A seasoned maritime expert and transport planner, Group Managing Director of Widescope Group of Companies and CEO of Global Transport Policy, Dr Oluwasegun Musa, has said that if the National Single Window project is left in the hands of the hand of the Federal Inland Revenue Authority (FIRS) as being touted or the Nigerian Customs Service, it would not get the desired international support.

He said in an interview in Lagos for the single window project to succeed, the Federal Government needs to put in place a committee of reputable private sector players who have stake in the system and the public sector.

According to him, the government agencies have an integrity deficit which he said will be a burden on the project if the private sectors are not called up to join them in a committee for the success of the single window project.

Musa said, “What we’ve proposed to the government now is to have a committee of the state actors and non-state actors with maximum integrity to superintend over it.

“ And that’s the only way we can convince the international community that we’re serious. Because the first thing the international community will do when you are bringing such an idea is to check the background of the private sector or agency or ministry or whoever is going to be superintending over it.”

And at that forum, after the training, the media engaged us to seek our opinion as at that time as Customs was pushing, pretending that they were doing the right thing. I was the lone voice that tackled them.