Mr Sesan Ajayi was recently-elected as Chairman, Nigerian chapter of Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. In this interview with Oluyinka Onigbinde, he speaks about the Nigerian maritime industry, especially the new-found marine and blue economy, the ICS, as well as sundry issues.
Why do you think the Nigerian Institute of Marine Research should be under the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy?
The Institute is supposed to be under the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, because of the pivotal role of research, development and innovation that has to do with the sustainability of the marine life, marine water body, the offshore aspect of the blue economy, and the onshore aspect of the blue economy. You know, even under the offshore, we have blue economy mining; we have the marine life, which are numerous, which Nigeria needs to make a whole lot of money from. But before we start making money, we need to develop it. What we have now, they are natural. There are a lot of researches that have been done, which we now need to convert to revenue generating prospects for the country. That’s very important. Be that as it may, the marine side is what the ministry that was created last year has been focused on mostly, whereas the blue economy aspect needs to be focused also. You know, as we have the blue waters, we have the brown waters. What have we done about the brown waters in the rural coastal areas? So, we need to develop the economy of those areas to generate employment opportunities and reinvigorate social life around those areas. So, it’s important that this institute should be under the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.
How rich is our coastal life?
Our coastal life is very rich. For example, NIWA and NIMASA play a part. But in all the parts they are playing, there is need for research and development in order to be able to localize every community’s strength or what we refer to as comparative advantage. That’s how the coastal life can develop, grow, and contribute positively to the economy of every coastal community. But what the coastal communities have been enjoying now is the natural life and endowment there.
Over the years, we have been experiencing poaching where some foreigners come to our waters to take away our resources through fishing and the rest. How do you think this can be addressed?
As it were, the continental waters, continental shelf, natural resources have been well-harnessed by the federal government in terms of wading-off other countries coming in illegally to fish in our deep waters. The Navy has been very active in that area. They have been wading them off, there have been a lot of arrests and there have been a lot of patrols. The Federal Government is doing pretty well in respect of that. We must also give credit to NIMASA in terms of bringing down the rate of piracy activities in the Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria has a pivotal role to play and we’ve been doing it. The sea protection has been very key as part of the role being played by NIMASA. They have a lot of collaboration with the Navy and they’re doing pretty well. So, in the last few months, beyond 24 months, we haven’t heard about any piracy attack.
If you say the Navy and NIMASA are doing their best, we still import a lot of these sea foods into the country, particularly fish. Does it mean that we don’t have enough of these resources?
It’s not that we do not have or not self-sufficient to be able to do what is needful in terms of feeding our people with the right aquatic protein needed for the economy. We have the capacity, strength, the aquatic assets to do that. But what is lacking is investment on the side of the banks. If you look at the proceeds of the banks or who and who they’ve supported, they will rather support Oil and Gas investments that would bring about quick return on investment. How many aquatic farmers have the commercial banks empowered in the last five to 20 years? And it’s all about capacity building. If you lend up N5 million, you can see that I’m able to return it as an aquatic farmer, you are seeing my returns and seeing my books, if I ask for N10 million, you will give me. You can say, this place is too small for this aquatic farming and you need to expand.
· NIOMR has done a lot of research that will support aquatic farmers to be able to defend their proposal.
Our commercial banks need to look beyond the quick return of businesses. Let’s also focus on aquatic farming in order to stand down the volume of our aquatic products importation. We now need to focus on exports. NIOMR has done a lot of research that will support aquatic farmers to be able to defend their proposal.
Would you advise the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy to look toward the country having a specialized maritime bank?
Yes, I will agree with you that, it is important that we should have it. But I am aware that the bank is in full swing. It’s ongoing. I think Dr. Adalikwu is the person that is piloting the bank presently. But it goes beyond just having a bank. What are the departments under the bank structure? It can’t be a regular commercial bank. It should be a developmental bank with focus and goals to enhance the capacity building of human resources, infrastructure, and assets in the maritime sector. So, if we’re talking about maritime bank, we should look at it as how much will be the capital base of that bank? Will I, as a ferry transporter for passengers, be able to approach this bank? Will I, as an aquatic farmer in Bayelsa, be able to approach this bank? I come from a family of ferry transport business in Lokoja, will I be able to approach this bank? So those are the departments that we should be looking at. We should not be looking at banks that are focused on retail, but in terms of how to grow this capacity. How did China grow? How did Turkey, Greece, Cyprus grow? We should be able to cascade it down to the lowest form of trade in the maritime sector. I hope it won’t be a bank that focuses on just to develop the oil and gas infrastructure or assets or to buy PMS or diesel tankers to distribute. No, the focus should be on developmental systems. We want to see the concept of what to be done. It’s a shame that when Dangote was looking for Supermax tanker vessels and we could not get one in Nigeria.
