…Dakuku calls for more support

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has noted that a major factor militating against the successful development of the nation’s maritime sector is insecurity in the Niger Delta region, and assured stakeholders that the Federal Government will leave no stone unturned in tackling the challenge.

The Minister made the observation during a one-day stakeholders’ interactive forum held in Warri, Delta State with the theme: “Implementation of Executive Order One (1) – Ease of Doing Business in a secure maritime environment”.

Amaechi’s distinguished audience included the Chairman House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, Umar Bago who assured that the Legislative House will do all it can within its powers to ensure the success of Government’s vision on ease of doing business in the maritime sector; the Chairman of the NIMASA Governing Board, Maj. Gen Jonathan India Garba (Rtd.); the Chairman, Board of  the Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA), Mr. Emmanuel Olajide Adesoye; the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Ms Bala Hadiza Usman; and Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Barrister Hassan Bello.

Also in attendance were the President Nigerian Ship-owners’ Forum, Margaret Orakwusi, Ify Akerele as well as the Chairman, Truck Owners Association, Chief Aderemi Ogungbemi amongst other notable stakeholders.

The Minister charged the Stakeholders to collaborate with the government in order to actualize its policies and synergize to frustrate efforts by saboteurs who were bent on distorting government’s efforts of realizing a robust and crime free maritime domain.

“We must resist the efforts of some unscrupulous individuals trying to frustrate government’s efforts in ensuring safety and security of our maritime domain, because private interest should not and cannot supersede national interest. On our part at government, we will do all we can to ensure we secure the Nigerian waterways”, Amaechi said, and commended the efforts of the agencies under his watch for their astuteness in ensuring that the sector gets the desired attention and challenged them not to rest on their oars in ensuring that the Federal Government’s policy on ease of doing business is realized.

In the same vein, the Director General of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside who delivered a goodwill message called on the industry players to continue to support government policies. Dakuku said the industry is a multi-stakeholder domain which plays an important role in the growth of the nation, without which Government cannot fund its budget.

“In our industry, all of us are equally important and have our different roles; but it is only when we work synergistically that we can accomplish great results. For us in NIMASA, we have our eyes on the ball and the different achievements made in recent times is because of the roles of the different Stakeholders”, Dr. Peterside Dakuku stated.

He highlighted that the agency within the past few months, had made significant progress in various areas such as; sponsoring 298 cadets to do sea time training in United Kingdom and Egypt; Nigeria has moved up in ease of doing business; also it is a fact that because of the New Cabotage Compliance Strategy (NCCS), in the past six months we have had over 200 seafarers onboard different Cabotage vessel, amongst other developmental initiatives.

The 2018 Maritime Stakeholders’ interactive forum, a second in its series, is an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Transportation geared towards bringing the government to the people so that challenges and solutions would be discussed and brought to a roundtable, all in an aim of developing the maritime sector for greater efficiency and an all-inclusive participation.