When he first announced his intention to step up from the exciting, but also challenging world of freight forwarding politics to the mucky waters of national politics, not many stakeholders in the maritime industry believed that he was serious. But, it is now public knowledge that the national president of association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu is the candidate of relatively known; African Liberation Party (ALP). As part of our corporate support for his ambition, we reproduce this interview which first appeared in Thisday Newspaper of Friday March 11, 2011.
“It Is The Output Of The Quality Of People Who We Vote Into The National Assembly That Will Determine Our Level Of Development”
“It Is Time To Put One Of Our Own In The National Assembly; We Shall Not Allow Anything To Make Us Lose This Golden Opportunity”…Prince Olayiwola Shittu (ANLCA National President)
Why do you want to be at the National Assembly?
My desire to contest the April 2011 general elections so that I can be in National Assembly is a response to the clarion call for professionals to be involved in the politics of our great country. Basically, I am looking at things that we need to have to catch- up with the developed world, particularly in the things that will take us to the promise land in the maritime sector of the country.
Besides, my people have been complaining that we do not have professionals in change. The minister of transport Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman is succeeding so far because he had a benefit of working in the defunct National Maritime Authority (NMA) now Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
In fact, this is the first time that we have a minister of transport that we can call reference point. Since I met this man, I have given him encouragement to try harder to help the people. The leadership of House of Representatives selects members into various committees. This is how the house committee on maritime transport comes into being. And what do they do thereafter? They go from port to port, parastatal to parastatal and other government agencies on inspection tours in the name of oversight functions.
There is little or nothing you gather from such visits because the maritime sector is very complex. It takes somebody who knows the sector inside- out to make quality inputs. That is the only way we can avoid being led the nose by the bureaucrats.
Do you have experience in legislative procedures?
The best way to know whether something is sweet or not, is to taste it. I am calling on the electorate in my constituency; Amuwo-Odofin to give me their support by voting me into the House of Representatives and see whether I will not be able to give them quality representation. It is the output of the quality of people who we vote into the National Assembly that will determine our level of development. This is because they make the laws that govern our land. You cannot plant okro and expect to harvest mango. No, it is not possible.
We need to sensitize the people and carry them along. It is only then that we will be able to see the difference. Besides, if you do not try someone, you would not be able to know if the person is okay. After all, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola today would not have recorded success if he was not given a chance. Remember, he was not the deputy governor or even a commissioner at that time.
He was chief of staff to Governor Ahmed Bola Tinubu when he was given the ticket of the then Action Congress (AC) now Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Now everybody is hailing Fashola that he is doing so well. Therefore, I am of the view that there are many Fasholas in every part of the country; if only they can be given a chance to prove themselves.
In view of your ambition, what happens to your position as National President of ANLCA?
The member of ANLCA; especially the leadership at the national level, would decide my fate when I get there. This is because they are the ones that gave me the mandate in the first place.
What is your motivation for this contest?
I am not motivated by personal interest, I am motivated by collective interests and I am not looking for something to benefit me as person. I am looking for what will benefit the maritime sector of the economy. For long, we have been hearing about the huge potentials in the maritime sector of the economy. It is time to maximize these potentials for the benefit of Nigerians. I believe I have what it takes to galvanize others in the National Assembly to reverse our dwindling fortunes in the maritime sector of the economy.
I crave the indulgence of the maritime sector stakeholders to look inward. I make bold to say that in Prince Olayiwola Shittu, they have an advantage of having one of their own in the National Assembly. They have someone who can speak for them. In me, their confidence in the right thing to be done on the floor of the House is not only assured, but also guaranteed. I would not just be there just because I am Prince Olayiwola Shittu. I will be there because I am going with a mandate of the stakeholders in the maritime sector.
Why do you choose to contest on the platform of ALP instead of the popular political parties in Lagos?
My choice of party is African Liberation Party (ALP). I am aware Lagos is been ruled by ACN. I also know that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is also in Lagos. However, I believe that Lagos is also peculiar place. People do not just vote because of your platform. They are very enlightened. They vote for merit. They vote for individuals they believe in.
This is what set Lagos apart from other places in the country. They strongly believe that people should be allowed to be elected based on their personal merit and not on the platform of the party where they are contesting. This is because when you use a party as a reference point, it is like a man casting net in the water. By the time the net comes out, both the wanted and the unwanted will come up with it and that is why most of the party use godfathers to determine whose person must be here or there.
The All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) is also an attractive party. However, I will not and would not want to be counted among those who did not allow democracy to rise. I believe that leadership should be by example. I do not want to be associated with anybody playing god. That is why I went to ALP. It’s a party where they are not playing god, where people who have genuine aspirations are assisted to come up.
We are waiting for Independent Electoral Commission (INEC). As soon as we get the nod, we shall kick-off our campaign. I am appealing to all my brothers and sisters in the media and all maritime industry stakeholders that this is our time. It is time to put one of our own in the National Assembly; we shall not allow anything to make us lose this golden opportunity.
The maritime sector of the economy is so important. Maritime is the gateway to Nigeria’s economy. From available statistics, it is the second largest revenue earner into the federation account after oil and gas. That is why I am of the option that merit needs a voice of the National Assembly.
If we are not represented where decisions are made; which we have seen in the past 12 years, then automatically it means that we have not got it right. I hope we would be able to get it right this time.
