“Government must be forced, cajoled and compelled to respond to the disruptions in the value chain. Aside from the cost of haulage trucks, diesel prices are so high that companies in the sector have all closed down”
By Uzor Odigbo
Industry Leaders in haulage, logistics, Oil&Gas and Maritime sectors have called for complete synergy to achieve fewer disruptions in the value chain in Nigeria’s economy.
Delivering a keynote address at a One-day Comfab organised by HAUMACE Magazine in Lagos, Deji Ogunde said the disruption of the value chain in any economy stemmed from natural disasters such as flooding which affected the road, and waterways and rendered the haulage sector completely comatose. The Environment was not left out with farmlands washed away making it difficult for goods and services to adequately go around.
Mr Ogunde also pointed out the war between Ukraine and Russia as a man-made disaster that had taken its toll on the whole World and had seriously hurt the haulage industry.
He mentioned resilience and abilities as factors that could assist in ameliorating the effects of Value chain disruptions.
According to him when people apply more resistance to war, natural disasters and endemic occurrences like Covid 19, the effect of disruptions in the value chain would be minimised.
READ ALSO
CBN raises interest rate 16.5% to stall runaway inflation
Meanwhile, in his welcome address, the convener of HAUMACE 2022 Mr Alfred Okugbeni
said, Nigeria without any doubt is part of the global eco and economic system and have equally witnessed significant disruptions from local developments and from external shocks.
“The flooding this year which lasted over a month was so severe that the economy was disrupted and farmlands were destroyed in so many states.
Addressing participants, Okugbeni said: “The thinking that we have totally overcome the three major killers of humankind seems to have been overtaken by recent happenings.
Ukraine is considered the “bread basket” of the world but the war has hampered supplies while Russia has put the whole world in a serious dilemma as they now use energy as a bargaining chip with Western Europe and the rest of the world.
He noted that faced with an energy and food crisis in many parts of the world, locally, statistics showed that lots of farmlands cum crops have been destroyed which will further put our country under threat and hunger going forward.
“And coming to the movement of goods from one point to another which is one key area we are looking at the moment, we all saw how trucks were stranded all over the country as a result of the floods”
The business environment today can be described as highly unstable and unpredictable, where disruptions have become the new normal. This environment is also described as ‘VUCA’ (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity). VUCA is an acronym that was used for the first time in 1987 by the United States Army War College after the cold war. It is a concept that is gaining new relevance in characterizing the current environment in which we find ourselves.
The bottom line is that the disruption of supply chains has become the new normal since the year 2020 and both countries and businesses alike should find an adaptive framework for managing the issues in order to minimize the effect of these continuous disruptions. This is the reason why we are here today at HAULMACE 2022.
Proffering Solutions to the disruptions in the industry, a panel of discussants made of industry leaders insisted that until Stakeholders form synergy by speaking with one voice to power, the situation would not change.
They cited examples where stakeholders in the Aviation section when to the National Assembly when the Aviation fuel price was high and got answers for their demand and more.
Captains of industry demanded that the government must be forced, cajoled and coaxed to respond to the disruptions in the second value chain.
“Aside from the cost of haulage trucks, diesel prices are so high that companies in the sector have all closed down”
Truck drivers are insincere and have come lords to themselves, adding there must be Synergy in the sector to pull everyone together for the growth of Nigeria’s economy.