By Ibrahim Nasiru
Nigeria’s maritime industry is trying to rush into a bright future while carrying a very dark past.
Right now, the Federal Government is making big moves to launch a new national shipping line through high profile Public Private Partnerships with global shipping giants.
It sounds like a great plan under the “Renewed Hope”
Blue Economy agenda.
But we have to ask a blunt question: how can you float a new fleet when the foundation of your old national carrier is still completely underwater? On paper, the economic argument for a new shipping line makes perfect sense.
Nigeria loses roughly $10 billion every year to foreign shipowners who carry our oil and gas exports. Building a domestic fleet would keep that homongous freight money inside our economy, create thousands of jobs, and give the country its pride back as a maritime power.
But the stubborn stance taken by the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) and the veterans of the defunct Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL) is not just emotional grumbling. It is a matter of basic survival and law.
Almost thirty years after the NNSL was liquidated, thousands of retirees have still not received their final severance pay. Many have died in absolute poverty, waiting for bank alerts that never came.
This creates a deep trust issue that no amount of fancy Port infrastructure can fix. Launching a brand-new fleet while ignoring the very people who pioneered the seafaring profession in Nigeria sends a terrifying message to the young cadets in our maritime academies.
It tells them that a life at sea under the Nigerian flag offers zero long term security. Government officials can argue all they want that this new private sector model is a fresh start separate from past government failure.
But the average worker standing at the jetty does not differentiate between ministries; they see the government as one single entity.
The Ministry of Finance has continually failed to release the approved funds for these retirees, even though officials keep claiming the payment process is almost finished. This endless delay threatens the entire maritime agenda.
The truth is, we need reconciliation before we talk about refloating any shipping line. If the government can magically find hundreds of millions of dollars for Port modernization and vessel financing, they can easily find the funds to pay off these old debts.
Ignoring these veterans is a guarantee for industrial strikes and legal battles that will freeze new investments before the ships even arrive.
For Nigeria to dominate Africa’s maritime space, it must prove that it actually values its workers as much as its cargo. A new shipping line should not just bury the ghost of the NNSL. It needs to be an evolution that begins by paying the deep debt owed to the men and women who first carried our flag across the world’s oceans.
A nation that treats its pioneers like garbage cannot expect loyalty from the next generation.
Chief Ibrahim Nasiru
A Public Affairs Analyst writes from
Abuja
