The House of Representatives Committee on Shipping Services has expressed willingness to project the development of a maritime bank and the realization of one percent Freight Standardization fund for Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC).
The Chairman, House Committee on Shipping Services, Abdussamad Dasuki, stated this during a visit to the headquarters of NSC in Lagos, on Thursday.
According to Dasuki, these initiatives are part of the Committee’s vision to rejig indigenous shipping, even as he noted that the Committee will engage indigenous ship owners as it moves towards championing the cause for an indigenous maritime bank.
The meeting, which is part of the Committee’s quarterly working visits to the Council, would chart the course for the revitalisation of Nigeria’s shipping industry.
Dasuki while speaking with top management of the Council explained that an indigenous maritime bank will equip local ship owners with funding needed to drive their businesses, deepen indigenous participation in shipping and curb capital flight.
As part of efforts to empower the Council to perform it’s statutory role as port economic regulator, he explained that the passage of The Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill into law will make provisions to shore up funding for the Council.
When signed into law, the Council will be authorized to take up a statutory one per cent freight standardisation fund which he said will take care of the challenge of inadequate funding for Council.
“The whole idea is to stop the capital flight we have today in the sector. We look to have the support of not just the House of Representatives but of the National Assembly.”
“Also, we are going to have the ship owners together with your team to sit down and see how we can improve the services of the ship owners in Nigeria as soon as possible.”
“In the course of our deliberations, we have highlighted one of the successes that is expected from that bill which is the one per cent freight standardisation fund. I believe you have the relevant support from us to make sure that you get all these funds in your agency,” the legislator said.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Barr. Pius Ukeyima, thanked the Committee for their support since his assumption of office, stressing that the partnership has brought a historic turnaround to the fortunes of the Council.
“We believe that our close collaboration and cooperation will see the rapid development of the sector and today that partnership has taken a very major step.”
“We know that the impact that this visit will leave is for a very long time and that this partnership has started a new trajectory which would move very fast,” he said.
