MARITIME SAFETY: GOVERNOR SANWO-OLU CALLS FOR STRICT CERTIFICATION REGIME

We are committed to collaboration- Jamoh

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu (right) making a presentation to Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, when the DG paid a courtesy visit to the Governor at Government House, Alausa-Ikeja, recently.

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has called for improved certification regime for boat skippers and better regulation of the operations of non-convention vessels that operate in the inland waterways of the country.

Governor Sanwo-Olu made the call while receiving the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Bashir Jamoh, who was on a working visit to the governor. He said an improved utilisation of Lagos waterways will go a long way in easing the traffic congestion on roads in the state.

Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh (left) making a presentation to the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu when the DG paid a courtesy visit to the Governor at Government House, Alausa-Ikeja, recently.

The NIMASA DG had informed the governor of the desire of the Agency to effectively collaborate with the state in the areas of capacity development to improve maritime regulation, thus, promoting the blue economy which has the capacity of creating wealth for the nation.

Governor Sanwo-Olu noted that the training and certification of operators of Non Convention Vessels operating on inland waterways is key to improved safety of operations.  While noting that the state government is close to delivering 15 new jetties and terminals to enhance waterways transportation in Lagos, he called on NIMASA to consider partnering the private sector for a more effective regulation and certification of small boat operators.

The governor stated, “We know NIMASA has done well in regulating the operations of large vessels calling at our waters, which is very necessary for the nation's economic wellbeing. Considering the activities of small craft in our inland waterways, we in Lagos desire improved regulation of operations in terms of certification, which comes directly under NIMASA. You may consider partnering the private sector under your strict supervision to improve certification of operators on our inland waterways. Fifteen new jetties and terminals being constructed by the state government will soon be ready for use.”

The governor, who acknowledged Dr Jamoh’s knowledge of the maritime industry, also listed water hyacinth management, wreck removal, and deep seaport operations as areas that Lagos State and NIMASA can collaborate to ensure Nigeria benefits more from the blue economy. He indicated the state's interest in hosting the campus of a maritime academy.

On his part, the NIMASA DG identified areas of collaboration between the Agency and Lagos State Government to include human capacity development, fishing industry development, and marine waste management, all geared towards harnessing the nation’s potentials in the blue economy. 

While stating that NIMASA was also collaborating with other littoral states, the NIMASA DG commended Lagos State Government for efforts at ensuring security on land, which has a multiplier effect on security on the waters. He emphasised that "90% of maritime crimes are conceived on land. Lagos State has done so much in terms of security on land and this has a multiplier effect on the security of the maritime domain in the Lagos area. We seek collaboration to enhance our operations in the interest of Nigeria as a nation.

"NIMASA needs alliances to develop policies that would ensure Nigeria effectively harnesses her potentials in the blue economy. Lagos State has comparative advantage over other states in Nigeria and we are willing and ready to partner with Lagos State Government."

 

 

FDI: Belgian Investors Watching Nigeria’s Maritime Transport Policy Closely

 

• Jamoh canvasses investment in wreck recycling 

Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh (middle), flanked by Managing Director of APEC-Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Centre and Port of Antwerp International, Mr. Kristof Waterschoot (left), and Director at Port of Antwerp International, Mr. Mario Lievens, after a meeting at the Nigerian Belgian Chamber of Commerce, Onikan, Lagos, when the Port of Antwerp executives visited Nigeria, recently.

The National Maritime Transport Policy being developed by Nigeria is of interest in Belgium for windows of investment opportunity. Executive officers of the Port of Antwerp International stated this in Lagos during a meeting with Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh. 

Jamoh said there were huge opportunities for investment in wreck removal and recycling, stressing that the Federal Government is planning a coordinated wreck removal policy to drive investment in the area. 

The visiting team of executives from the Port of Antwerp International had sought audience with the NIMASA Director-General to follow up investment interests in Nigeria. The Managing Director of APEC-Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Centre and Port of Antwerp International, Mr. Kristof Waterschoot, and Director at Port of Antwerp International, Mr. Mario Lievens, said they were also in Nigeria to promote new partnership opportunities, especially in the area of training.

Waterschoot and Lievens, who hosted Jamoh at the Nigerian Belgian Chamber of Commerce, Onikan, Lagos, said their mission was to discuss projects of interest, including inland ports, and to strengthen the relationship between the Port of Antwerp and NIMASA, particularly in the areas of training, technical support, and cooperation. 

They noted Nigeria’s proposed National Maritime Transport Policy, and said the policy was being watched as it unfolded to see how Belgium could come in with investments. 

“We believe in Nigeria,” said Waterschoot, who observed that the business climate in Nigeria could be difficult, but there was hardly any  country without its peculiar difficulties. 

A National Maritime Transport Policy is in the works in Nigeria as part of the government’s effort to develop maritime infrastructure and diversify the oil-dependent economy. Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, told a recent stakeholders’ validation forum on the draft policy that the policy, when approved, would lead to improved Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow and enhance the ability of the Nigerian maritime sector to compete at the international level. 

Jamoh praised the long-standing diplomatic and economic relationship between Nigeria and Belgium. He highlighted the Federal Government’s abiding interest in diversifying the economy, saying the development of maritime infrastructure is part of the government’s economic diversification drive.

