Dr Bashir Jamoh along with his Executive Directors, was appointed just a little over one year ago as the management team of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
He leads an executive management team of four, three of whom are new in the maritime industry.
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 becomes 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.
Unlike what obtains previously, drums are yet to be rolled out to celebrate the first year of Jamoh. The essence of this write-up is therefore not to diminish the celebrations. It is rather an appraisal of the journey of the now-more-than-365 that have been spent as the CEO of Nigeria’s apex maritime regulatory agency.
We are doing this in accordance with 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 3S 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 one year has 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 even up to the end of the year. The attacks have not abated.
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 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.
Until these collaborations are effectively coordinated and the assets deployed and piracy is stemmed, NIMASA’s competence will be called to question, and precariously the DG will be called out. Yes, the assets have arrived, yes, they will soon be deployed. But the sooner this is done, the better.
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.
The NIMASA DG; 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.
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 last year that, before October, the first set of beneficiaries would have received the fund. This also has yet to materialize. Only recently, an advertisement for expression of interests by Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs) was placed in some national newspapers.
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.”
Since the advertisement was placed, NIMASA, as is customary has gone mute on the CVFF. We think that the current leadership of NIMASA should break the jinx associated with the disbursement of the CVFF.
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 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 one year of Dr Jamoh and his team, the industry has not seen sufficient impact of the 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 2021. So the shortcomings and failed targets may be excused.
However, it is our expectation that by this time next year, the twin issues of escalating piracy and the docile floating dock would have been cleared off the table by Dr Jamoh and his team.
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