The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NIMASA DG:

  • NIMASA DG donates books to pupils in Rivers

    The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has urged youths to consider taking up careers in the maritime industry.

    The District Surveyor in the Port Harcourt, Rivers State Office, Mr. Layola Afolabi, spoke at Senior Secondary School, Opobo, Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, during an advocacy programme for youths on maritime opportunities. The advocacy was themed: “Harnessing Maritime Opportunities towards Nigeria’s Economic Development”.

    Afolabi also distributed science materials, including text books, to pupils offering science subjects, on behalf of the Director-General (DG), Dakuku Peterside.

    According to him, there are lots of job and business opportunities in the maritime sector which need to be harnessed. He listed some of the areas of opportunity to include, Seafaring, dock worker career, Stevedoring as well as maritime security, among others. He called on the pupils to think towards delving into the sector in the future.

    He said: “We are here to tell and encourage the pupils on the career progression in the maritime industry, and to distribute books donated by NIMASA Director-General Dr. Dakuku Peterside, to help those who will pursue a course in maritime in the future to succeed.

    “This is a way the agency is giving back to the society, to encourage the youths to go to school. Again, Opobo is a coastal area and the need to get students, youths from the area to develop interest in Maritime industry cannot be over-emphasised.

    “The maritime opportunities in Nigeria are vast but, unfortunately, foreigners appear to be the only people who see and are taking advantage of it, when Nigerians can be encouraged and developed to take over the industry for national economic growth and development.

    “We are here to show you the opportunities in the maritime sector.”

    Principal of the school Mrs. Beatrice Epelle thanked Dr. Peterside and NIMASA for being interested in the future of the youths. She urged other well to do individuals and organisations to take steps to impact on the youths positively.

    She said: “This is wonderful, if other firms and organisations can borrow a leaf from what has happened here today, the country will be good for it.

    “If there is anything I appreciate so much in all this today, it is the books they have given to the pupils. We really do lack textbooks, both for science and art subjects. The pupils most times can’t find any book to read in the library because there are none. But with this, they can now have something to read.”

    The principal, however, appealed that the science laboratory whose roof had been blown away be renovated and equipped with the necessary science equipment, stressing that the school is proud to be the only “public senior secondary school” in the council.

  • 2019: I’ve not resigned as NIMASA DG, says Peterside

    The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has stated that ahead of the 2019 governorship race in Rivers State, he has not resigned as the helmsman of NIMASA.

    Peterside, the 2015 governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers, described as childish, the insinuations, especially on social media, that he resigned his appointment to pursue a political interest, with the leader of the party in the state and Southsouth zone, Rotimi Amaechi, who is also the Minister for Transportation, rejecting his rumoured resignation.

    The NIMASA chief, yesterday in an online statement by his media team, stated that disillusioned politicians and their hatchet men were behind the rumour, which he said was to give life to a lie that had no bearing and foundation.

    He stressed that he would have simply ignored the talebearers, but for many calls from concerned Rivers people, who expressed worry over the development and who were genuinely concerned about the future of the state.

    Peterside, an ex-member of the House of Representatives, reiterated that he had repeatedly told Rivers people that he would make his decision known at the right time, concerning his political interest and would follow the due process, if the need arises.

    He said: “Let me emphatically state that at no point did I resign and as such, there was no rejection of my resignation from any quarters. I have repeatedly stated that whenever I am ready to make my decision known, I will tell Rivers people and it would not be hidden.

    “I am aware that some jittery politicians, who have jeopardised their political relevance, may have resorted to blackmail and outright lies to give their waning members hope. This is not unusual, as they will become more desperate in the days ahead.”

    The former Rivers Commissioner for Works also urged Rivers people and friends of the state to ignore the unfounded rumour, maintaining that there was no iota of truth in it, while remaining focused on how to rebuild Rivers State, allegedly destroyed by the “evil” regime of Governor Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    He declared that members of the APC in Rivers remained unshaken in their resolve to sack Wike in 2019 for alleged poor performance, while members of the main opposition party would not be hindered by the shenanigans of fifth columnists.

    Peterside, who is also the deputy leader of APC in Rivers, stressed that all members of the party, under the leadership of Amaechi, would support whoever emerged as the governorship candidate of the party, towards the end of this year, for the 2019 poll.

    He said: “Every member of APC in Rivers State subscribes to the leadership of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. The party at the appropriate time will give guidelines on its governorship primary election and all will support whoever wins.

    “There is no need crying wolf where there is none. Only those who have skeletons in their cupboards are panicking.”

