Former NIMASA DG, Egesi Says Cabotage Act is a Trash

Former Director General of the apex maritime regulatory agency in Nigeria; Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) formally known as National Maritime Authority; Mr. Patrick Egesi has criticized the nine-year old Coastal and Inland Shipping Act otherwise known as the Cabotage Act  in Nigeria, saying that the some important provisions of the law were not properly thought-out before its passage.
Egesi described the law as an ‘ordinary trash’ because some of the provisions of the law are not obtainable.

Former Director General of the apex maritime regulatory agency in Nigeria; Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) formally known as National Maritime Authority; Mr. Patrick Egesi has criticized the nine-year old Coastal and Inland Shipping Act otherwise known as the Cabotage Act  in Nigeria, saying that the some important provisions of the law were not properly thought-out before its passage.
Egesi described the law as an ‘ordinary trash’ because some of the provisions of the law are not obtainable.
The former NMA boss who is also the newly-elected president of the Nigerian Institute of Shipping (NIS) made this statement while speaking at the inauguration of the new elected executives of the institute in Lagos last week.
“Many statutes like the Cabotage law are just trash, you say a ship must be built in the country, serviced in the country and crewed in the country, it is a very stupid statement, it is a statement that could only be reasoned by somebody who doesn’t know shipping” Egesi said.
Egesi explained said that if the country is desirous of getting its teaming youths employed and be able to earn a lot of money for the country, the best way to achieve this is through the creation of an open registry.
Egesi said that with an open registry the government will be able to reposition the shipping sector by creating more jobs for Nigerians through the shipping and maritime sector.
‘’This is the sort of things we want government organizations to realize , shipping business has gone beyond what we know, therefore I personally will want to NIMASA to look into that area’’ he suggested.
But in a swift reaction to his suggestion, Acting Director, Shipping Development of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency [NIMASA] who represented the Director General of NIMASA at the event, Captain Warredi Enisuoh argued that with an open registry in operation, the government would not be able to give conditions to the owners of the vessels calling at the ports.
According to him, open registry is not the right policy for the country because it will not create jobs or wealth as it is believed.
Enisuoh pointed out that the demise of the Nigeria National Shipping Line [NNSL] has left a high number of Nigerian seafarers unemployed and that this is one of the problems facing the nation’s maritime sector.