The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside, has urged Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) to contribute to model to be adopted by the committee on new national carrier
Peterside stated this at the 2016 WISTA-Nigeria Annual Business Launcheon,which held in Lagos, on Friday. It had the theme: National Carrier-The Way Forward For Nigerian Economic Development.
Recall that the Minister of Transport, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi had constituted a Ministerial Committee on the implementation of a new national carrier, chaired by Barr. Hassan Bello, who is the Executive Secretary/chief executive officer of Nigerian Shippers’ Council(NSC).
The director-general, who was represented by the Director, Administration in NIMASA, Mr Ibrahim Jubril, linked the availability of national fleet with a sustainable career platform by continuous training of cadets in the country.
“Nigeria is turning out graduates yearly from the Maritime Academy of Nigeria and we do not have platform to engage them on sea time training.
“It is pathetic that we are still where we are because we have all advantages to have cargoes but yet we do not control of shipping.
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He, however, commended WISTA for continuous efforts being made by its members in mentoring younger generation who would take over the industry from this present generation.
He said that WISTA had produced Mrs Mfon Usoro, the former Director-General of NIMASA and so many others that were heading prominent positions in the shipping sector.
The Executive Secretary,NSC, Barr. Hassan Bello, urged the media to encourage government in its plan of establishing the National fleet, to enable people to invest in shipping.
“We used to have the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL). We have government control at that time but government is not a business man when it comes to shipping.
“Nigeria will be able to control charges which are being controlled by foreigners because we do not have national carrier.”
In her opening remarks, the President of WISTA, Mrs Mary Hamman, said that there was need for Nigeria to support the Federal Government on the Change Agenda.
Hamman said that there was need for Nigerians to start producing goods for exports, adding that over 80 per cent of things being used by Nigerians were imported.
She said that “if containers bring goods to the country, the containers usually goes back empty’’, adding that this was affecting many benefits Nigeria would have achieved from shipping business.We need to work hard to bring Nigeria back to the old glory,”
Also speaking, a maritime lawyer, Mr Adegoke Osunniyi, said that shipping was the key player to economy of all nations, adding that it also remained the economic pillars of all nations.
Osunniyi said that what should be the way forward in Nigeria was that capacity building was very essential for the establishment of the national fleet.
Usoro, who is also a member of national fleet implementation committee said that there was need for the Committee to ensure that the insurance companies and banks collaborate toward the success of the project.
She, however, urged government to organise all players that would be involved in the National carrier to enable them understand the procedures of the National fleet.
A Maritime lawyer, Mrs Funke Agbor, who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), urged all the key players to operate with integrity, adding that the NNSL failed due to lack of integrity.
