The third edition of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) annual Corporate Dinner and Merit Awards will remain indelible in the minds of employees and industry players for some time to come, especially the Employee of the Year, who walked away with N1 million, writes MUYIWA LUCAS.
It was a night of glory for employees of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). The third edition of the annual Corporate Dinner and Merit Awards held on Saturday at the Convention Centre of the Eko Hotels and Suite. Awards were given to 181 employees who have served for between fifteen and thirty years. The Employee of the Year, Mrs. Constance Omagbemi, got a cash prize of one million naira, which was presented to her by Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha, who chaired the occasion.
The occasion also witnessed the conferment of awards to outstanding maritime industry players. GAC Shipping Company won the Overall Shipping Company of the Year, among eight awardees of the Industry Stakeholders Merit Award. They were Total Exploration and Production Company, AP Miller Terminal, Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT), and the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron. Other awardees were West African Ventures, Awaritse Nigeria Limited, and Sea Navigation International Limited.
Six state governors graced the occasion, including Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who came with his deputy, Dr. Femi Hamzat, Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello and Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki. Gombe State Governor Inuwa Yahaya was represented by his deputy, Manassah Daniel Jatau.
Other dignitaries included Chairman, Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Senator Danjuma Goje, who represented Senate President Ahmad Lawan; Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, Lynda Ikpeazu; Minister of State for Health Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora; Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director Hadiza Bala Usman and National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) Managing Director George Moghalu.
Mustapha said the Federal Government was targeting placing Nigeria among the first 70 countries in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business index, a most sought-after economic feat globally, by 2023. The SGF said recent improvements in the Nigerian maritime industry had positioned it as a viable guarantee of economic growth and wealth creation. He disclosed with delight that Nigeria had moved from 170 to 131 in the global ease of doing business table since Buhari established the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) in July 2016.
The council was set up to remove bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria and make the country an increasingly easier place to start and grow a business.
Mustapha said the PEBEC initiative, coupled with significant developments in ports and maritime, had engendered great improvements in ease of doing business in the country.
“In our bid to improve efficiency and productivity in the maritime industry and the country at large, the PEBEC was created to ensure an enabling environment for port efficiency. Government will continue to support the maritime sector because on it rests opportunities for wealth creation and economic growth,” he said.
Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi said the transportation sector was being developed as a strategic driver of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s economic diversification and growth agenda. Amaechi said the government was focused on the establishment of a strong intermodal transport system that would facilitate seamless movement of goods and people and drastically reduce the cost of transportation and business, generally.
Amaechi added that with a developed transport sector, “there will be increased productivity, which comes with creation of more jobs and production of more goods and services. All these will make the economy more competitive, reduce dependence on oil, and usher in economic growth. This is our target.”
He continued: “We are aware that transportation is key in any economic development plan. The major elements of production – raw materials, machines, people, finished products, etc. – have to be seamlessly moved from one point to the other as the need arises.
“The President Muhammadu Buhari government is implementing a transport policy, which entails linking all seaports in the country by rail, in line with global best practices. All over the world, the most efficient way to transport heavy cargo is by water and rail.
“We have a 25-year rail modernisation programme, involving the development of a comprehensive intermodal system. We are taking the rail from where the past governments stopped to the seaports. The Lagos-Kano rail line, which began from Ebute Metta, is being taken from Ebute Metta to Apapa seaport.
“We will take it from Tin Can and Apapa to connect the new Lekki port. The rail line from Lagos to Calabar links Port Harcourt, Onne, and Warri seaports. Our goal is to have a system where importers would bring in their goods and load them on the rail that takes them to the hinterland, thus, easing the pressure on the roads and increasing their longevity.
“Adequate investment in transport infrastructure will enhance the efficiency, reliability, and capacity of the transportation system, which will, in turn, lead to lower transport costs, shorter transit times, increased business efficiency, and business expansion, as money previously spent on transport is ploughed back into business.”
NIMASA Director-General Dr. Dakuku Peterside noted the significant change in the reputation of the agency in the last few years. Dakuku said the burnished image was part of the fruits of the Management’s deliberate effort to change the old ways of doing things in the industry and the Agency, for the overall good of the economy.
He highlighted some of the achievements of the agency in the last three years to include the final billing regime, which has significantly reduced turnaround time for all vessel billing transactions from reduced turnaround time for all vessel billing transactions from between five and 10 years to two weeks of the ship’s departure; increased tonnage, with Nigeria currently placing second in Africa, after Liberia; and reduction of turnaround time for issuance of Sailing Clearance from about one year to 14 days.
Peterside also listed other achievements as: digital transformation; improved maritime safety, security, and domain awareness; the tripartite agreement by maritime stakeholders, which has ensured harmonious labour relations in the industry; renewed capacity building drive through implementation of a five-year Cabotage cessation plan; and enhancement of the Nigerian Ship Registry.
Peterside also said that the agency has made major strides in the drive for improved maritime domain awareness.
“With the use of satellite surveillance technologies, in combination with intelligence systems, we are able to identify, with a consistent 365 days and a five-year profile, all vessels that visit our Exclusive Economic Zone. We are further able to identify vessels that are believed to be engaging in suspicious activities and take appropriate actions,” he said.
He added: “Currently, a portal is being created on the agency’s website where the list of all categories of maritime operators and services provided would be hosted for match-making and direct contact by business interests around the world. This brings visibility and credibility to indigenous operators being projected by the Maritime Administration in Nigeria.”
The agency commenced moves to ensure that Nigeria has a registry that can meet international certification standards and compete favourably with the best in the global maritime community.
Since the creation of the ISPS Code Unit of NIMASA, it has recorded achievements, which include: passage of the ISPS Code Implementation Regulations in December 2014, appointment of Lead Recognised Security Organisation (RSO) and other RSOs to fill the capacity gaps in physical assessment of port facilities, discovery of new ISPS Code applicable port facilities, creating awareness and fostering collaboration among stakeholders in ISPS implementation, and training of personnel.
Other achievements include the fact that over 20 Nigerian port facilities were exempted from imposition of United States Coast Guard (USCG) special Conditions of Entry (CoE) on vessels that had called at the facilities; successful completion of PFSA and PFSP for a substantial number of facilities; more than 90 per cent compliance within the country’s facilities; and issuance of Documents of Compliance to compliant facilities.
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