Jamoh stated, “The National Maritime Transport Policy, which is being developed, is part of a wider agenda purposed to build alternatives to oil. The maritime sector is consciously being opened for investment by local and foreign investors to build a sustainable blue economy.

“One area I would like the Belgian private sector to come in is wreck removal and wreck recycling. There is a huge investment opportunity there, and there is also a big room for collaboration. This is more so as the Federal Government is planning a coordinated policy on wreck removal.”

Jamoh also sought Belgian partnership in the sea-time training of Nigerian seafarers and in the area of port safety and port security.   

The Port of Antwerp International is a subsidiary of Port of Antwerp, Europe’s second largest port – after Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It was established to expand the activities of the Port of Antwerp beyond Europe through consultancy, management solutions, investment projects and training.

 

NIGERIA SET FOR MAJOR SHIFT IN ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS WITH MARITIME TRANSPORT POLICY – MINISTER

·        Says Document Will Enhance Country’s Position In AfCTA                          

Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, says the National Maritime Transport Policy being developed by Nigeria would lead to improved Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow and enhance the ability of the Nigerian maritime sector to compete internationally. Saraki said this in Lagos at the opening of a stakeholders’ validation forum on the draft policy. 

L-R: Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman; representative of Chairman, Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Senator Danjuma Goje, Senator Ibrahim Yahaya; Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani; Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education, and Administration, Hon. Lynda Ikpeazu;Managing Director, National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Dr. George Moghalu; representative of the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, the Agency’s Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Mr. Chudi Ofodile; and Chairman, National Maritime Transport Policy Committee, Dr. Paul Adalikwu, during the Stakeholders Validation Forum on the Draft National Maritime Transport Policy held in Lagos recently.

The minister said the transport policy would give Nigeria pride of place in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. The free trade area, the world’s largest, was founded in 2018, and scheduled to come into effect from January 1, 2021. 

The meeting was organised by the Federal Ministry of Transportation to get stakeholders’ buy-in and input, as the policy document was being fine-tuned. The transport policy is expected to usher in a regime of robust maritime transport system in the country in line with international best practice. 

Saraki underscored the strategic economic importance of maritime transportation, saying adoption of the transport policy would mark a paradigm shift in Nigeria’s economic competitiveness.    

The minister stated in her address, which was delivered by Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, “The National Maritime Transport Policy is a framework that will guide and sharpen the activities, actors and modus operandi in the maritime sector. It is an all-encompassing document that will skyrocket the sector to compete favourably in the global market. That is why this   document is extremely important and crucial to the development of the sector.”

She said the National Maritime Transport Policy, which industry stakeholders had clamoured for since nearly two decades, “Will change the narrative in the maritime sector of our dear country and result in a paradigm shift that is generational.” 

Saraki added, “It is encouraging to know that the maritime policy is coming up at a time when Nigeria has ratified the AfCTA Agreement and deposited it with the AU Secretariat. This is an agreement that will place Nigeria in place of leadership if we adequately prepare for the protocols. Therefore, it is expedient for us to make the maritime sector ready for the AfCFTA Transit Protocols and other international protocols for us to compete favourably in the regional and global market.”

Nigeria deposited its instrument of ratification of the AfCFTA agreement on December 5, 2020, becoming the 34th member state to formally ratify the treaty. The free trade area was created by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 54 of the African Union’s 55 member states. It is the world’s largest free trade area since the World Trade Organisation, and a game-changer in African and world trade, with a market of more than 1.2 billion people, about $3 trillion combined GDP, and the potential of growing intra-African trade by over 50 per cent, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

In her own speech, the permanent secretary said policy was the bedrock of development, and the condition of the maritime sector of a nation determined its future development.

Ajani said, “Nigeria, like other nations, has recognised the integral role policies play in developmental process and, as such, engendered different processes to drive her quest for a sustainable, feasible and generic National Maritime Transport Policy. This will boost the maritime sector and widen the horizon to enable it serve the domestic market and have comparative advantage globally.”

Chairman of the National Maritime Transport Policy Committee, Dr. Paul Adalikwu, said, “The maritime sector cannot be administered successfully without a policy document that contains genuine, reliable and updated data” that can stand the test of time. Adalikwu, who is also Director in charge of Maritime Safety and Security in the Federal Ministry of Transportation, said the maritime transport policy document aimed to develop “a maritime industry that is income generating, self-sufficient, competitive with comparative advantage in the regional and global markets.”

The event featured goodwill messages from Chairman, Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Senator Danjuma Goje, and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education, and Administration, Hon. Lynda Ikpeazu. There were also messages from captains of industry, including foremost maritime lawyer and Chairman, Nigerian Ship Owners Forum, Mrs. Margaret Orakwusi; Chairman, National Seafarers Welfare Board (NSWB), Otunba Kunle Folarin; and President, Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), Dr. MkGeorge Onyung.
Dignitaries present at the occasion included Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, and Managing Director, National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Dr. George Moghalu.

Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, was represented by the Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Mr. Chudi Ofodile.

There were representations from all the parastatals in the Federal Ministry of Transportation as well as major associations in the country’s maritime industry.