- Umar, Chilaka make case for indigenous cargoes
- How NIMASA dumped cargo sharing for Maritime Safety, Cabotage – Ogadi
The House of Representatives has criticized the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for not honouring an invitation to discuss cargo reservation and other shipping issues at a strategic summit and book launch.
House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration made this criticism at the launch of Dr. Edmund Chilaka’s book titled “Nigeria’s Shipping Policy and Maritime Trade up to the Early 21st Century ”
Speaking at the event, Chairman, House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, Hon. Khadija Bukar, who was represented by Hon. Adesola Adedayo, accused the NIMASA leadership of disregarding the industry by absenteeism at the book launch.
His words: “NIMASA is foremost in maritime agency, if you have an event as important as this and they are not taking it seriously, you see that it is not the lawmakers that are the problem, but the people in public service.”
“The civil service is the problem of Nigeria, and I don’t know what we can do about them. I expect NIMASA to be here, if i am representing my speaker, I wonder what would happen if the speaker were to be here herself.
“The NIMASA DG actually ought to be here, and if he is not, then a senior official actually ought to be here. I take exception to the fact that we are here and the agency that is supposed to be in charge and we are supervising is not here, when I get to the floor of the house, I will address the issue properly.”
According to the legislator, the issue is more problematic given the fact that the NIMASA Director General, Dr. Dayo Mobereola was scheduled to speak on the topic: “The Statutory Mandate of the NIMASA Act 2007 on the Carriage of Federal, State, and Local Government Cargoes: The Path to Implementation”
He, however, opined that the nation should consider an open ship registry, and proposed amendments in NIMASA Act rather than a complete repeal.
Speaking earlier, the President of Nigerian Chamber of Shipping (NCS) and newly appointed board member of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), Mr. Aminu Umar, stressed that cargo availability is the biggest challenge to indigenous shipping.
Umar’s words: “Cargo reservation has to be prioritized and Nigeria isn’t the only one to do this. USA, UK, China and several European countries practice cargo reservation. If developing countries can reserve certain cargoes to grow their indigenous shipping, why shouldn’t Nigeria do the same?”
“When there is cargoes, investors and entrepreneurs will be willing to acquire or charter ships. This way, indigenous shipping grows. Another issue is the availability of funds, there has to be a access to cheap funding and there are many approaches to this”
In his welcome address, the author, Dr. Edmund Chilaka, observed that Sections 35-37 of the NIMASA Act 2007 concerns the carriage of Federal, State, and Local Government cargoes generated through international trade that should be reserved for indigenous operators.
“The cargoes referenced in NIMASA Act Sections 35-38 belong to Nigeria, are not subject to sharing with any other local or foreign entities or jurisdictions but should be carried in toto”
“Cargoes such as the importation of pipes for the Ajaokuta-Kano-Kaduna pipeline project, the Nigeria- Niger-Algeria pipeline project, the Kano-Maradi Railway project, importation of NPK fertilizers, shipment of NNPC crudes for offshore refining procedures, oil-related project cargoes belonging to the Federal Government and its development partners, including international oil companies, cargoes arising from huge civil engineering constructions such as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, to mention a few.”
“The forerunner of NIMASA, the National Maritime Authority (NMA) effectively implemented such cargo reservation and allocation programme from 1988 to 2000 when the scheme was suspended,” he said.
Chilaka added that the present advocacy to revive the implementation of sections 35-38 of the NIMASA Act is to give the Agency the second tangible reason for being in existence aside from port and flag state functions.
During the panel discussion, a former Head of Shipping Development at NIMASA, Mr. Anthony Ogadi, stated that he was part of the cargo sharing system as a young officer in NIMASA (then NMA).
“I was part of the cargo sharing system as a young officer in NIMASA and I recall the traction we had during that period. At the time, NMA was able to profile the operators with respect to the indigenous carriers and foreign carriers. Every Tuesday in NMA then was a beehive of activities as stakeholders converged at NMA for cargo sharing.”
“The NIMASA Act ushered I a herculean responsibility of maritime safety and security. Cabotage was also another issue, but there was no longer interest in cargoes,” Ogadi explained.
Meanwhile, the event also featured the conferment of Nigerian Indigenous Cargo-Carrying Advocacy Awards on some eminent personalities including the Chairman, Starzs Group, Engr. Greg Ogbeifun; Port Manager, Apapa Port, NPA, Mr. Charles Okaga; Port Manager, Tin Can Island Port, NPA, Mr. Sylvester Egede; the Managing Director, Truck Transit Parks Limited, Jama Onwubuairi.
