Following the challenges experienced in getting the 40 percent equity needed from Nigerian shipowners to float a national carrier in partnership with a foreign shipping company; Pacific International Lines (PIL), Rector of a merchant navy institute; Stars Maritime Academy, Dr. Reuben Ovai has advised the government to jettison the move.
Dr. Ovai in an interview with Shipping Position Daily at the academy in Sango Ota yesterday advised that the government should go ahead and solely finance the national carrier establishment and thereafter concession it to private operators.
Drawing a reference from port concession exercise of 2006, Ovai said the concessioning the national carrier is the best way out.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that the Minister of Transportation; Mr Rotimi Amaechi had attributed the failure on the part of Nigerian ship owners to come up with their 40 percent equity as being responsible for the establishment of a national carrier.
Dr. Ovai stated that government has not encouraged Nigerian shipowners to ensure that their businesses are strengthened.
"The national carrier is supposed to be a public private partnership thing, but since the 40% could not be sourced from Nigerian shipowners, why don't the government look at operators who are already on ground and see how they could be encouraged"
"And if there is none, the government should float a national shipping line and hand over its management to a private regulated sector after the company is floated", he advised.
"It is just like government did at the ports, formerly the ports were under government control, but they were later concessioned to the private sector , this is why the government does not have any problems there again, why can't the government float a national shipping line and sublet it to the private sector", he said
The Stars Maritime Academy Rector also said that the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) 2006 is not implementable in Nigeria.
Giving his reasons, he said that the law was operated in other countries where indigenous ship owners were prospering and enjoying government support.
"One thing is to accept a convention, another is to implement the convention, and before you can implement a convention, you have to look at the situation prevailing in your environment"
"Looking at that convention and the situation prevailing in the maritime sector, it would not be possible to implement the convention. We are crying here about ship owners not having work to do and you are thinking about them increasing their wages". "The convention is not feasible for now", he argued.
Discussion about this post