By Kenneth Jukpor
In this Exclusive interview with MMS Plus newspaper, Commandant Isaac Adamolekun of the Nigerian Merchant Navy takes us through a rigorous tutelage about the history, operational activities and the legal status of the Nigerian Merchant Navy. He also unveiled the challenges being encountered with sister security agencies in the course of discharging their official obligations. This interview was conducted when Nigerian seafarers organized an event in Lagos to celebrate 2017 World Seafarers Day.
Excerpts:
We heard your brief presentation; can you please introduce yourself and possibly do a recap of your presentation?
I am Commandant Isaac Omolade Adamolekun of the Merchant Navy. This is my 13th year in service as a Merchant Navy. Between 2005 and 2008 I was the Regimental Commandant, Director of Combat Training in Oceanography under the Merchant Navy. Most of the captains at the event today were at one point trained by me; to tell you how long I have been in the system.
There are lots of things I am going to talk about that I did not say during my presentation. One, talking about the legal backing of the Merchant Navy, there is a misconception by the public that merchant Navy is an illegal body and I want to correct that impression here.
Merchant Navy is established by act, law, decree, and national policy. To buttress my point, government established Federal College of Fishery and Marine Technology and the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) Oron, to train officers and men of the Merchant Navy and seamen. How could someone say such body is illegal? How can it be proscribed?
To start with, what is Merchant Navy? Merchant Navy is a group of Navy and Officer’s Ships that belong to a particular country. It means to have a Merchant Navy and Defense Navy you must be a costal sovereign state. Nigeria possesses these attributes and that is why it has Merchant Navy. It should be noted that before the existence of the Nigeria Navy which is the Defense Navy, the merchant Navy had been existing.
The Nigeria Navy can be traced back to 1893 when the Southern Marine Department was formed. Later on between 1893 to the 1900 in the 19th century, the Northern Protectorate Merchant Navy was also formed and in 1914 they were amalgamated. At that time, we were under the British colony. The British came to Nigeria with their Merchant Men and not with the Defense Navy. They made friends with Nigerians and of course there wasn’t Nigeria then. Now the first point of call was where the British anchored. As the relationship improved, they had to recruit some of our men into their Merchant Navy because at that time there was nothing like Nigerian Merchant Navy. Between that period and independence, we never had the Defense Navy, what we had was Merchant Navy. Through the Merchant Navy, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) all came up as part of Merchant Navy. When you say Merchant Navy, these are all professional men who are scientifically trained to work on ships.
The agitation for the nation’s independence and the success was what led to the need for independent armed forces that can defend the nation from external aggression on air, land and the sea. This was what gave birth to the Nigerian Navy and at that point, two men and officers were pulled out of the Merchant Navy to form the Nigerian Navy with eleven assorted boats. I also want to bring it to your notice that the uniform and ranks the Defense Navy otherwise known as Nigerian Navy is using today was inherited from the Nigerian Merchant Navy. Go to the harmonized ranking of the Nigerian Armed forces, you will see it there.
In a nutshell, with your legal background, if a Merchant Navy is arrested on uniform on allegations of ‘impersonation’ or being ‘fake’, what steps should person take?
Before I go into that, Merchant Navy should be blamed for not being able to assertive enough. The problems between the Nigerian Defense Navy and Merchant Navy started around 1996 when somebody took over the leadership of the Merchant Navy and dissolved what we call the Directorate and the Task Force.
Prior the dissolution, the Directorate and Task Force mediated when challenges occurred in the Merchant Navy. The Directorate through the Task Force goes onboard to inspect vessels and personnel. If there is any problem, we will be invited and it will be rectified. At that time there was still cordial relationship between the Nigerian Defense Navy and the Merchant Navy.
Ordinary, we (Merchant Navy) were always called upon to identify our personnel in cases of doubt which we did and those found wanting were handed over to the appropriate agencies for prosecution but at this point in time where is our task force? It is non-existent. Which bodies can the Nigerian Navy and others call when they have doubts? We need to put these mechanisms back if the things must go smoothly.
Now to your question, if any real Merchant Navy personnel is unlawfully arrested or harassed, the next line of action should be legal. You approach a competent court of law to seek redress. You can possibly sue for damages or defamation of character. The truth is, if you know your right and you discovered that it is been trampled upon and then you keep quiet, it is at your own peril because you cannot expect the court to move from its location to your house and request that you do the needful. It is you that has the onus to take the necessary steps to ameliorate the situation.
Sir, is there any unified or general certification being given out? Since officers are trained at different schools, when they are through as cadet officers or seafarers, is there any lawful association established to certify them?
Of course, that is the process. When you finish from any maritime academy as an officer you are supposed to report at the headquarters of the Merchant Navy Officers Association or Transport Senior Staff Association in Apapa. After identifying yourself, you will go through a form of re-orientation programme and you are documented.
After I graduated from the Oceanography school, I had my documentation there in Apapa. I studied Nautical Sciences (Navigation) and I am also an ocean diver.
Are you saying with that documentation, Merchant Navy officers can now be identified?
Yes, we will be able to identify them easily as one of us. However, with or without the documentation, an officer’s certificate is his major identity.
So, the Association is by choice
Yes, in most cases, when our or other officers encounter challenges, and I am called to intervene maybe at the police station or naval base. What I usually request is their Certificates. Once that is presented, I know what to do next.
Nevertheless, we do encounter more problems these days because when you tender these evidences to the Police or Defense Navy, they say Merchant Navy has been proscribed. You can imagine law enforcement agencies exhibiting naivety to the stipulations of the law of their country. Who do we blame? Ignorance they say is not an excuse.
Would you now suggest a legal backing for the Nigerian Merchant Navy?
There is already a legal backing, I think what we need now is the assistance of all stakeholders especially the press to sensitize the public that Merchant Navy is not illegal and it’s not proscribed. It is a body established by an act, by law, decree and policy.
