Comrade Umar Omeiza Jimoh is President of the NPA Senior Staff Association of Communication, Transportation and Corporation (SSACTAC) In this interview with Shipping Position Daily correspondent, Dapo Olawuni, he opened up on plans by NIPCO to take over the NPA dockyard, the auto policy of the Federal Government as well as the various maritime laws pending at the National Assembly.
What is the permanent solution to Apapa traffic?
Comrade Umar Omeiza Jimoh is President of the NPA Senior Staff Association of Communication, Transportation and Corporation (SSACTAC) In this interview with Shipping Position Daily correspondent, Dapo Olawuni, he opened up on plans by NIPCO to take over the NPA dockyard, the auto policy of the Federal Government as well as the various maritime laws pending at the National Assembly.
What is the permanent solution to Apapa traffic?
When the erection of tank farms started in Apapa, we shouted about it that it is not in the interest of port operations around the port, we wrote a strong line to management, but they did not listen to us, the first incident was in Tin Can, three times we witnessed it there, we also brought a letter to show them that we had written it since 2002 telling them that it is wrong, maybe they want this to happen again before they realize that it is wrong. On our own part, we know that the traffic is going to affect the turn-around time of vessels, it will slow business and it will cause havoc, we thank God that it has been managed to this level and if the port is connected by rail we would not be facing this situation. In any serious country, with the closeness of residential areas to the port; with the volume of cargoes we have and the usage of the waterways by the navy, the naval police and the citizens, it is absolutely not correct that we allow tank farms to be set up around the port in multiples, they are not going to give us any economic benefit, rather it is meant to provide easy succor for the individual that has it, the tank farms are not meant to feed Lagos alone, they are used to load product to other far states. The issue at NIPCO is coming back again, they want to take our dockyard, but they cannot, it is meant for us for implant training, even if the authority is not looking at it now, people that are coming in the future will look at it and make best use of it for that purpose. NIPCO is asking for the facility to further expand their tank farms, but no sound helmsman in maritime operations will allow that to happen. We don't have a dockyard to train and retrain staff, we don't have where pilots can receive training and refresher courses, it seems the big guys are interested in the land. But if anything happens in the maritime sector today, the management of various institutions including the NIMASA, Shippers Council, NPA, Customs will be questioned, so on behalf of NPA workers we are saying out own now before anything happens. The dockyard is not dead, but you want to call a dog he is mad just to hang him, we need the place because NPA has no training school today for pilots and in-house mariners, those who can say they are gurus in the maritime industry today grew through in-house plant, there is no Nigerian university where you will go and learn that, we have gone through the process, you have to learn it on the job.
Considering the bad roads, what happens to the 7% surcharge being collected by NPA?
Let us get it clear, the Ministry of Works is in charge of road construction and these roads are federal roads, government is not telling you that they cannot do it, the core responsibility of NPA is port management, and the 7% you are talking about is to develop port infrastructure which they have been doing, if you go to Apapa port from the harbors to the main gate, it has been developed and this are part of the things. The money in question is paid to the ministry of finance and not to NPA directly, if they have any job to do they get approval from Federal Executive Council and pay the contractors, the capital and maintenance dredging NPA is doing costs so much money, most of our ports are not seaports, they are river ports, siltation takes place everyday, dumping of waste is taking place, if you clear a piece of iron from the waters today, come there tomorrow you will see another one, anything about marine is usually costly, laying of buoys for navigation is important, NPA has not been resting on this and that is why we don't have accidents, we are going to maintain this to ensure that the channel is always free, we have never recorded accidents except where some pilots believe they can do it their own way.
Removal of wrecks is not NPA's job, dredging is not the same as removal of wrecks, it is the duty of NIMASA to remove wrecks, if government says that Shippers Council, NPA and NIMASA should join hands together and do it, off course NPA will be willing to do it, as of today, I believe the channels are navigable.
Last year, you protested about welfare packages for your members, is everything now settled with NPA management?
I will say that we are still following them, we cannot say all is well, but at least something tangible and serious is in the pipeline and we believe that NPA will live up to expectations, the MD and the entire management is committed to seeing that justice is done and I believe that it will come to real.
How is the relationship between this union and the NPA management?
The entire management is a continuum, they are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, they respond to their master which is the government and no management is benevolent, we are pressure groups, so we have to pressurize and ensure that things are done.
But how will you rate the performance of the present MD so far?
I cannot rate him because he has not finished, if somebody is in school and is expected to write WAEC after five years, but he is still in JSS3 and you want to rate him, we don't keep quiet if we see anything as stakeholders, the responsibility is for all of us and not the MD alone to ensure that maritime is shaped right and is doing fine, this is what cumulates into assessment at the end of the day, so we cannot access somebody midway.
What is your take on the appointment of Shippers’ Council as commercial regulator of the ports?
The NPA and the entire stakeholders are in support of Shippers’ Council to succeed, when we succeed together we will reap the fruit together, there should be synergy to support the decision of government and this is what we have been doing, it is left for government to take appropriate decision in the interest of the country at any point in time, if we expect something to be done and it is not done, we inform the organization saddled with that responsibility, but where they are not forthcoming, then we take it to government, there is need for synergy if we must become the hub in West African region in the next few years.
Considering the Maritime Bills that are yet to be passed into law, do you thing the present crop of lawmakers are sincere to the maritime sector?
I will not say Yes or No, because I have not been to the House where these Bills are being debated and they have not called us either, but we have been keenly following and we believe that at the appropriate time, if the laws are relevant and good for the success of the maritime sector, they will be passed or amended.
We have seen the existing laws that formed the NPA, the Port Act, there is no departure from it, but just to streamline what is there, from the present bill that is expecting approval, there is no too much gap between the Port Act of 1995 as amended and the new one before the House.
The arrival of WAFMAX vessels at Lagos and Onne ports recently, is it something worth celebrating?
Yes, the contract dredging that we have been carrying out allowed the vessels to come in and this shows that we are moving as expected, another thing is that it is your right to import your cargo to any port you want in Nigeria, if the consignment is meant for Warri there is no need for it to come to Lagos because it will add more cost to the owner, the roads are not good and you will want to truck the consignment Onitsha or Benin when Warri is closer, by taking it to the right port, the goods will come cheaper to the citizens, where you have to truck it from Lagos, it will lead to additional cost and there is risk involved, so for us, the coming of WAFMAX ships is a good development.
What is your position on the new auto policy of government and the increase in vehicle tariff?
Government sometimes have good intentions, but their advisers give them wrong advise, you cannot just increase duty on imported cars when there is no assembly plants, what we are saying indirectly is that vehicular cargoes should be coming into Nigeria, but not to neighboring countries, at the end of the day, these vehicles still find their way here and government would have lost a lot of revenue and creating more money into individual pockets. We are advising and pleading with government to please revert the policy. In the long term, let the nation choose the car they want, either it is Toyota or Innoson, the companies should be allowed to come and start producing before the increase in tariff. Our stand is that the auto policy is good, but we are not yet matured for it.
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