    The NIMASA chief also admonished all Nigerians to continue to support the performing and focused administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

  • NIMASA DG: foreign domination of crude oil lifting to end soon

    THE Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is set to end foreign domination of crude oil lifting, its Director-General, Dr Dakuku Peterside, has said.

    This, observers said, will stimulate indigenous participation in the exercise, which could generate about N900 million daily.

    Peterside, it was learnt,  is pushing for indigenous shipowners to take over the lucrative enterprise to boost the economy and create employment for over 5,000 profes-sionals in the sector.

    The NIMASA boss told The Nation that local participation in the trade would be in the nation’s interest as it would create jobs, reduce crime, generate more revenue and ensure security at sea and the ports.

    “There is no iota of doubt that the Federal Government through the Ministry of Transportation is determined to involve indigenous shipowners in crude oil lifting to provide jobs for Nigerians and put an end to foreign domination of the trade. Everybody knows that it would be more profitable for a Nigerian ship to lift our crude and the  Director-General of NIMASA Dr Dakuku Peterside can be trusted to deliver on that mandate,” a source at the Federal Ministry of Transport told this reporter.

    Also, Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA) member, Mr Fola Badmus, said there were many qualified Nigerians in this field, but that they had no jobs, adding that using foreign vessels was not in the best interest of the nation because when the dependent country has crisis, Nigeria may have challenges lifting its crude. He said at the last count, indigenous investments in the sector have created over 40,000 jobs across the hydrocarbon value chain.

    “We will gain about N900 million a day, if we use our indigenous ships to lift crude oil. This is because the country carries million of barrels of crude a day at the rate of $2.50 per barrel,” he said, adding that the huge sum would have accrued to the country and created employment for at least 5,000 professionals in the sector.

    ”The advantage is that indigenous ships will get their foods, water, tug boats, chandelling, engineers and rags from Nigerians,” he noted.

    Vehicle importation

    Badmus added that the volume of vehicles being imported through the seaports had reduced drastically due to the introduction of the automotive policy by the past administration.

    He said the hike in Customs duty on imported items had created jobs for neighbouring Benin Republic.

    He alleged that over 80  per cent of fairly-used vehicles, popularly known as Tokunbo, being imported  through the Lagos ports were now destined to the Port of Cotonou, Benin Republic based on what he called the failure of the auto-policy

    “The volume of imported vehicles into the country has reduced drastically since the Federal Government banned the importation of used vehicles through the land borders to enhance the implementation of the auto policy,” he noted.

    A senior official of one of the terminals at Tin Can Island Port, Apapa, Lagos, who craved anonymity, said the policy had increased the volume of vehicles being imported through  the seaports.

    He, therefore,  urged President Buhari not to halt the policy’s implementation to bring succour to terminal operators.

    “Before the introduction of the auto policy, we were discharging 5,000  to 6,000 vehicles every month. It is a pity that we were doing less than 1,200 vehicles before the government banned the importation of vehicles through the land borders and the new policy has assisted us in servicing our equipment, pay NPA and salaries at the end of the month.

    “We have noticed that the number of vehicles coming into Cotonou has reduced dramatically. Everyone can understand what this means to the economy.This policy is surely affecting the port industry and this is affecting the economy of the country positively because we read in one of your reports that smugglers were using many un-approved routes around Idiroko border in Ogun State to bring their vehicles into the country. That  has been reduced to the lowest ebb with the embargo placed by the Federal Government,” he said.

    He, however, said many Nigerians could not afford to buy the imported used vehicles because of the 35 per cent duty placed on them, urging the Federal Government to review the auto policy.

  • NIMASA DG: how African ports can compete globally

    NIMASA DG: how African ports can compete globally

    The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and

    Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside, has listed conditions that will change ports on the African continent to be globally competitive.

    The conditions, according to Peterside, are investment in world class infrastructure, strengthen Regulatory Frameworks, enhance institutional cooperation, implementation of one-stop portals like the national single window and adequate Investment in human capital.

    Peterside spoke while delivering a paper on the Significance of Maritime Regulations and Competitiveness of African Ports at the conference on Port Development, which took place in Accra, Ghana.

    The conference was organised by International Quality and Productivity Centre in conjunction with Ghana Ports and habour Authority.

    In his words “African Ports have fallen far behind our global peers on key performance indicators. Cargo spends nearly three weeks on average in Sub-Saharan African ports, compared to less than a week in large ports in Europe, Latin America and Asia. We are below the global average on three key productivity measures of ports: gross moves per hour, berth moves per hour and man-hours per move”.

    He noted that for Port operations on the African continent to experience appreciable improvement, Agencies in the port community must work together to implement integrated and sustainable solutions to the identified challenges.

