By Sandra Chukwunyere
The National Single Window Committee has dismissed fears that the Single Window platform, once operational, would shut down the Nigeria Customs Service’s indigenous Unified Customs Management System (UCMS), popularly known as B’Odogwu, stressing that both platforms will complement each other.
Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had inaugurated the National Single Window (NSW) project in April 2024 in order to streamline, simplify, and harmonize Nigeria’s trade processes by centralizing all import and export agencies onto a single, digitised platform.
The initiative, championed by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, is expected to drastically reduce bureaucracy, enhance transparency, and improve Nigeria’s global trade competitiveness.
According to the Minister, the NSW would simplify documentation requirements, significantly improve customs clearance times, and mitigate transaction delays.
Also speaking on the platform, the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, the NSW will manage the relationship between all the actors in the import and export documentation processes.
“The first thing is for us all to have the understanding that the ultimate beneficiary is Nigerian economy and the Nigerian people, we need to get our regulatory environment sanitised and do things in a different way, so that it takes less time for us to get cargoes out of our ports” Adeniyi stated.
Allaying stakeholder concerns, the Director of the National Single Window Committee, Tola Fakolade, clarified that the B’Odogwu trade platform of the Nigeria Customs Service will remain operational, as it is essential for cargo valuation and the processing of other customs-related documents.
The National Single Window platform, he explained, would serve as a single entry point for all stakeholders and agencies.
Speaking on Maritime Today, a programme on Traffic Radio 96.1FM on Wednesday, Fakolade stated: “The National Single Window as a concept is a single platform where importers, exporters, freight forwarders, licensed customs agents, and shipping lines can submit their regulatory documentation required for import and export processes.”
“Basically, instead of going into several systems to obtain permits or complete their processes, we are bringing everything onto one platform as a one-stop shop, so that it would help to streamline the process, and the agencies would grant approvals through the Single Window platform,” he added.
He further explained: “The Single Window does not replace existing platforms, including the Customs B’Odogwu and those of other agencies. What the Single Window does is integrate with the other platforms at the backend.
The users would come through the Single Window, but at the backend, the Single Window is exchanging information and data with the systems of the other agencies. It only makes the process easier and more streamlined for the users.”
