The Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) President, Dr. George Onyung, has urged Nigerians to seek ways to increase their ship building capacity.
Onyung charged Nigerians to take advantage of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)’s ban on substandard ships and prove themselves in the subsector.
In an interview at the weekend in Lagos, he lamented that Nigerians were still perceived as ‘participants’ and ‘stakeholders’ in a lucrative business they should be ranked first.
He said SOAN would, henceforth, adopt some measures to boost capacity of Nigerains in the subsector.
Onyung lauded NIMASA for its five-phase cessation of waivers, stressing that the gesture would open a new window of investment for the country, as well as significant employment opportunities.
He assured that ship owners would synergise with the agency and others to ensure that NIMASA midwifed the initiative.
The SOAN chief said shipowners had decided to entrench a culture of proactive capacity building and acquisition, adding that it was the most vibrant approach towards taking the country to the next level.
He said if Singapore, which has no steel rolling mills, builds ships, Nigeria can, adding: ‘’Rome was not built in a day; but we also know it was not built in a million years!”
Onyung said if Norway, who yearly had her waters frozen for eight months, still owned as much as about 20 percent of internationally trading ships, then Nigeria with fresh waters all through the year has no excuse for not committing to serious manpower development and ship acquisition.
He said ship owners were determined to assist in the implementation of the Cabotage Act.
“Our Cabotage Law has been with us for 15 years; we’ll see it as a contribution to ensuring that we open the doors for people to understand what cabotage really means and the opportunities in it. We must have both ship building and ship repair yard in Nigeria. There is need to open up for acquisition. Within the next five years, the Nigeria Content will be in the region of $3.5 billion.
He announced an exhibition to be held by the association with the theme: “The ocean blue economy and national development”.
Tagged as “The Lagos International Shipping Expo”, the exhibition, he said, is scheduled to hold on November 27 and 28 at the Oriental Hotel.
It is aimed at exposing Nigerians to utilise the resources of the ocean for sustainability.
The upcoming conference would open opportunities for no-Nigerains to collaborate toward ship building opportunities in Nigeria,” Onyung added.
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