• NASS Vows To Kill Bill
Following our last week’s lead story about the arrival at the National Assembly of the controversial new maritime security agency bill and the mounting opposition of stakeholders to the bill, the Presidency has begun moves to pre-empt any likely opposition to the bill which seeks to create a near-parallel agency to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Sources close to both the presidency, ministry of transportation as well as the two chambers of the National Assembly told our correspondent that the presidency has already penetrated the ranks of the lawmakers and convinced some of them to buy into its idea assuring that the new agency will not erode the powers and relevance of NIMASA.
But, majority of the lawmakers (especially, members of the committees on marine transport) are said to be uncomfortable with the move to create an agency that will perform coast guard, search and rescue as well as Safety Of Lives At Sea (SOLAS)-related functions, especially since a private member bill on the establishment of a Coast Guard is already before the Senate.
Shipping Position Weekly can reveal authoritatively that the presidency has begun subtle moves to identify stakeholders who are opposed to its Maritime Security Agency.
For instance, the executive director of a non-governmental organisation(NGO); Maritime Industry Advocacy Initiative (MAIN) has received suspicious telephone calls from identifiable individuals with strong links to both the moribund Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Safety and Security (PICOMSS), the presidency and the National Assembly.
The NGO has (in the last few weeks) been very critical about the new bill. The organisation had at a recent media interaction in Lagos condemned the move and called the attention of stakeholders to the dangers that are inherent in the passage of the bill; top among which is that it will snatch some core functions of NIMASA and also impose additional levies on in-coming ships into Nigeria.
Sources at the National Assembly also informed to our correspondent last week that some lobbyists from the executive arm have been canvassing that the lawmakers should drop the Coast Guard bill which was sponsored by the chairman, Senate committee on marine transport, Senator Gbemi Saraki.
Chairman, House of Representatives committee on marine transport, Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi refused to comment when Shipping Position Weekly called him up. He confirmed that the bill is already in the legislature but pleaded not to offer any comment.
But, a member of his committee vowed that “rather than kill the Coast Guard bill, it is the new bill that will have to be jettisoned, we are aware of the panic at NIMASA over the new bill, I must admit that the executive is not being fair to us. There is an agency that is already performing the statutory functions of a safety administration agency, we noticed that it is not doing well in the area of protection of lives of seafarers and vessels on our waters, so one of us brought up the idea of establishing a Coast Guard, and all of a sudden, the presidency is dropping another idea on us”, the lawmaker who pleaded anonymity told Shipping Position Weekly.
According to him, it is unlikely that the new agency that they are proposing will scale through. “Honestly, we do not need another agency all in the name of post-amnesty, we either warehouse all the responsibilities under an existing agency; in this case, NIMASA , or we go ahead and create a Coast Guard in line with what obtains in more advanced maritime nation’s with similar challenges”, he stressed.
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