For
Nigeria to effectively move away from an oil-dependent economy and
industrialise, it must develop the blue economy. This was the
position of the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside and
other top players in the maritime industry, at the 2018 World
Maritime Day celebration held yesterday in Lagos.
Themed
“IMO 70: Our Heritage - Better Shipping for a Better Future,”
this year’s event, which coincided with the 70th anniversary of the
International Maritime Organisation (IMO), according to Dr. Dakuku,
could not have come at a better time than now, when Nigeria is taking
deliberate steps to harness the enormous benefits of the country’s
maritime industry.
According
to the Director-General, NIMASA is taking various steps to ensure the
growth of the sector for the overall economic benefit of the country.
“We want to make sure that our maritime sector remains virile and
this is the reason we are making moves to safeguard our maritime
domain because we cannot talk about shipping without taking the
safety and security of our maritime domain seriously,” he stated.
Dakuku
pointed out that the total spectrum maritime security strategy being
put in place by the Agency will ensure that the maritime subsector
was rid of criminalities that hamper the industry’s growth. He said
the ultimate goal of the Agency was to make Nigeria one of the safest
maritime domains in Africa.
Commenting
on the Executive Order of the Federal Government on Ease of Doing
Business, the Director-General said the Agency had succeeded in
reducing the issuance time for bill and sailing clearance to vessels
to 24 hours, thereby drastically reducing the delay in
vessel turnaround time.
Speaking
at the event also, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of
Transportation, Sabiu Zakari, who represented the Honourable Minister
of Transportation, Rt. Hon Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, said Nigeria
received and generated a lot of cargo and must, therefore, take
advantage of its geographic position to grow its economy through
effective maritime development.
Zakari
said, “Nigeria enjoys larger share in the movement of cargoes due
to her location along the Gulf of Guinea, which is a transit and
strategic route for movement of cargo across Africa. It is,
therefore, imperative that the route is secured to fully harness the
benefits of maritime trade.”
In
the same vein, Nigeria’s Alternate Permanent Secretary to the IMO,
Mr. Bala Dikko, said in recent times Nigeria’s relationship with
the United Nations organ had improved. He commended the leadership
role NIMASA was playing in the West African sub-region, stating that
security in the region has greatly improved due to the renewed
collaboration and cooperation being championed by Nigeria among the
maritime administrations of the sub-region.
In
her own remarks, the Secretary-General of the Memorandum of
Understanding on Port State Control For West and Central African Sub
Region, popularly referred to as Abuja MoU, Barr. Ufom Usoro, noted
the recent strides of NIMASA in the development of the maritime
industry. Usoro said NIMASA, as Nigeria’s representative on the
MoU, had played a leading role in the region, especially as it
concerns port state and flag state control. She commended the
leadership of NIMASA for carrying the stakeholders along in its bid
to move the industry forward.
Usoro
said the impact of the Dakuku-led management of the Agency was being
felt on the continent, adding that this is one of the reasons he was
re-elected to lead the Association of African Maritime
Administrations (AAMA) for another term at the recently held fourth
conference of the body in Egypt.
The
Rector of Maritime Academy (MAN), Oron, Commodore Duja Effedua, and
other notable stakeholders at the event were unanimous in their
commendation for NIMASA, especially as it concerns building capacity
for the sector. They called for support for the Agency’s drive to
create sea time for the graduates of the Nigerian Seafarers
Development Programme (NSDP).
The
World Maritime Day is a day set aside by the IMO to celebrate the
contributions of the maritime industry to the global economy. Though
internationally marked on September 27, each IMO member state has the
right to choose a suitable date on which to commemorate the event.
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