A former Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Mr Temisan Omatseye, has raised alarm over the huge revenue loss of about US$300Million which he said Nigeria incurs as vessels berth outside of the nation’s shores.
He said on Monday on the occasion of ‘A Day with Nigeria Maritime Students 2018’ under the theme, ‘The Youth and the Maritime Industry of our Dream’ organised by Platforms Communications, said that the ships berth five degrees east of Nigerian waters, even as he lamented that the offshore berthing and the attendant loss is traceable to cargo diversion to neighbouring ports due to the classification of Nigerian waters as a high risk zone and the attendant high insurance premium.
He lamented that, in addition to the offshore berthing, foreign ship owners have taken over all maritime businesses in Nigeria, while ship owners ”are left with nothing”.
“As I speak to you, do you know right now that we have 2.1 billion litres of petroleum products offshore Lagos, they cannot discharge it, not because they don’t want to discharge it, but because they don’t have the capability and capacity to connect that vessel”
“We have so many years sold our birth rights to foreigners and when we now realised that market was not good, they packed their bags and ran away and they left us dry.
“So, right now, we are importing petroleum products but we are unable to discharge them because we failed to see beyond our noses the need for it to build a very strong maritime industry”, he stated.
Omatseye argued that Nigerian ship owners should be allowed to take charge of their goods as soon as they arrive at the country because this is what is applicable all over the world.
“The owner of the cargo is supposed to dictate how the industry runs, but unfortunately, here in Nigeria, we that own the cargo have allowed ourselves to only be a tenant instead of being the landlord, it has to change”, he stressed.
He disclosed that the NNPC has been urged to do something to correct the imbalance.
“We are telling them (NNPC), don’t take the cargo offshore, leave the foreigners to bring the cargo to our shore, so that when it gets to our shore, we take charge .You cannot bring it to our shore and begin to redistribute it again. That is grossly unfair. At least with that we can begin to build an industry”.
“All the foreign ship owners will not allow Nigerians to get near vessels as soon as they arrive the country, in spite of being the landlord of the ports. “We want the government to assist Nigerian ship owners to be in charge because by so doing, they will create more employment for teeming youth.
“Nigeria will soon be competing with its foreign counterparts with the recent equipment government has provided for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which is presently having multiplier effect on its operations,’’ Mr Omatseye said.
He however commended NIMASA for the establishment of the National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP), which had assisted in the training of some Nigerian youths.
Mr Omatseye, however, advised youths who were yet to obtain acquire sea time training not to relent, adding that Nigeria needs their services because most of the seafarers were ageing and there was the need for replacement.
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