Barely 72 hours after he advised the Ministry of Transportation not to establish a national carrier with government funds, seafarers under the aegis of Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association have condemned former President Olusegun Obasanjo for making such a statement.
The senior staff union of seafarers said that the erstwhile president has no knowledge of how shipping business can thrive in a country like Nigeria, saying that government’s participation in establishing a national carrier is germane to the growth of the shipping sector.
Responding to the advice that was credited to the ex- President at a forum in Lagos on Monday, in which he advised the minister of transport; Mr Rotimi Amaechi against the establishment of government funded shipping line, Secretary General of the union; Comrade Julius Efokpor noted that there was no agencies of government to monitor the activities of the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL).
Efokpor told our correspondent in Lagos that there is need for government to have a stake in the process of establishing a national carrier, even as he agreed that Public and Private Partnership (PPP) is the best option to establish a national shipping line for the country.
According to him, NNSL was purely a government-driven initiative and the nature of the ships acquired during the regime of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as head of states were out of class and over taken by newer technology.
He added that shipping business is private sector-driven, but maintained that government participation is important.
"Our position is that the government should re-establish a national shipping line particularly to give our teeming cadets that are coming out from the respective institution sea time "
Condemning Obasanjo's advise to the Ministry of Transportation, the Trade Union Congress (TUC)-affiliate body said that, "shipping business is capital intensive and I think government needs to be involved in establishing a national carrier"
"Advising government not to buy vessels is borne out of the fact the ships he (Obasanjo) bought did not succeed, but we are saying that government participation in establishing a shipping line with private sector partnership will succeed. "
"The Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) is one fund that can assist government to partner with private sector in the plan to fund another shipping line and anyone who says that the fund has been misused must give account on how it was spent"
"The establishment of a national carrier will bring about mass employment for Nigerians; mostly those in the Niger Delta which at the end will address youth unrest in that region".
He urged government to put in place policies that will enable that enable the private sector to administer the affairs of a shipping line, while the government will monitor its operations.
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