    The NIMASA DG restated the agency’s commitment to strengthening the capacity of Ports in Nigeria and enable competitiveness on the African continent via the effective implementation of the Merchant Shipping Act, NIMASA and the Cabotage Act by ensuring that regulating the maritime sector with the use of these instruments does not hinder efficiency and negatively affect business operations in the Ports.

    He said NIMASA has upgraded its surveillance system to 24 hours and can consequently monitor all vessels in the Nigerian Maritime Domain at all times. He also disclosed that the integration of the Agency’s system with the Nigerian Integrated Customs Information System (NICIS) was part of efforts to forge partnership with key industry stakeholders to enhance efficiency in the Nigerian maritime sector.

    “Security is essential for seafarers, ships and port facilities; the Federal Government recently approved a $186 million Integrated Waterways Surveillance and maritime security initiative which is to be run jointly with Nigerian navy and Marine Police and the Army with the sole objective of operationally eliminating piracy and criminality on our waterways,” he said.

  • Maritime ‘ll advance our global economic interest —NIMASA DG

    The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has stated that if Nigeria must advance its global economic interest, then the country must ensure that it gets the regulation of the maritime sector right.

     The DG, who made this statement in an interview with the press, said that 90% of global commerce is conducted via sea borne trade and Nigeria is strategically placed between the West and Central Africa which puts it at a global advantage.

     ”If we must advance our global economic interest, then we must ensure that we get the maritime industry right, precisely the regulation of the industry,” the DG said.

     Speaking further, Dr. Peterside, who noted that in recognition of the fact that there is need to make Nigeria a global voice in the maritime sector, the agency has come up with various interventionist programmes that would speedily impact positively on the sector alongside the restructuring, reforming and repositioning of the agency.

     In the light of this, the DG hinted that the agency is concluding the process of acquiring a modular floating dry dock that would allow cabotage vessels and other vessels calling at our ports to be able to maintain their boats in-country and save the much needed foreign exchange in addition to creating employment opportunities for Nigerians.

     The NIMASA helmsman also observed that about 400 vessels participate in the cabotage trade and at least 5,000 vessels call at the nation’s ports, yet most of them routinely take their vessels outside the country for regular dry docking and maintenance, thereby making the country lose a lot of foreign exchange.

     “As an interventionist measure, we decided that NIMASA can acquire a floating dockyard, set it up in the country, so that instead of people going outside to dry-dock their boats on regular basis they can maintain their boats here, dry-dock their boats and save the much-needed foreign exchange”, the DG said.

     In addition, the DG stated that in line with the agency’s mandate of building capacity for the industry, the ship repair yard is expected to employ a minimum of 100 persons with different kind of skills and save time used for dry-docking outside the country.

     While seeking continuous co-operation and collaboration amongst stakeholders in the industry, Dr. Peterside gave the assurance that in no distance time, Nigeria will become the preferred maritime destination in Africa.

     It would be recalled that the NIMASA DG had recently informed the public of the restructuring of the agency for better service delivery in the maritime sector.

  • How to make Nigeria arbitration hub, by NIMASA DG

    How to make Nigeria arbitration hub, by NIMASA DG

    Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General Dr. Dakuku Peterside has expressed the readiness of the agency to collaborate with stakeholders in the industry to make the country the hub of maritime arbitrators in the sub-region.

    Speaking in Lagos at the weekend when officials of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (NICArb) visited him in Apapa, he said NIMASA was open to collaboration that would grow industry.

    Peterside explained that the country could be the hub of arbitrators by having an effective system.

    He said: “We must grow capacity that is all encompassing. We can work on a framework that would make Nigeria the hub of arbitrators by building a working and effective system.”

    Earlier,NICArb Acting Registrar, Mr Shola Oshodi-John, said the industry needed local arbitrators when seeking to settle disputes, lamenting that the resort to offshore arbitrators had been hurting the industry and denying the Federal Government huge revenue.

    Oshodi-John lamented that the  sector had experienced marginal growth in the number of maritime- related disputes handled locally due to practitioners’ preference for foreign arbitrators.

    He said: “Unfortunately, even where the parties are Nigerians, the likely point of destination for the resolution of such disputes is either London, United States, Japan, Moscow or other foreign countries.”

    He added that factors, such as ignorance on the part of Nigerians, to read the fine prints of their agreements or contracts and failure to engage experts before contract execution were part of the problems.

    “This deprives the economy of huge foreign exchange inflow associated with arbitrator fees, air fares, facilities/hotel rentals and other additional incomes that could have accrued to the local economy.  There is an urgent need to correct this lopsided relationship through the investment in home grown solutions and institutions by forging alliances and building multisector synergies across public and private sectors,” Oshodi-John said.

