So soon, Mr Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi has done one year as the Minister of Transportation of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Prior to his appointment, Amaechi had been Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly for eight years. It was from there that he became the Governor for eight years, as well.
Not many expected that he would be made Minister in charge of Transportation, but when President Muhammadu Buhari made the announcement, stakeholders in the Nigerian transport sector, especially the maritime industry were apprehensive.
No doubt, the Ministry that Mr Amaechi superintends is big. The Federal Ministry of Transportation as presently constituted has at least 13 departments and agencies under it. They are :: Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology, Nigerian Railway Corporation, National Inland Waterways Authority, Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Nigerian Metrological Agency, Accident Investigation Bureau, NIMASA, NPA, Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria, FAAN, NCAA, Nigerian College of Aviation Technology and Nigeria Airspace Management Agency.
Being not the first time that ministries will be rationalised, it is therefore not strange that the present Ministry of Transportation is indeed large; incorporating both the erstwhile Ministry of Transport and that of Aviation.
Good enough, Amaechi has a Minister of State (for Aviation); Mr Hadi Sirika, who is an aviation expert.
As a maritime media outfit, we are worried about the mirage of problems that the Minister inherited; especially in the maritime sector. There are challenges at each of the agencies, there is hardly any segment of the nation’s maritime sector that does not have of one issue or another. At the NPA, the major issue is the non-passage of the Port and Harbour Bill, which ought to have predated the port concession of 2006. There is also the issue of having a functional Port Master Plan, the state of superstructures in the port, the controversial dredging of Calabar channel, and the Escravos approaches in Delta port.
At the NIMASA, the issues are: the relationship between NIMASA and the Maritime Academy of Nigeria. Of course, the unending cry of marginalisation of indigenous ship owners vis a vis the implementation of Cabotage Act.
At the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, there is the nagging issue of legal backing for the Council’s activities as the Economic Regulator. The Council is also facing the challenge to its authority by the terminal operators.
This challenge has been there even before the Council became the port’s economic regulator. For us as a maritime media organisation, we know that an efficient port system is as essential as an efficient rail system and an efficient road network.
The Nigerian Railway Corporation has not been as complimentary as it should be in the delivery of cargoes to consignees, a development that has led to over reliance on the road as a means of conveying goods out of the ports. It is heart-warming that he has openly declared that he will complete all on-going rail projects and also extend rail lines to all parts of the country. There is no doubt that the nation’s inland waterways system is insecure and ineffective.
From Lokoja to Calabar, Baro, Bonny to Lagos, it is the same lamentation of insecurity and use of rickety boats, unsafe and shallow channels as well as non-adherence to safety standards.
Lastly, another problematic issue that he inherited was the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN). The CRFFN has been in comatose for many years. The Council which started well has been budged down by intrigues among its registered members.
When he mounted the saddle as the Minister of Transpiration, he initially demonstrated determination to succeed. He seized every available opportunity to indicate how he intends to run the ministry and the associated responsibilities. He told ship owners to unite under one umbrella. And for frustrating the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), he threatened to whip recalcitrant freight forwarding associations into line.
But, beyond the stone-face approach to superintending the Ministry, how well has Amaechi done well. Some may not agree with him in some of the steps that he has taken so far, but he is the Minister in charge.
Some people have pointed at the attempt to re-fleet the nation’s flags as one of those ill-informed moves. They say, that is why the project is slow to take-off, even though the Singaporeans are ready with their counterpart funds. The nation’s economy can not accommodate what it will take for Nigerian ship owners to provide their own counterpart funding of the national shipping fleet project.
Apart from that, there is confusion about what the minister is working on and what majority of industry stakeholders think he is doing. While Amaechi is pursuing a tonnage re-fleeting agenda, the industry thinks in the direction of a national fleet. The confusion is borne out of the minister initial direction of wanting to use proceeds of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) for a national carrier. He probably didn’t understand at the beginning that there is a big deal of difference between a national carrier and a national fleet.
For him to be remembered as having come, seen and conquered, Mr Amaechi must drop the toga of being a former Governor who brought many enemies to himself on account of his political leaning. His clearance at the Senate and the fact that all Senators from the opposition PDP walked out in protest against his confirmation is enough reasons for him to know that his tenure as Minister of Transportation may be controversial. And it is indeed being controversial!
We think that the Minister is taking on too many things at the same time, perhaps borne out of his desperation to succeed.
We think that if in one year, he had chosen to solve the problem facing the CRFFN, he would have fixed it. If also he had preferred to face the Maritime Academy of Nigeria in Oron, Akwa Ibom state, the institution wouldn’t still be faced with issues of a substantive Rector.
If the minister had decided that he was going to strengthen the Nigerian Shippers Council to perform its responsibilities more firmly, he would have engaged the National Assembly and he would have fixed it.
It is sad that in one year, Mr Amaechi can not point at single industry-based project, or policy or action that he initiated and which has kicked-off.
Majority of Nigerians called for the appointment of round pegs in round holes; that is giving ministerial nominees portfolios that are relevant to their professional background.
The Transport Ministry is a knowledge-based ministry that would have required someone with requisite training in transport or related field.
Yes, Mr Amaechi does not possess the cognate experience. But, he doesn’t need a cognate experience to succeed as a minister. Yes, he would learn, yes he would need technocrats, but above all, he must have his own blueprint and have a workable scale of preference.
Mr Amaechi does not know how much time he has as the Minister of Transportation; he has however had enough briefings from his subordinates in the Ministry and the agencies to know what his priorities should be.
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