The Minister of Transport, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman has set up a 12-member committee to identify problems that have been hampering the successful implementation of the Cabotage Act; especially with respect to the needs of indigenous practitioners.
Nigeria, as the first African country in the West and Central African sub region to enact the Cabotage law which was copied from the USA Jones Act of 1920 and is also synonymous to the Local Content Law which was signed into law last year by President Goodluck Jonathan, designed the law to promote the development of indigenous tonnage and also ensure protection for indigenous operators in Nigeria’s maritime trade.
However since its passage into law in 2004, stakeholders in the maritime sector; especially the Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria (ISAN) has been striving to ensure that the law is implemented to the advantage of indigenous practitioners. Issues surrounding the lack of implementation of the law were ones again brought to the fore last week in Lagos at a stakeholders meeting convened by the Minister of Transport Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman. The resolution of the meeting which had in attendance representatives from all the relevant agencies including: the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as well as members of ISAN was that a committee which includes members of the aforementioned agencies should be created to find a lasting solution to the problem.
According to the minister, the report of the committee will be presented to President Goodluck Jonathan for appropriate actions. Speaking further, he said; “we will hardly get a resolution of this impasse until we really get back to the negotiating table and that is why I will propose the setting up of a twelve men committee to meet within a week or two and come back with a report, the problem committee is the Federal ministry of transport, NPA, NIMASA, NNPC, Nigerian Customs Service, CBN, Federal Ministry of Finance, three representatives of ISAN and two representatives of other operators”
“If these people can meet together within a week or two and come back, then we will have a closed door meeting to take a final decision, with the report we can now go and see Mr. President” he said
Suleiman however pointed out that reasons why ISAN and the NNPC have failed to reach a compromise is because ISAN members have refused to present standard vessels for the NNPC to see before granting them contracts. According to him, the NNPC will not want to jeopardize its positions if it turns out that ISAN members do not have the vessel and are unable to handle cargoes given to them.
Speaking earlier the Chairman of ISAN Chief Isaac Jolapamo explained that ISAN currently has more than 200 vessels owned by its members which are mostly tankers and offshore supply vessels; even though he admitted that most of the tankers are already old while some are already dilapidated, he still argued that there is the ship repair and refurbishment fund which is designed to take care of old vessels and bring them back to life.
“Some of these old vessels can be put back to effective use, if there is strict enforcement of the Cabotage law, if these three per cent is coming to NIMASA and the two per cent is coming from the local vessel, then we can generate more money for the CVFF for Nigerians to start acquiring newer tonnages in a very short spell of time”, he said.
Jolapamo also suggested that ISAN members should be allowed to start carrying bilateral cargoes from the NNPC for a start, adding that “we should think of how to begin to take the government bilateral cargo that we have which is in the oil side, in the dry cargo side, we must decide that government bilateral cargoes should be taken by Nigerian ship owners on Nigerian flagged vessels”.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) represented at the forum by Mr. Tafida Tijani of the agency’s marine department however submitted that the Nigerian maritime industry is not yet fully developed to handle some of the cargoes that the ISAN members are clamouring, for but suggested that the banks have to come in to assist in a positive manner “Even though we may have over two hundred vessels operating but we don’t have the right vessel that will be accepted” he declared.
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