How far have you gone in sensitizing the people, especially stakeholders, on some of these issues that you have raised?
That is part of what we are doing now, we are talking to people. By the time they read it or hear from me directly, we shall drive home our message. Besides, we have marked out strategic plans. We have been meeting with all leadership of the stakeholders in the maritime industry. We shall continue to meet, talk with them, and strategize on the way forward.
The important thing is what advantages the maritime industry stands to gain on account of my emergence. I am not talking about the fact that the party is not known at all. After all it is registered by INEC. People are looking for alternative platforms.
Against the backdrop of the fact that the maritime sector is very complex and fragile, how will you articulate these complexities on the floor of the House if you are elected?
I can tell you honestly, apart from the formal National President of ANLCA, Alhaji Sani Kamba who was elected into the National Assembly in the first dispensation, I have not seen anybody talking serious maritime issues on the floor of the National Assembly. Mr. President has just appointed a senior special adviser on maritime; that is another step that we are taking the right step.
However, we need sound laws and resolutions to back-up some of the policies in the maritime sector of the economy. When you are in the National Assembly, you are representing people. You need people who understand the maritime sector in the National Assembly to interact with the special adviser on Maritime to draw the attention of Mr. President to intervene on issues that require instant response.
For long, the resolution of issues in the maritime sector has been based on trial and error. Everybody is applying his or her own policy in doing one thing or the other. We cannot develop and be taken seriously in the comity of the maritime nations if we continue that way. It is now that the Ministry Of Transport doing what is supposed to be done by articulating the issues that affect the transport industry.
You must have read, sometimes ago where someone was asking what are the achievement Ministry of Transport? I do not need to tell you because you are guru in the maritime sector. But I am of the opinion that certain issues that crop up spontaneously can be taken up with the executives, interpreted to the Minister, the Comptroller General of Customs and other key stakeholders for immediate action.
By so doing, we can use what we have to get what we want. For instance, the Comptroller General of Customs has gone out to say that only Assistant Comptrollers (ACs) and Deputy Comptrollers (DCs) should be involved in the release of goods in the ports. However the Customs High Command is yet to effect mass transfer of these categories of officers into the ports. It is only when you have enough of these officers on the ground that release of cargoes can be easy. If we have 600 containers that will need to leave the port in a day. How can one or two AC or DC handle that? It can be difficult because they also need to go and do physical examination. Laudable as that project is, there should have been a transition period. But he also said rightly that transaction period is a period when people take advantage, so those that have been released so far should be allowed to go. However, we have made presentation to the Comptroller General of Customs. I must tell you that he acted immediately by ordering that those that have been released before the order should be allowed to go. Men and the officers of the Federal Operation Unit (FOU), Zone ‘A’, Ikeja, Lagos have been mandated that containers that are going out should be monitored to make sure that people do not take advantage of it to sneak in other things. We also know that the port is full of very smart people. Any small opportunity; they use it to “fly” containers. Do you know why people “fly” containers? It is because the level of hunger in the land is so much, but if the right policies are put in place and strictly implemented, there would be sanity in the system.
This is one of the reasons why the maritime sector needs a strong voice in the National Assembly. We need a strong voice that can serve as the rallying point of tackling the basic problems that are plaguing the sector through necessary amendments in the laws driving the maritime sector, especially now that one of the key movers; Mrs. Chinwe Ezenwa, has retired from service?
Mrs. Ezenwa deserves rest, she has worked hard. This is one woman in a million. I will equally miss her because she will no longer be a civil servant that will use the office of government to push things. However, I can assure that she is still young at heart. She will be needed to work as consultant. Instead of the federal government or the private sector looking elsewhere for expatriates, they should go for Mrs. Ezenwa. I hope the maritime industry will look at the advantage of engaging her. That is my own personal opinion, anyway. However, I must state that are many Mrs. Ezenwas in Nigeria today. All they need is the opportunity to prove themselves. We did an analysis on the Federal Ministries and we discovered that the turnover in the Ministry of Transport is the highest. It does not augur well for a ministry that will articulate policies for this industry in 10-20 years.
Many of the personal spent only two or three years before they are redeployed or removed. There is no policy consistency or continuity. Mrs. Ezenwa happens to be one of the oldest in that ministry but now she is gone. This means that the caliber of decision makers in the ministry are limited to people who do not have more than three years experience in that sector.
You need a strong voice in the National Assembly to make requisition and make government to know that the maritime sector is a very critical aspect of the economy that cannot be tolled with. There are issues that have never been raised on the floor of the National Assembly. Answering your questions directly, I must say that committee are set-up for specific purposes.
For instance, the one Mrs. Ezenwa and I were involved in was to guide government in the policy making in the nation’s seaport s, but you know that it is only in the National Assembly where one can order the minister or any government agency to produce these reports, find out the one that is relevant with the issue regarding our constituency, and make sure that we ask for it as rather a bill or a resolution.
We have had the committee that were set-up in the National Assembly to go into the port. All of us are aware of what that impact has been. I am a part of crowd here I know how we do them. It is only in National Assembly that one can order for the release of any report of any committee that has been set-up. There were some committee recommendations that were put in the cupboard for years because nobody wants to implement them.
But if you are in the National Assembly and you know your onions. You can call on the government to implement it. These are part of the reasons why we want our own up there. We need someone who knows what he is doing to be in the National Assembly so that he can push the issues central to the maritime sector in to the front burner.
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