Sir John Oforbike (ANLCA Chieftain)
If we know, we would not have asked for independence, because we were better-off during the colonial rule. Independence was given to us on a platter of gold, without a fight like other Africans nations. Unlike East, North and Southern African countries who fought with their blood to gain independence from their colonial masters. Since we gained independence, it has been one problem to another till today. Tell me what is working in the country, not only in the maritime sector, can you point out what is working in entire sectors in the country? The only thing that is working perfectly is corruption, nepotism and tribalism, nothing more is working.
Since independence, it’s motion without movement. When we are growing up as adults, we usually celebrate our Independence Day with lots of fun fair. These days our so-called leaders are not interested in celebrating independence because they have destroyed everything, nothing is working and there’s nothing to celebrate. They just declare October 1 every year as Nigerian Independence Day holiday, not a day of celebration because there’s nothing worth celebrating. I cry for Nigeria our dear Nation. Nigeria, we hail thee.
Rev. Nicodemus Odolo (Trustee, Shippers Association of Lagos State)
Nigeria seems to be having independence on paper, but in the practical aspect of it, we are not independent. So, it’s a smart game when our fathers asked for independence, and they played smart with the British government. They gave us independence on paper, but indirectly, we are not independent. We are a consuming nation; we are not inventing. You can see Nigeria’s manufacturing sector has gone down. In the 1970s, we had lots of manufacturing companies coming up. But now, where are they? They are all gone because we open our borders to all manners of importation and the local manufacturer has to go down. They have to pack up. So trading, buying and selling, pays more than manufacturing. We are not independent.
Frank Obiekezie (National Secretary, AREFFN)
We have independence but we don’t have freedom. Let’s forget about Britain. We should blame ourselves. Our people have been in charge since 1960. Whatever we are not getting right now, we cannot take it back to Britain. It is our people. So, we blame ourselves. We don’t need to find scapegoats for our problems. Nigerians are the problems of Nigeria.
Barr Chris Ebare (Former Chairman, Institute of Chartered Ship Brokers)
I would say Yes and No. Yes, in the sense that the world and the maritime players have been able to identify Nigeria as a potential. I use the word potential to be a maritime nation. I would say No because the right structures are not in place. We have all what it takes to be like Amsterdam, Norway, and other countries. For the fact that we misplaced our priority by not doing the right thing, we cannot equate ourselves, even though we have all what God has given us.
God has given us enough resources and materials to be above all these other nations. We need to visualize it and harness it. Unfortunately, we did not have the right drivers to put in place to work on all these structures.
Pius Ujubonu (ANLCA Chieftain)
Well, the good thing is that at least we have a name and we have a territory. We have people who exercise authority over them. Whose bidding they are doing, we don’t know. But in terms of all the extraneous character of independence, we have them. In actual fact, the main essence is of independence like economy, defence and foreign policy still appear to be questionable. I don’t know the extent to which we have developed. In fact, declaring us as an independent nation is just a mere rhetoric.
Aloga Ogbogo (NARTO Chieftain)
The state of the nation is empirical. Everybody knows what the state of the nation is and the maritime sector is not an exception. And then of course, the state of the nation also extends to what is happening in the economy. It’s a total reflection of what the issues are. So maritime is not an exception. And then of course if on an independence day that the people are supposed to come and be celebrating, they are saying they want to protest, then we know that all is not well, so to speak.
Captain Thomas Kemewerigha (Former National President, Merchant Navy)
Nigeria is now 64 years old. We don’t have anything to show that we belong to as a maritime nation. You remember Obasanjo bought about 23 ships which they called Nigerian National Shipping Line. He came back as President and did not meet any one. He bought a lot of planes called Nigerian Airways. He came back and did not meet any one. At 64 years, we cannot categorically say this is where we are going. We have nothing to show for it. I don’t understand what we are celebrating. The maritime industry has nothing to celebrate after 64 years, because we practically have nothing to show.
Clinton Okoro (APFFLON PRO, Tin Can Chapter)
Well, the answer is no. We are backwards, that is the truth. When you look at the smaller African nations for that matter, they are doing pretty well than us. Honestly, we are not doing well. In fact, to me, I would say that we are moving backwards. That is the truth. There are a lot of things that are supposed to have improved here and nothing is working. The service providers will keep telling you every now and then that there is no network. You know, so many things are going on. You cannot be doing ease of doing business and people are being sacked because of their business dealings. It is wrong. So many things are wrong in the system. That is just the truth.
