless bulldogs. It also affects courier operators, particularly the indigenous companies.

They are the most affected, because the international operators can source their inbounds from abroad, while the domestic operators are left with nothing.

Most times, when you want to play the game according to the rules, you are shortchanged. When you are in an environment where some operators do not give a damn over what the rules say, definitely, you will be shortchanged.

Having gone to school, garnered reputations and experience, there are some practices you wouldn’t ordinarily get involved in order to survive in a business. It makes the sincere ones to suffer unnecessarily.

However, whenever the Government is ready to legislate on this, they should not just start comparing the courier with the telecoms. In logistics or courier industry, the most important ingredients are integrity and honesty. Is not the matter of capital capacity; it plays a secondary role in that part. In logistics, you are carrying valuables on behalf of the customers or consignees from a place to the destination and that is on trust.

It behooves on the Regulatory body to determine who is or should be in this business; those who will not view it as a ground to engage in fraudulent activities.

To make the job easier for the Government, probably, when the Commission is finally established, they tend to turn it to a political piece-cake, the technocrats who would have been relegated to the background. Those currently at CRD should be made to manage the affairs of the Commission; with full regulatory backing. Then, they can bit and mediate between the operators and the Government. As it is now, there is a limit to which they can operate.

 
How to Reinvigorate the Bill

Actually, you cannot shave a man in his absence. Meanwhile, I haven’t joined the industry as a player when the Bill was articulated.

So, I wouldn’t know how far they have gone. But, there are indications that the contents are not bad.

However, there are things that must be put into consideration before the passage of the Bill. For instance, classification of courier companies in Nigeria. We do not expect all firms to posses the same operational strength.

Therefore, you cannot put a flat-rate licencing and renewal fees for them. Like I said earlier, integrity and truth are paramount in the industry, thus, capital base should not be the benchmark.

In fact, I do not see what is holding the Bill from its passage, if not that in Nigeria you must path-away with something before someone does the necessary thing; if it implies bringing it back for us to cross the T’s and dot the I’s, then let them revert it back; it wouldn’t take us time to do.

Nevertheless, there must be the willingness on the part of the Ministry to assist the industry.

Today, everybody is into logistics and courier. If you are moving along the road trucks are tumbled with the goods in them; nobody is talking about goods damage insurance, compensation for the consignees or the consignor; so, many people who are into this business do not even understand what Goods In Transit Courier (GIT) Insurance means.

Most of them do not understand what time frame means. To me, that is not right. Things have to be done right; if you are interested in courier business you have to abide by the principles.

ANCO’s Contribution in Tacking the Challenges

Yes, the Association of Nigeria Courier Operators (ANCO) has been trying on its part to champion the course for the development of the industry.

We have our monthly forum where we try to educate and inundate our members on new grounds in courier; we educate them on international partnership; how to employ genuine and sincere staff; on courier management in general.

But, no matter how you try, without government support you will not have so significant achievements.

For instance, when someone has done something wrong, he is caught and charged to court, and there is no enabling law to prosecute the culprit, all you have done is in vein. We have been trying so hard to build up and educate our members; that has led to increase in our membership over the years.

But we need an unbiased umpire to move the sector forward. This will enable the smaller companies to survive. If they reach out to us in ANCO, we are willing to add our inputs to the whole matters. In fact, courier and telecom are not supposed to be in the same Ministry. That is what we are advocating for; proper regulations.

Call for Mergers

First, we have heard comments like the internet revolution is a threat to the courier sector. But if you put that into perspectives, you will discover that these are mere sayings. Nigeria, for example became internet compliance just about a decade ago.

The developed world, Germany, UK, US and others have been internet compliant all along.

Till today logistics and courier are moving forward, gaining more grounds and recognitions in those countries.

So, it is a fallacy to say that internet will strangulate the courier sector. Our problem is the lack of regulation.

Secondly, when people are shouting for mergers and acquisitions, you don’t just talk about that.

The reasons are that you do not force people to merge. They do that when they perceive the benefits of the partnership and can work cordially.

There have been cases of friends coming together to set up a courier firm, but in a short while it led to several companies, because the motives are different

Banks are not like the courier. People are obliged to do businesses with the bank, but in courier, even companies now set up their in-house dispatch department.

When you put the laws in place, naturally, there will be mergers and acquisitions. Then, there will be an arbitrator to mediate on your matter when you are shortchanged.