By Enyeribe Anyanwu
“The era of indiscriminate waivers is ending. We can’t keep weakening local capacity under the guise of temporary foreign assistance. It is time to build Nigerian tonnage, support local employment, and give indigenous operators a fair chance to succeed.” These were the words of the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oni.
The words ring with some undertones that only a careful listener can analyze and understand. The real meaning may have even been lost on the listeners.
Ordinarily, the minister’s words should be music to the ears of Nigerian ship owners and shipping operators. However, it is a familiar refrain. Oyetola’s predecessors have all sung the same song –the CVFF disbursement and waiver ending song.
However, this time, the song appears real and palpable, as there is a flurry of activities going on to disburse the decades-old CVFF. And with the disbursement, may come the end of Cabotage waiver.
Unfortunately, a good number of Nigerian companies and their owners who fought for the Cabotage law and the CVFF have already gone under because of Cabotage waivers and non-disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund. The fund, generated through cabotage levies, is meant to help Nigerian ship owners acquire vessels and enhance their operational capabilities. But this has not been so.
To such indigenous ship owners, all that is happening now is medicine after death. Only new comers and smart people are positioned now to reap from the new dispensation.
All things being equal, disbursement of the CVFF will soon begin. The disbursement process has already begun as the minister instructed NIMASA. In fact, preparations have reached a fever pitch.
According to Oyetola, disbursement of the fund is urgent as it is vital for empowering local operators in the face of reduced foreign waivers. Of course, disbursement of the fund this year is one of the performance indicators for the minister.
As a matter of fact, the waiver clause in the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act 2003 has been the albatross of the Cabotage Act, as it made it possible for foreigners to continue the control and domination of the nation’s inland shipping business.
Amidst denials by past ministers and NIMASA executive officers of granting waivers, foreign vessels continued to flood the country’s coastal environment, most of them curiously parading waiver documents. This prompted an investigation by the national assembly in 2020.
The former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and the immediate past director-general of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, that year, told Nigerians that for 15 years, no waiver was granted to any foreign ship owner. But they could not explain the influx of foreign ships in the nation’s cabotage trade.
If till date (20 years) no waiver has been granted, why then are there many foreign ships operating in the nation’s inland shipping trade?
While that remains a food for thought, it is pertinent to observe that the Marine and Blue Economy Minister, Oyetola’s, pronouncement of imminent end to granting of waiver to foreign ships came on the occasion of a visit by a delegation from NNPC Shipping (Stena Bulk), and Caverton Offshore Support Group.
The visit coincided with the unveiling of Unity Shipping World (USW), a new joint venture between NNPC Shipping, international shipping giant Stena Bulk, and Nigerian offshore logistics firm Caverton Offshore. The new firm is expected to drive crude oil, refined products, and LNG transportation both locally and globally.
But the question that begs for answer here is: Is this arrangement what is envisaged by the Cabotage law? Does the Cabotage Act not say that all Cabotage vessels must fly Nigerian flag, be owned by Nigerians and crewed by Nigerians?
The NNPC, it must be said, has been a major obstacle to indigenous ship owners in their efforts to participate in the lifting of Nigeria’s crude. It is through such joint venture shipping that they have been keeping indigenous operators away from crude oil lifting and other cabotage services.
Just as its joint venture operations in the oil industry has been favouring foreign operators, same with its joint shipping ventures. Thus, the Unity Shipping World unveiled by NNPC and its partners is definitely not in line with the Cabotage law or in the long term interest of Nigeria.
The point being made is, instead of this subtle waiver to a behemoth to “drive crude oil, refined products and LNG transportation both locally and globally”, the federal government should make good its plan to float a national shipping line under a Public-Private Partnership, and this should be wholly indigenous.
Alternatively, some indigenous shipping companies can be empowered and granted national career status in keeping with the drive for local capacity. Hopefully, the disbursement of the CVFF would help in strengthening some of them to attain this status.
It is worthy to note what the minister said while addressing the delegation: “The era of indiscriminate Cabotage waivers is fast drawing to a close. We must prioritize our local capacity and stop making excuses for foreign operators. Supporting indigenous shipping is no longer optional— it is a necessity for national growth, job creation, and sectoral sustainability.”
This declaration is a subtle message to NNPC. The minister’s statement is, indeed, the way to go; for there comes a time when the right thing must be done, when deceit, corruption, serving foreign interests and levity must give way.
