By Deborah James
As part of efforts to simplify shipping regulations and ease port operations of Dangote refinery, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has developed a joint committee with the Dangote Group.
The Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh OFR, recommended this committee during a meeting with the Managing Director of Dangote Ports Operations, Mr. Akin Omole, at the NIMASA headquarters on Tuesday.
According to Jamoh, this committee will remove the grey areas in line with the Cabotage Act and ensure that no operations at Dangote refinery in any way jeopardizes the laws of Nigeria.
The NIMASA boss, however, commended the leadership of Dangote port for taking the initiative to visit the agency’ headquarters to engage and synergize instead of just stopping at written correspondences.
“I suggest that we have working committee between Dangote refinery and NIMASA. The essence is to be able to share information and easily get counsel and answers to issues that may seem unclear. This way, Dangote refinery will understand the dos and don’ts in the sector,” Jamoh said.
He observed that Dangote Group has been a strategic partner with NIMASA for over 30 years, even as he congratulated the Chairman and the entire Dangote team on the commencement of Africa’s biggest refinery.
“Today, we have a new section of the Group which is the Dangote refinery. This facility will boost the nation’s oil refining capacity and address the shortfalls and challenges with foreign exchange. Nigeria is now keeping its crude oil and refining it within the country. We are proud to identify with the first indigenous operator in this regard. We are delighted to see that Dangote refinery has commenced operations and we want to sincerely congratulate the organization,” Jamoh remarked.
Noting that the refinery project will reduce the nation’s import dependency on petroleum products, Jamoh stressed that the agency is more concerned about the economic growth than whatever percentage earnings that would have accrued from continuous importation of petroleum products.
Following the Akin Omole’s acceptance to form the committee, the NIMASA boss drafted the agency’s Director in-charge of Cabotage, Mrs. Rita Uruakpa and the Director, Internal Audit, Mrs. Olamide Odusanya as NIMASA’s representatives on the Committee.
On his part, the Managing Director, Dangote Port Operations, Mr. Akin Omole, hinted that more vessels will be visiting the Dangote facility as full operations, pointing out that the meeting is to ensure that the organization doesn’t breach any shipping laws, especially Cabotage Act.
His words “We’ve had about 6 million barrels of food, feedstock supplied to the refinery, which we expect in the next couple of weeks we will be receiving, the actual operation will start in few weeks and we will be receiving more vessels to the refinery.”
“We understand that there are some considerations, particularly with regards to cargo change for pollution. We just sent a letter from our new president and we received a response from NIMASA. The essence of this visit is to be sure we are playing according to the rules and our business operations aren’t going to be hampered”
Omole equally thanked the NIMASA Director General for setting-up the joint committee, adding that it would ensure both organizations harmoniously work together.
