Ship Owners Set Agenda For New NIMASA Leadership ,Harp On Strategic Collaboration

Even as President Muhammadu Buhari has been quiet on the appointment of a new Director General for the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA),ship owners association under the aegis of Nigeria Indigenous Ship Owners Association (NISA), has commenced setting agenda for whosoever that might be engaged by the federal government to head the agency.

Multiple media platforms last week reported about the sacking of the embattled Director General of NIMASA ,Dakuku Peterside and allegedly replaced by Dr. Bashir Jamoh .

With the administation of Dr. Dakuku Peterside as Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administation and Safety Agency (NIMASA) coming to an end on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, NISA urged the incoming leadership to prioritize industry stakeholders interest.

Speaking with journalists in Lagos against the backdrop of the controversies rocking the ousting of the Rivers State politician,Lagos Coordinator,Nigerian Ship Owners Association (NISA), Captain Franklin Akinpelumi Taiwo noted that irrespective of tribe, culture and technical know how, there was need for the federal government to replace Dakuku Peterside and engage a maritime player.

Akinpelumi made his appeal at the weekend, even as he described the Dakuku-led NIMASA as a glamourous administration which failed to tackle top industry issues.

Akinpelumi, who is also the Chief Executive Officer, Oceanic Energy Limited, expressed optimism that with stakeholders’ interest as top priority, the new NIMASA could usher in development of the industry.

“The new administration must address the non-disbursement of CVFF and the proposed Maritime Fund that nobody is talking about. They must recognize associations who seek to address the industry issues and not only relate with individuals who chase personal gains.”

“Look at the situation of seafarers and ship-owners before Dakuku came in and the current situation today. Have we fared better? No. We offered ourselves as technocrats to show the path to follow in order to develop indigenous shipping but he chose not to take us serious. He was there for four years and the situation went from bad to worse until two months ago when he started scratching the surface of key issues he should have focused on earlier.”

“If he actually had genuine intentions he would have faced the issues headlong from the outset. He only picked interest in these issues because he realized it would make people take him serious for a second tenure but he failed”, Akinpelumi said.

Although Dakuku didn’t initiate the N50billion floating dock contract, Akinpelumi stressed that he had two years to plan for the arrival of the facility, blaming the NIMASA boss for allowing the investment rot away at the Naval Dockyard yet incurring $30,000 daily for over a year.

Similarly a member of NISA,Otunba Sola Olatunji called on the incoming NIMASA DG to tackle issues of sea time for cadets and to also ensure that pirate attacks are nipped in the bud .

Olatunji lamented that stakeholders were not carried along in the administration of Dakuku Peterside, urging the new leadership to look inward to carry all relevant players along.

By Roland Ekama