By last week, Dr Bashir Jamoh and his Executive Directors (EDs) had done two years in the saddle at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Dr Bashir Jamoh along with the EDs was appointed about two years ago as the management team of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
His tenure as DG took effect from March 10, the day that of his predecessor and former boss, Dr Dakuku Peterside ended.
Apart from the records of Mr Patrick Egesi as the DG of the-then National Maritime Authourity (NMA), Dr Jamoh is the second ‘home-grown’ head of the agency.
Jamoh joined NIMASA as an assistant chief commercial officer, eastern and central zones. He had previously served with the Kaduna state government before transferring his services to the then-National Maritime Authority. So his ascendancy to the headship of NIMASA comes with a lot of expectations.
The essence of this write-up is an appraisal of the journey of the now-more-than two years that have been spent as the CEO of Nigeria’s apex maritime regulatory agency.
We are doing this in obedience to Dr Jamoh’s request while marking his 100 days in office. At that event, he called on the maritime media to be fair in reporting the sector. Specifically, he requested of his administration that, “if we do well tell the world, if we fail to perform tell us”.
While marking his 100 days in office, he had declared that his administration’s adopting a 3’S’ strategy of Security, Safety and Shipping Development to rejig the sector as dependable and money-spinning sector for the Nigerian economy.
How time flies! Jamoh’s past two years have witnessed an unprecedented upsurge in piracy within Nigerian’s territorial waters and within the Gulf of Guinea. In 2020, when he was appointed, it reached an unprecedented crescendo, as pirates brazenly operated
This is the greatest burden of NIMASA under Jamoh’s watch, which it has been unable to find solution to, even with the collaboration with the Navy.
We are aware of the enactment of the Anti-Piracy Act, we are aware of the arrest of some pirates, we are also aware of the acquisition and deployment of sophisticated security assets under the Deep Blue project.
We also know about the involvement of the Eye247 owned by the Police, NIMASA’s, C4i, NPA’s C3i and Navy’s Falcon Eye. But, to the ordinary Nigerian, these are just names and until they see their impact, they remain so.
We equally aware of the recent media hype that Nigeria has been removed from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) piracy record list. The Director-General of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh claimed this at the 2nd Edition of Nigerian Admiralty Law Colloquium in Lagos, albeit without substantiating the claim.
Until piracy is manifestly stemmed, NIMASA’s competence will be called to question, and precariously the DG will be called out. Yes, the assets have been deployed, but their impact is manifest.
While marking his 100 days, Dr Jamoh also gave some promises backed by timeline. It is apt to recall that one of such promises for which the agency under the incumbent DG would be held accountable, is the NIMASA floating dock.
Dr Jamoh had in 2020 promised that the craft would be moved to NPA shipyard in Apapa from where it would be put to use by employing about 350 staff and generating revenue into the coffers of government.
He may need to be reminded that in June 2020, he had said: “Apart from the N1 billion naira monthly the floating dock will generate, we are expecting up to 350 staff engagement and these are the main workers.
We are also aware that there are statutory hurdles to be crossed; but the industry is tired of hearing this. The NIMASA management should hasten to safe the nation from the embarrassment of a floating dock that cost the nation so much, yet abandoned since arrival. It is apt to remind Dr Jamoh that his promises concerning the floating dock have not been fulfilled.
Another reminder for the NIMASA DG is the non-disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF).
Again, as with the floating dock, Jamoh assured in June 2020, that, before October, the first set of beneficiaries would have received the fund. This also has yet to materialize.
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By his admission, he had said in June 2020: “I have been appointed the chairman of the CVFF Disbursement Committee by the Minister of Transportation. We are working to disburse the CVFF, maybe before October, we hope to be able to disburse the first leg of the fund to beneficiaries.”
Truth be told, under Dr Jamoh’s watch, the CVFF has become an abracadabra!
Finally, Jamoh has adopted a far less glamorous administrative style than his predecessor. Although he engages, he talks less, but he is still visible in the industry. We highly recommend more engagement with critical stakeholders.
His visitation to littoral states in 2021 is a step in the right direction, especially as these are states that have contigual relationship with NIMASA.
Without fear of being challenged, we make bold to affirm that, in two years of Dr Jamoh and his team, the industry has not seen sufficient impact of the team’s three-point agenda of Security, Safety and Shipping Development.
We also quite appreciate the fact that the team came on board in the height of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. But, its one full year since then. So the shortcomings and failed targets may not be excused any longer, even if they were, a year ago.
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