There are indications that stakeholders in the maritime industry might be warming up for a show down with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) over the non-disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) which according to them has accrued into billions of dollars over the years.
There are indications that stakeholders in the maritime industry might be warming up for a show down with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) over the non-disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) which according to them has accrued into billions of dollars over the years.
This is even as a frontline maritime lawyer and former President of Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) has called on all stakeholders in the maritime sector to rally round the Nigerian Shippers’ Council so as to formulate a Maritime Action Plan.
At a joint press briefing between his firm; Olisa Agbakoba Legal (AOL) and the Shippers Association Lagos State held in Lagos yesterday, Agbakoba noted that NIMASA over the years has not been successful in the handling of the CVFF fund.
Agbakoba said that the success of NIMASA can only be judged on how many ship owners it has helped over the years to acquire ships.
He however called on the Federal Government to remove the CVFF fund from the custody of NIMASA after it must have been made to account for the money so collected.
He stressed that a maritime bank will be more appropriate to handle the CVFF, saying that government cannot handle money, therefore NIMASA should not be the warehouse of the CVFF; rather, he said that a maritime bank should be created.
"The only way government can support the sector is funding, but since the first NMA Act was created up till NIMASA, all the monies that have been allocated for the CVFF, not a dime has been released, showing that there is a problem"
"How many people can come out and say the NMA or NIMASA supported them to buy a ship? If we don't have funding, we will have a weak sector, so our role is to continue to put it on the top of the agenda and that is the essence of this briefing" he said.
He made a clarion call to maritime industry stakeholders to ask questions from NIMASA on the whereabouts of the accrued ship acquisition fund.
According to him, what needs to be done is to have an action plan for the maritime sector, including the creation of ministry of maritime affairs and the appointment of a minister which would be accountable directly to the President.
Agbakoba also stressed the need for maritime practitioners to call on the Presidential candidates of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to declare their plans for the maritime sector before they are voted into power.
"The first thing to do is for the sector to push for a very senior minister, if we do this, he will be close to the President and it will help to shape the relevant policies"
"The other thing is to have very effective maritime institution, NIMASA is currently too huge and doing many things, it is doing maritime safety and security, shipping development, Cabotage, seafarers and so on, and yet it is not doing it effectively, the only way it can be effective is to ask what they can do well, which is maritime safety and security, other jobs should be taken away from them", he argued.
Agbakoba who is also the pioneer president of the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping noted that maritime stakeholders have come together under the umbrella of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as the economic regulator to devise a plan called 'Maritime Action Plan 2015' in order to look at the ports.
He noted with concern that importers prefer to use other ports because Lagos ports are too expensive, this he said is occasioned by alleged greed of the terminal operators who are always quick to repatriate monies abroad.
"If we allow the terminal operators to continue what they are doing, they will continue to charge prices that will make our ports uncompetitive" he said.
Also speaking at the briefing, President of Shippers Association of Lagos State, Rev Jonathan Nicole urged NIMASA to ensure that urgent steps are taken to streamline and profile Nigerian shipowners and investors and should subsequently disburse the CVFF fund.
Nicole, who led top executives of the association to the event, noted that the quest for ship owners to purchase vessels had led to the establishment of the Nigerian Maritime Expo (NIMAREX) five years ago.
He said that it is time for NIMASA to be reorganized in order to meet the needs of the industry, even as he alleged that some investors had in the past collected the ship acquisition money from NIMASA and used it to purchase rickety vessels.
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