Years after its fictionalization, the Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA) has accused the federal government and its agencies of being responsible for the break-up in its fold, saying that it is a ploy to make sure that ship owners do not speak in one voice.
President of ISAN, Capt Niyi Labinjo told Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week that the break-up in the association was beneficial to the government who was not ready to implement the Cabotage Act.
Labinjo stressed the need for all ship owners and industry stakeholders to unite and fight a common goal and ensure that Cabotage Law is enforced.
He also charged Nigerian seafarers to partner with shipowners and speak with one voice to fight foreign domination on Nigerian waters.
He blamed the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for the failure of Cabotage law, even as he lamented that presently, foreign vessels have dominated the petroleum and tanker businesses, saying that this is a major violation of Cabotage Act as the law only provides for specialized vessels in the absence of Nigerian vessels of same class.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that in the first NISA elections which held in 2014, Labinjo, a retired naval officer emerged as the elected President of the association.
A backlash of the election, however saw aggrieved members forming a parallel association called; Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) in 2015 headed by Engr Greg Ogbeifun, and subsequently, the creation of Shipowners Forum in 2016 headed by Mrs Margaret Orakwusi.
Speaking with our correspondent, Capt Labinjo said: "For so long, I was holding the soul of the Nigerian Shipowners Association together, but they decided to break up, it is the government that broke us up"
"When you have people speaking with discordant voices, they would not have a single voice and there would be problem, the government would not take you serious because they know that there would always be saboteurs, but imagine if there is unity"
"Cabotage law can only be implemented if we are all united, the shipowners, seafarers, maritime reporters, we are all in the same boat".
The shipowner recounted how he had accosted former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo on why the maritime sector was so neglected by the government, he said that Obasanjo had told him point blank that implementation of laws and policies is the bane of the sector.
"I accosted chief Obasanjo and he said 'we have given you the Cabotage Act, what else do you want? I told him that it is not being enforced", he recalled.
"Cabotage is about cargo, if we have no cargo, Cabotage is gone. What aspect of Cabotage has NIMASA implemented? If you go to the ports, you would see that all the vessels are foreign, are you saying there are no Nigerian ships that can carry petroleum products? The provision in the law is for specialized vessels in the absence of Nigerian ones, you don't need a specialized vessel to carry petroleum products".
"In 2008 when Mrs Demuren was in charge of foreign exchange at the Central Bank, she said ships cannot be in Nigeria and be collecting forex, so if a ship has gone to bring petroleum products and he wants forex, he should leave Nigeria. This caused a lot of ships to divert to Cotonou and Lome waiting to deliver in Nigeria, because they want forex, they now ask Nigerian buyers to pay dollars to their Swiss accounts before they can do anything"
"What they are doing in Lome and Cotonou is petroleum smuggling and this is bad for our economy, there is no refinery in Lome and Cotonou, so why are they selling petroleum products there, how can you say that you have a bill of laden from Lome? It is wrong" he said.
"All you need to do is block that aspect of the law and insist that on petroleum tankers, we don't want foreigners, and you would see the change, you would get four hundred ships immediately"
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