Unless something is done, done very fast and done in the true interest of the continued corporate existence of Nigeria, a certain Messrs Global West Vessel Specialist Limited will for the next 20 years be solely in charge of the security (or better still, insecurity) of Nigeria’s vast maritime domain.
The original owners of the luckiest company in Nigeria (as at today) were Capt Romeo Itima and William Itima; that was in January 28, 2008 when the company was incorporated. It had a share capital of N25 Million and these two as shareholders and directors.
Unless something is done, done very fast and done in the true interest of the continued corporate existence of Nigeria, a certain Messrs Global West Vessel Specialist Limited will for the next 20 years be solely in charge of the security (or better still, insecurity) of Nigeria’s vast maritime domain.
The original owners of the luckiest company in Nigeria (as at today) were Capt Romeo Itima and William Itima; that was in January 28, 2008 when the company was incorporated. It had a share capital of N25 Million and these two as shareholders and directors.
But, by April 17, 2009, signs of good things to come have started showing in the horizon and the owners threw their books opened to incorporate four more individuals, namely: Floatinci Charge, Emmanuel Wenekad Tupede-Ebi Diffa, Onbo Godswill Siempre Aye and Olugbenga Leke Oyewole.
Out of these names, its only those of Capt Itima and Oyewole that ring a bell, because of what they were and still are.
It was Capt Itima who first showed ‘uncommon generosity’ to NIMASA last year when his company ‘donated’ five boats to the agency, only for him to come back to NIMASA a few months later for contract to use the same boats for the surveillance of Lagos waters! His reward for this is a princely N49.7 Million monthly.
A scheduled meeting with Capt Itima a few months after he commenced the ‘NIMASA job’ revealed a lot. He confessed that the boats were old and that they couldn’t sail beyond a few nautical miles after the Lagos harbours! The office was Spartan as was expected of a struggling company. I guess that almost a year down the line, the story has definitely changed.
It is this same company that has now ‘won’ a bigger and more ambitious contract to police the entire coastline of Nigeria.
Back to the second name; ‘our own’ Special Adviser to the President on maritime affairs; Mr ‘Gbenga Leke Oyewole, whom a lot of maritime stakeholders suspected, albeit in low tones of having come from somewhere and for a purpose. The reason for the suspicion is that he is not known by any stakeholder to be a maritime practitioner, they are united that in their opinion that, at least before anyone could be appointed a s an adviser in a sector as technical as maritime, he or she must have cognate experience in that field.
Notwithstanding this, industry players warmed closed to him because they have no choice, knowing how things are done in this country. Of course, he could be a minister in the waiting!
In other climes, Mr Oyewole can not openly be on the board of a company that is winning patronages in an industry that he superintends, but in Nigeria, this is the norm!
Whose interests is he protecting? Would he have advised the President and influenced his decision in favour of Messrs Global West Vessel Specialist Limited if he had no interests? Who actually nominated him as a special adviser to the President on maritime, who is the unseen face behind the lucky company; a company, which prior to winning the Lagos maritime domain job, had no structure on ground or on waters, what is the origin of the boats that Capt Itima donated to NIMASA, why was Mr Akpobolokemi in such a hurry to sign-off theLagos maritime domain to Global West Vessel Specialist Limited, when in actual fact the proposal was first brought up when Dr Ade Dosunmu was the DG and also when Akpobolokemi’s predecessor in office, Mr Temisan Omatseye refused to touch it with a 10-foot pole.
Questions, questions ad questions, all begging for answers.
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