Dangote and other local refineries have come to stay. where are the vessels?
So, these are the kinds of things that the development bank should focus on. Look at how a consortium of five or six banks can come together and buy a Supermax tanker vessel. Dangote and other local refineries have come to stay. Where are the vessels? So that’s part of the capital for it. If we keep giving our ship broking services to foreigners, that will have more pressure on the Forex stability. So we need to be forward-looking. We need to break it down in terms of what is development. Development is different from growth, but development must come from growth. So, it’s important that we do what is needful and we keep moving forward.
Let’s talk about the Chartered Institute of Shipbrokers. What is this institute all about and what is the strength of this institute as we have it in Nigeria as of today?
The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers was founded in the United Kingdom; that should be 1919. I think over 100 years ago, not because of the irregularities or we just wanted to start the institute. The Baltic exchange and professionals in the commercial shipping, shipbrokers, charterers, cargo owners, they came together to form a forum to regulate the trade of shipping globally. Like we know, London is the capital of shipping trade in the world. So that was where it was found. So, after several meetings, they had to come together and decided we need to have a name, and this is the name. Till today, the Institute of Shipbrokers in the United Kingdom have a working relationship with the Baltic exchange in terms of their programme and in terms of their regulation. So it is through the Baltic exchange that the charter party agreement that is being used came about, and in conjunction with BIMCO for Oil and Gas. All Oil and Gas charter parties have to do with what is aligned and agreed with BIMCO. So, the institute is about education, training, capacity building, standards and regulation. The greatest strength of ICS is the global certification. For example, the syllabus of ICS (because the shipping industry is very dynamic) is reviewed regularly. Maximum of two, three years it will be reviewed and when it is reviewed, it captures what is happening globally in the shipping industry. The examination is set globally based on the syllabus and when you decide to register for the exam. If for example, you are a Singaporean, and by nature of your work, maybe you are a seafarer or you are transferred to Nigeria, you will sit for the exam in Nigeria. We have exam centers in Nigeria. There are some of our members that sat for their exams after they left Nigeria and went for preparation towards exam classes in the UK. We also have it in Nigeria. They went for prep over there in London, and they sat for their examinations in London and they came back to Nigeria. So, if you decide (by nature of your work) to go to Canada today, you can use the certificate you are holding to work in Canada, because it is acceptable worldwide. So, there is no discrimination.
Can you give us a few names of people who have passed through this institute in the last few years and are well-known to encourage some other stakeholders to see the need to belong to the institute?
Some of the practitioners that have passed through the Institute in the past years are members while some fellows. We have Captain Samuel Olarenwaju. He used to be a pilot onboard Shell. He was a fleet controller, Shell fleet Superintendent. Also, we have Mr. Tami Hadu. He is also an accomplished seafarer, master mariner, and equally a shipbroker. We also have a former commissioner of Energy and water resources, also a commissioner of Budget and Planning, in Edo state a while ago, Barr. Dr Silva Ebare. So there is quite a number.
Who can be a member of this institute?
If you are in the shipping industry and you have little or no knowledge, you can become a member. Register for the appropriate membership group because we have different membership groups. If you are a young graduate and you have interest in commercial shipping, you can become a member. But it is mandatory to become a student member. After becoming a student member, you register for the core courses and for the professional subjects and you pick a specific specialization that suits your area of interest. The institute does not box you at all that this is what you must do to be specialized. There are different specializations like port agency, port and terminal, offshore support. You can decide to specialize in chartering; either dry cargo chartering or wet cargo chartering. Even maritime lawyers, you can decide to come in as a lawyer. We have accountants among us who specialize in ship finance and other areas. So, it’s important that we bring all the people who can come in. We have different membership grades. We have student members’ grade, which is the first grade. We have the second, which is to become a member when you pass all your exams and get a certificate and when you become a fellow, you become a chartered ship broker. Then we have Honorary Fellow and we have also shipping company membership. We have retired members and life members too.
