THE CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS OF THE NIGERIAN MARITIME INDUSTRY

THE CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS OF THE NIGERIAN MARITIME INDUSTRY

PHOTO CREDIT: ANDY LI

The maritime transportation industry of any country is undeniably an important economic growth of any Nation. In Nigeria, it contributes so much to the GDP. Depending on the management, it’s role can either make or break an economy.

The Nigerian economy is a mixed economy and the maritime industry is a major sector in the economy given the fact that Nigeria is a major producer of Crude Oil and also a major importer of commodities.

Maritime trade in Nigeria has played a major role in deepening the economy in that it contributes about 95% of the vehicular means of Nigeria’s International trade. It allows economies  great scale in areas that have promising comparative advantage with concomitant generation of huge employment opportunities.

On the down side, the maritime sector is capital intensive and requires huge amount of finding. However, the history and growth of many Nations are directly interwoven with the degree of development of the maritime transport industry that can exist or is already existing.

Nigeria has a coastline of 253 km which runs through most southern states and must be harnessed if this country will prosper with its maritime industry.

This article intends to discuss the challenges and prospects of the Nigerian maritime industry. There are certain key qualities and attributes of the maritime sector that forms the scope of this article and they include;

v Maritime transport is an essential derivative demand

v Maritime transport is demand responsive

v Maritime transport is capital intensive

v Maritime industry requires both skilled and unskilled labour

v The global economy influences the maritime sector because it affects the trade patterns of nation.

v Maritime transport is open to technological changes

v To achieve an efficient maritime transportation system, structural support and logistics are very vital.

 

CHALLENGES OF MARITIME INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA

There are many challenges affecting the Nigerian maritime industry and they include;

1.   LEGISLATION AND LEGAL REFORMS:

The committee of Nigerian Maritime lawyer’s association, shipper’s council of Nigeria and the house committee on marine transport should sit together and enact laws that would be favourable to the Nigerian Maritime transport and all stakeholders.

At the moment, the law reform commission is an omnibus commission because if not only deals with maritime sector, but with other sectorial laws like constitutional and criminal laws. These commission needs to be very active in discharging the mandate of the federal government. They need to work very hard in actualizing the many far-reaching policies of the federal government, from revolutionizing transportation, to allying the maritime transport sector to best international standard and to ensuring the implementation of policies.

There is need for policies overhaul in this sector if the government intends to achieve the trillion Naira potential the maritime industry can generate annually.

Of note is the 40:40:20 code enacted by the United Nation’s Code on trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 1987. This code stipulates that 40 percent of the total volume of cargo traffic and revenue should be reserved for indigenous Nigerian carriers, another 40% should be reserved for carriers of cargo originating in destination countries while 20% should be reserved for third party flag carriers.

If this law or code was fully operational in Nigeria, this country would have gone a long way to correct the imbalance in shipping trade..

The Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA) that took over from the Nigerian Maritime Authority (NMA) in 2007 is yet to implement this policy to the extreme but is consciously working towards achieving the goal with its 4 pillars of the cabotage laws. Due to the duplication of functions by various government agencies, the leadership of NIMASA headed b y Dr. Braimoh Jamoh, on 3^rd July, 2020 invited the various agencies and clarified everyone of its role.

 

2.   MARINE ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION

There is agent need to protect marine life because of our dependence on water bodies for survival.

Because of the degradation of the ecosystem due to petroleum production, the government must protect the marine life so as not to endanger the livelihood of the communities spanning the coastal areas.

3.  SAFETY AND SECURITY

No entrepreneur will want to do business in an insecure environment. This is a major challenge in Nigeria waters and must be addressed by the government.

 

4.   HUMAN RESOURCES AND TRAINING

Human resources is one of the most important role in any industry. If Nigeria must grow its maritime industry, there is need to train and re-train manpower so that they can complete favourably with their counterparts anywhere in the world.

 

5.  FINANCE

The maritime industry as earlier stated is capital intensive and needs huge amount of funding. There’s need to create additional sources of finding away from the traditional models already on ground.

 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Nigerian Government should do all in his power in creating an enabling environment for maritime business to thrive and also making accessible loans with low interest rates.

The necessary agencies must ensure a safe and secure environment for all player and the issues of militancy must be resolved.