    While commending the achievements in the industry under  Peterside, he expressed the readiness of the group to partner  NIMASA

    He said: “We are confident that NIMASA, under your leadership is poise to serve as a catalyst for growth and national economic development through its important role of facilitating international trade and agriculture, and enhancing the significant recovery economy from the shocks.”

  • NIMASA DG: ‘Core competence should be Buhari’s watchword’

    Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, writes on the drama trailing the emergence of Acting Director-General of NIMASA.

    Since July 6, 2015, when the former Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Patrick Akpobolokemi, was relieved of his plum position, the apex maritime regulatory body has been a theatre of drama and intrigues.

    The bad blood and leadership crisis that followed what an insider described as ‘the pettiness of some top government functionaries’ are yet to be resolved, leading to confusion and widespread suspicion.

    It would be recalled that as soon as President Mohammed Buhari sacked Akpobolokemi, he directed him to hand over to the most senior director in the agency until substantive helmsman is appointed.

    Following this directive, the former NIMASA boss handed the staff of office to Barrister Callisus Obi, the Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, to hold forth till the substantive helmsman is appointed.

    It was at this point that the drama and the in-fighting garnered steam for, as it turned out, Obi’s tenure as Acting DG lasted for only three days or so, following a petition from Baba Haruna Jauro, the Executive Director Finance and Administration of the agency.

    In the petition, Jauro had argued that he, not Obi, was the most senior director.

    He said he assumed office 24 hours before Obi. Based on this argument, Obi was removed as Acting Director-General after three days in office and Jauro was appointed as the new Acting Director-General.

    But some insiders who spoke to The Nation in confidence said though all the three directors were appointed the same day, July, 2012, Jaura and Obi were actually attended to together and given their resumption form to fill at the same minute.

    According to the source, “It is therefore curious how the resumption form of Jaura, who has been in charge of administration, now allegedly bore a date, 24 hours before the other two directors.”

    As would be expected, this development has also embarrassed the Buhari-led federal government which is now accused of marginalisation.

    Aside Jaura and Obi, sources said the third director, Ezekiel Bala Agaba, who is the Executive Director of Maritime Safety and Shipping Development, is also allegedly pressing the necessary buttons as the country awaits Buhari’s appointment of the substantive DG.

    Sources said the presidency may have been advised to look outside the industry for the choice of the substantive DG of the agency.

    A top stakeholder of national maritime industry, who requested not to be named now, explained in a telephone chat with The Nation, why Buhari should look outside the agency.

    “It may sound nice to advise the government to look inwards, but unfortunately, nobody within the agency now has the relevant experience and skill to be appointed as the substantive Director-General of this agency. I think the new Director-General must have core competence to move NIMASA forward. I am worried that NIMASA has been over politicised. I however advise the government to professionalise the agency. They should do in NIMASA the same thing they are doing in NNPC.”

    Quest for home-grown DG

    Notwithstanding the advice of such experts and the power tussle amongst the three executive directors, some other informed insiders and stakeholders who commented on the matter are calling on Buhari to ignore political intrigues and make core competence his watchword in the appointment.

    “I think what we need at this point in time is a NIMASA DG that understands the process of indigenizing the sector and making it a true anchor of Nigerian economy. Amongst the three executive directors, Buhari should be able to get the right man for the job. I suggest a careful scrutiny of their skills, experience and knowledge before narrowing down to the most competent. They are heading three sectors of the agency and from these sectors; they have acquired some crucial skills and experiences. Which of these is the most crucial for the needed development of the industry? This is what should inform the choice of the next DG, not all these power games, intrigues and sensationalisation,”  the source, a key official in the agency, said.

    The three executive directors, all of who were appointed to the position 2012, include: Haruna Baba Jauro. The Acting Director-General, Haruna Baba Jauro, who hails from Yobe State, served, until his appointment, was the Executive Director Finance and Administration in the agency.

    Calistus Obi Nwabueze, Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, is a graduate of law from the University of Nsukka.

    In the last three years, he has represented NIMASA management in various international conferences and other maritime programmes. Insiders said he spearheaded the domestication of the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), which better protects the interests of seafarers and stakeholders in general.

    Captain Ezekiel Bala Agaba, Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Shipping Development, is a Master mariner with Class 1 Certificate of Competency (Foreign Going Unlimited) from John Moore University, Liverpool in 1986.

    Until his appointment as the Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Shipping Development in NIMASA, he was the Manager, Fuel Operations, ExxonMobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited.