A maritime industry non-government organisation; the Maritime Industry Advocacy Initiative (MAIN) has slammed two Niger Delta groups over the multi-million Dollar floating dock belonging to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
In a press statement issued last weekend and signed by its executive director; Mr Sesan Onileimo, the group said that the recent request made by the duo of Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and the United Niger Delta Energy Development Security Strategy (UNDEDSS) for the relocation of the multi-million dollar floating dock owned by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to Niger Delta, is to say the least, typical and also laughable.
According to MAIN, the two Pan-Niger Delta groups’ claim that the modular dry dock was specifically designed for the region.
It also added that, while the duo of PANDEF) and UNDEDSS are entitled to the opinions that they postulated, it is misleading and self-serving to ascribe the ownership of national assets and institutions to a region or a tribe.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Maritime University in Okerenkoko is not a Niger Delta asset, neither is the NIMASA floating dry dock. They are national assets”.
The MAIN said: “As a maritime industry non-government organisation, whose main interest is the Nigerian maritime industry, it wishes to remind the two Niger Delta interest groups that, the Nigeria maritime industry is not rooted or domiciled exclusively in the Delta region. It is self-delusionary to think and propagate such”.
“Have they forgotten that, the NIMASA floating dry dock was acquired with the resources of Nigeria? Yes, it is true that it was conceived during the headship of an Ijaw man from Niger Delta; in the person of Mr Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi, and the magnificent facility arrived in Nigeria during the tenure of his successor; also a Niger Delta so; Dr Dakuku Adolphus Peterside”, it added.
Part of the statement reads: “It is rather sad that the two Niger Delta groups are already linking the existence of the Nigerian Maritime University in Delta state to the anticipated relocation of the NIMASA modular dry dock to Okerenkoko; the site of the University”
“We think that, rather than push for the ‘domestication’ of both the Nigerian Maritime University and the NIMASA dry dock to Niger Delta, both PANDEF and UNDEDSS, should work for and encourage the viability of the two Nigerian assets within the larger context of a viable Nigerian maritime industry”.
According to the maritime industry NGO, Nigeria loses as much as US$100 million annually because ship owners who would ordinarily dry dock their vessels in-country, take them to neighbouring countries where such facilities are available.
It added that, “the NIMASA facility was conceived as a money-yielding asset. It was expected that, once the dry dock is commissioned, Nigerian ship owners and their foreign counterparts would no longer need to take their vessels outside the country for dry docking”.
It argued further that, while it is true that, one of the value adding components of the NIMASA dry dock is that it would be available as a training facility for the students of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko and other maritime institutions in the country, it a blatant misinformation that it is to be domiciled in the Niger Delta.
“Both PANDEF and UNDEDSS and their spokesperson is hereby reminded that, the NIMASA dry dock was never contemplated as a training facility for the exclusive use of students of Nigerian Maritime University”, it argued further.
According to MAIN, NIMASA has always been concerned about the twin issues of location and economic viability of the dry dock, even as it said that there is more to the location of national assets than political self-wish.
“It is a fact that, Okerenkoko does not meet the criteria of security. It also has very low economic value for a dry dock. We doubt if any ship owner will gladly bring his ship to that location for dry docking”
“Above all, at the last check, the draft at Okerenkoko or anywhere near it, is far too shallow for a 13-metre draft facility such as the NIMASA dry dock”, the maritime group declared.
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