- Adewumi canvasses support from aggrieved members
The Nigeria Ship-owners Association (NISA) has inaugurated its newly elected Executive Council tasked with piloting the affairs of the association for the next two years.
The event, whick took place in Lagos today, was the first outing since the elections held a fortnight ago although with some members dissatisfied with the electoral process.
Speaking at the ceremony, the newly elected NISA President, Otunba Sola Adewumi thanked members of the association for the confidence reposed in the executives to lead the association.
Adewumi assured that the interest of members will be protected while extending the olive branch to aggrieved members to join hands with him in building a more vibrant ship owners’ association.
His words: “During every election, there are bound to be some people that would be aggrieved, I just want to appeal to everyone to come together so that we can form a very strong association for the benefit of all concerned”.
Adewumi also used the occasion of the inauguration to announce the readiness of his newly elected exco to hit the ground running by disclosing that the association will be moving to a newly fully furnished secretariat before the end of May 2023.
“I am also confident that we’ll be moving to our new fully furnished secretariat alongside all the members of staff before the end of May 2023,” he stated.
Adewumi equally disclosed the readiness of his leadership team to work with the Federal Government to harness the huge potential of the maritime industry.
“As we all know, shipping is a trillion-naira industry. Maritime itself is an industry and shipping is a big aspect of the maritime industry. We’ll be liaising with all the relevant agencies like the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the rest. There are so many areas that we can venture into. We are going to tap into all that shipping encompasses. We are going to work with everybody to ensure that we expand the scope,” he said.
The NISA President, however, lamented that some of the problems confronting ship owners have persisted because the government doesn’t really pay attention to shipping as it should.
He opined that under his leadership, the association will strive to ensure that it draws the government’s attention to the industry in a bid to bridge the unemployment gap in the country and address other concerns.
Adewumi also disclosed that the Nigerian Maritime Expo (NIMAREX) a brainchild of the association will hold before the end of 2023 or early next year.
“We wouldn’t want to put up an haphazard event, so, if the event does not happen in 2023, it will take place in early 2024. We’ll institute a strong committee that will drive this project. As we all know, this event is fashioned after the OTC, we’ll come together to fashion how best to showcase the Nigerian maritime industry to the world,” he added.
On his part, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Chief Isaac Jolapamo stated that there is so much work to be done by the new NISA leadership even as he expressed confidence in the ability of the new executives to deliver on the mandate.
“Let us see some changes. We’ve been in this fight for so long without getting anywhere, your administration will bring about the realization of the reasons why the association was created in the first place,” remarked.