Engr Mathew Alalade [National President, Merchant Navy]
Engr Mathew Alalade [National President, Merchant Navy]
I will say that the Cabotage Act has not fully gained ground and there is the need for the legislature to look at some of the items that NIMASA is talking about, the law governing NIMASA should be strengthened in order to accommodate the problem of detention of vessels in our water. NIMASA can arrest, but they cannot prosecute so the government should strengthen the law or make judiciary to be functional in the maritime industry so that they can prosecute even after policing the water or arrest of pirate, how do you prosecute? In other words NIMASA has not done much based on the mandate given to it. When we talk about the waiver clause, I don’t know who issues waivers for the reason that we still see influx of foreigners in our waters to the detriment of our own seafarers which should not be and apart from that there are some flag vessels that are supposed to accommodate Nigerians, but NIMASA does not have any agreement to that effect. I will say they have not done much and in the area of certification, the agency has not lived up to expectation because what they issue as certificate is contrary to IMO standard.
Michael Emiko [Stakeholder]
From the former NMA to NIMASA, looking at their performance, you will find out that there are so much obligations that surround the agency as a body, but I will say that the politics in NIMASA is the one that we cannot understand, because when it comes to the area of seafarers, we read on the pages on newspapers where they send people overseas for training, but we don’t know who those people are and where they are coming from and I am very sure that in this industry, 75 percent of seafarers are uncertified.
Mazi Joseph Anabaraonye [Registrar, FFAN]
NIMASA’s mandate is broad and if you look at the Act establishing it, especially in the area of security, safety and logistics which also transcend to other issues which are not maritime- related. Security and safety are indispensable, but first of all you have to look at the capacity of the person who is to implement this Act and it is better to ask if they have the capacity in the first place and I discover that the people who put up that Act did that because they think they will be there. The truth is that it creates a lot of implementation problem thus a Cabotage Act which in the real sense supposed to have a separate agency to implement was also added to the same over burdened agency. Therefore there are so many things to put in place, but where is the capacity to do it?
Comrade Owolabi Omotayo(Chairman, MWUN, Liverpool Unit)
All these years, since the establishment of NIMASA, they have been trying to really discharge their responsibilities as given to them by the Government. There has been a lot of crises there, everybody is aware especially the changing of Director Generals, investigating and persecuting some for corruption charges. Looking at NIMASA of today, I cannot give them pass because they still have many things to do, we still have a lot of wrecks on our water ways, although their rescue team is responding now to disasters and crises. In the area of Cabotage Act, many people have been violating it, the NIMASA is just like a toothless bull dog. We have a lot of people in the system that are untouchable and have been frustrating the efforts of the government, just because they are strong in the society; which is not supposed to be. For instance, the people parading themselves as seamen, if you go to many of these ships, safety procedures are not being adhered to, a lot of shortcomings in the seamen we have in Nigeria, they have to be properly trained and all equipment to train them must be put in place by NIMASA or in collaboration with private maritime institutions that are well equipped.
Chief Emmanuel Tobi (Vice Chairman, ANLCA, PTML/GRIMALDI Chapter)
I have not seen any effective performance of NIMASA since its establishment. NIMASA does not have qualified professionals as personnel to carry out their operatives. Therefore, I have not seen any effective performance by NIMASA.
Uche Increase (Nat. Sec. Gen. NAGAFF)
Before answering your question, I want to make this vital remark especially in the appointment of the DGs, that the government should look into it critically, because the issue of appraising NIMASA’s function starts with the headship, if the government has been inconsistent on how they appoint NIMASA’s head, when at interval the DG is being removed especially when the person is about settling down to his real job, so that issue is settled and tackled. NIMASA has not really fared well. Looking at their performance in the past year, the Cabotage law they are supposed to implement, in fact the Cabotage law is almost moribund because the implementation has not imparted on the Nigerian economy as initiated by the initiators. Secondly, the pollution in our water ways, that is another area NIMASA has not monitored effectively. Looking at the insecurity on our waters, Nigeria has been marked as one of the nations where piracy is a serious issue that needs to be tackled, this search and rescue operation that is supposed to be carried by NIMASA is another area of interest where they need to wake up, although they have made one or two impact in that regard sometimes ago, but I think the government needs to support them the more and allow them to do their job,
Capt. Adewale Ishola (Master Mariner)
We have always said that for them to really perform their role as flag state, port state and other search and rescue activities, I am aware they are facing challenges in the area of professionals to carry out their mandate, and of course you are also aware of their problem of having the right operational vessels and this has caused a lot of arguments, but I still believe that implementation of laws especially in the area of Cabotage, we are having a lot of problems on our waters, for example on the issue of subsidy claims, if NIMASA had been carrying out their own primary role, a lot of these malpractices would have been reduced to the barest minimum because some of these mother ships in connivance with the NNPC have turned themselves to the NIMASA of our country; they are the ones that determine which ship comes to do STS with them, they are the ones that determine how they are going to behave on our waters, a lot of things happen which NIMASA would have nipped in the bud and this is when master mariners said that we need a coast guard in this country under the auspices of NIMASA. We are not talking about a separate entity, this is obtainable in the UK, USA and even in South Africa, this is where NIMASA is not doing enough because I know that with the power given to them by the Act they are supposed to check ships before they come into our ports in terms of safety, security and pollution control. These are areas that NIMASA needs a lot of personnel to assist them carry out their function. In the area of examination and certification, I think they are doing their best but the level is still low because there are not many foreign going vessels in Nigeria registry.
Otunba Friday Nwaneri (Managing Director, Elkins Marine)
In the area of training, NIMASA has still not gotten to the standard required because many things are required for the training, if you go to NIMASA now they cannot interview all the high scale people and they have to get people from outside to do this, they should have qualified people to do this, but the trouble is who are the qualified people, they have to get more qualified people into the agency. In area of maritime security, NIMASA has not really done much, if you get to a country that has maritime security you will see how efficient they are, not that the people here are not well- trained or efficient, but they have to employ more and train more.
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