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Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside has debunked claims that he was planning to employ staff as he stressed that the Agency was over-staffed.
Dr. Peterside said this during a media parley recently. He stressed that NIMASA is broke and was barely struggling to pay salaries as a result of the economic downturn confronting the country.
“I am not keen on employing anybody. NIMASA is over-staffed, let’s put our workers to use to get the best from them” the DG said.
Dr. Peterside revealed that NIMASA was set to sign MoU with the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Airforce in order to get the Navy man NIMASA vessels while the Airforce could assist in monitoring the maritime environment via the aircraft.
The NIMASA DG also disclosed that the Agency was working towards achieving 95% compliance to all International Maritime Organization (IMO) instruments.
“We are working towards enhancing the effectiveness in our port and flag state control. We want to ensure that we meet the minimum IMO obligation as a maritime administration. We intend to get at least 95% compliance to all IMO instruments and all regulations that bother on the maritime environment” the DG told journalists.
“There is a downturn in trade globally and the low cargo throughput has affected the agency’s financial status. There is also a new forex regime which makes it difficult to access funds to do business and we have a government that discourages import and encourages export. All these have effect on NIMASA,” he said.
On the public image of the agency, the DG said “the bad image the agency presently has in the eye of the Nigerian public in the last couple of years, it is easier to associate NIMASA with corruption and looting than as an agency of government that does its work and adds value to the Nigerian people”
The NIMASA boss also unveiled the agency’s strategic growth for the next three years which is to reform, restructure and reposition the agency for sustainable growth and development of the maritime industry.
According to him, this objective was further unbounded into five pillars which are: Survey, Inspection and Certification; Environment, Security and Search and Rescue; Digital Transformation; Capacity Building and Promotional Initiatives; and Structural and Cultural reforms.
However, NIMASA recently called on the United States Government to partner the Agency in the area of capacity building.
NIMASA’s DG, Dr. Peterside made this request when he received the Consul General of the United States in Lagos, Mr. John Bray at the Agency’s Head Office.
Dr. Peterside acknowledged the long standing relationship between the two countries and other existing bilateral agreements.
He said that the business of shipping is global and Nigeria can benefit from the experiences of the Americans in order to harness the potentials in the nation’s maritime domain especially in the area of technology driven security surveillance as well as human capacity building.
“The need for sharing ideas cannot be overstated, because shipping is a global business that links economies of the world together and Nigeria can learn from the experience of the United States. We are currently repositioning the maritime industry and our dream is to be the hub of maritime activities in Africa,” the DG said.
The NIMASA helmsman also appealed to the United States representative to assist in the training and recruiting of the Nigeria Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) cadets to the USA marine Navy in order to enhance their competency and skills.
In his remarks, the Consul General, Mr. John Bray disclosed that they were interested in maintaining the co-operation between the two countries.
Mr. Bray also expressed the readiness of the United States to leverage on the already existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between both countries to collaborate with the Agency and Nigeria at large towards achieving a vibrant and business friendly maritime environment.
Meanwhile, Dr. Dakuku Peterside has also stressed that collaboration with various stakeholders across the globe is fundamental to unlocking the maritime opportunities in Nigeria.
The DG made this known when the Acting Chinese Consul General, Mr. Li Yong paid a courtesy visit to the Agency.
Dr. Peterside said that cooperation among the Global South countries is the way to drive emerging economies to the height of development and commended the Chinese Government for its willingness to strengthen the Nigerian-China relationship as evident in the major developmental projects across the country.
He therefore charged the Chinese Government to extend the collaboration to the Nigerian maritime sector which is critical to the growth of the African economy.
In his words “the Nigerian maritime Sector holds the key to unlocking the opportunities of the sector in the whole of Africa because of our strategic location, population and volume of trade. Therefore if anyone wants to do business in Africa, Nigeria is the place of choice”.
The DG also stated that the Agency is willing to partner with the Chinese Maritime Administration in the areas of ship breaking and recycling, on-board training for cadets as well as technical support.
In his response, Mr. Li Yong said that he is happy with the China-Nigerian relationship and that the Chinese Central Government is willing to partner with Nigeria in the areas of technological advancement and information sharing.
The Chinese envoy also expressed his government’s determination to support Nigeria in the fight against piracy and other criminal activities at sea.
