Capt Tajudeen Alao (Master Mariner)
Under one year, the DG has done very well, coming from a none-maritime background, he has committees in place and we are only waiting for the outcome of the committees. The political will to effect or put into action the recommendations of the committee is also important. There are two committees on ground, namely; committee on National carrier and Committee on Maritime Academy, this would go a long way to boost the present moribund and limping trade in the maritime industry, the maritime industry is limping. The DG should get the political will to carry out many decisions, it is better to make a mistake than for you not to try at all.
Rear Admiral Godswill Ombo (Master Mariner)
He is trying to find his feet in the maritime sector and the way forward for NIMASA. Dakuku came in and he is trying to restructure the agency for better performance. Moving forward however, what I would advise is that government should make platforms available for the agency to monitor activities on the waterways.
Bukola Lawal (Acting DG, Chamber of Shipping)
The DG has demonstrated enough, the only thing is for him to listen more to the stakeholders, actually he has been engaging them in one way or the other, but at the same time he needs to do more, especially on the disbursement of the Cabotage funds, he should be sincere with stakeholders especially the ship owners, the NIMASA needs to build a sustainable maritime industry in such a way that we would integrate most of our activities into the national plan.
Dr. Boniface Aniebonam (Founder, NAGAFF)
The DG has been doing very well, the day NIMASA visited him in the office we prayed for him and the records are there, we prayed for him that whatever has happened to his predecessors should not happen to him, therefore, he must be very careful and do the best he can do in line with the mandate given to him by Mr. President
Capt. Deji Abegunde (Shipowner)
I have not seen anything he has done; they are just talking on paper. All I know is that we are still marking time, all he does is to patronise journalists, I have not seen anything he has done, has he started practising Cabotage, during Obasanjo era, Cabotage was working well, I was in the UK but I had to come to Nigeria because Cabotage was working.
When he promised that he was going to give sea time to some cadets, I was asking that where is he going to get sea time for the cadets he sent abroad, till today, many of them are still roaming the streets. Today, Nigerians are no longer participating in oil and gas, general container vessels and LPG. We don't have trained cadets who would take over from the aged ones, they are not serious with the maritime university planned at Okerenkoko. If only Peterside achieve on piracy alone, trawlers would be able to operate freely on our waters.
Aminu Umar (Factional President, Nigerian Shipowners Association of Nigeria, NISA)
He has been engaging the stakeholders, in my opinion, he has restructured NIMASA based on what the committee on restructuring has advised for them to reposition NIMASA for a better outcome, he has also appointed an advisory council which will be guiding their decision and policy making, so far, with the way he is going it has been very good. In terms of operations, the functions of NIMASA is divided into two; the shipping development and regulatory side. The regulatory side in terms of standardisation and safety, he is performing on that. However, on the shipping development side, they are still working on modalities; one of this is Cabotage financing which they are still waiting for the ministry to give them order on how to go about it.
Mrs Margaret Orakwusi (Former President, Trawler Owners Association)
The DG has familiarised himself with operators in the industry and this is promising; you remember that the minister inaugurated a ministerial committee to restructure NIMASA of which I am a member. As a matter of fact, the DG is chairman of that committee, a lot of works have gone in, and fortunately, the minister approved report of the committee and directed implementation. I would encourage Peterside to implement the recommendation because this would professionalize NIMASA. So far, he is doing the right thing, but you know it would take time for result to be seen and appreciated. On the other hand is the Cabotage fund, there must be disbursement of that money, there should be something that the DG has to do differently than what has been done in the past, this would enable more activities in the industry and empower more indigenous operators.
Joseph Anabaraonye (Stakeholder)
I don’t really see any serious achievement so far, the Director General is only trying to maintain peace. In terms of revenue, we will not blame him because the economic situation is affecting everything. In terms of structure, nothing much has been done.
Rev Jonathan Nicole( SALS)
You know he is someone who is not exposed to maritime activities. So I would say that so far he has tried. He is learning so we will not expect him to do more than he is doing now. He is surrounded by people whose target is to make money. So he is trying, and he is always on the air communicating to people.
Chief Osita Chukwu
He has done well, the recession in the country has made it uneasy for you to judge if a parastatal has done well or not. But for now, I think he has done well.
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