Stakeholders seek urgent help for Nigerian maritime sector

Stakeholders in Nigeria’s maritime sector have said that the huge potential and profit in the maritime industry will continue to elude the country, if urgent measures

are not taken to rescue her maritime sector.
The Director-General and commandant of the Nigeria Merchant Navy, Allen Edema, said at an event organised by the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) recently that the Nigerian maritime sector is not performing up to expectation, because of the failure of the authorities to recognise the immense role the merchant navy plays on the nation’s territorial waters.
“There have been politics by saboteurs to side-line and relegate the merchant navy to the background in the country, but with our bill before the National Assembly passed into law, then a lot of the issues confronting the maritime industry will be addressed,” he said.
He added that the issue of sea pirates would be addressed, if the merchant navy is given its rightful place on the nation’s territorial waters. “NIMASA, on its own, cannot enforce the Cabotage law, they can implement it, but it is the merchant navy that has the power by law to enforce the Cabotage law and confront sea pirates,” he said.
Also, a former president of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners, Mr. Adewale Ishola, said the country has a lot to benefit from a well-managed maritime industry. “For instance, the seafaring profession has a huge job creation potential, only if we can put the right policies in place and support it with an enabling environment.
“The Federal Government should assist the indigenous ship owners in acquiring ships which can be used to train our cadets and fulfill its promise of buying a training ship for the Maritime Academy of Nigeria in Oron to give the cadets sea exposure,” he said.
Also expressing his dismay over the challenges facing the industry, Captain Solomon Omotesho, another master mariner, urged Nigerian ship owners to work and compete in an enabling environment, adding that there should be a review of remuneration, and the priority given to foreign ship owners in the country which have not given Nigerian cadets the exposure and training they require on the sea.
According to a consultant to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Alhaji Galtima Liman, the Federal Government should concentrate on ship ownership rather than spending billions in setting up more maritime training institutions.
His words: “Why are we not a serious nation? A nation like Nigeria has to be a fleet owing nation. The beginning of wisdom for Nigeria is to first of all become a ship owning nation, as it used to be. I don’t know why the billions being assembled at NIMASA as Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund is difficult to disburse and acquire some tonnage immediately?
Source: The Moment