Nigerian shipowners and seafarers yesterday converged in Apapa, Lagos to celebrate the World Seafarers Day 2018, even as they unanimously berated the apex maritime regulatory agency, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safely Agency (NIMASA) for not paying enough attention to seafarers’ welfare.
President of the Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA) Capt. Niyi Labinjo who was chairman of the occasion that was organised by the Merchant Navy Directorate, also berated NIMASA on the implementation of the Cabotage Act. He said that the Cabotage law has been decapitated.
He lamented that presently, foreign vessels have dominated the petroleum and tanker businesses, saying that this is a major violation of Cabotage Act as the law only provides for specialized vessels in the absence of Nigerian vessels of same class.
"Cabotage is about cargo, if we have no cargo, Cabotage is gone. What aspect of Cabotage has NIMASA implemented? If you go to the ports, you would see that all the vessels are foreign, are you saying there are no Nigerian ships that can carry petroleum products? The provision in the law is for specialized vessels in the absence of Nigerian ones, you don't need a specialized vessel to carry petroleum products"
"In 2008 when Mrs Demuren was in charge of foreign exchange at the Central Bank, she said ships cannot be in Nigeria and be collecting forex, so if a ship has gone to bring petroleum products and he wants forex, he should leave Nigeria. This caused a lot of ships to divert to Cotonou and Lome waiting to deliver in Nigeria, because they want forex, they now ask Nigerian buyers to pay dollars to their Swiss accounts before they can do anything"
"What they are doing in Lome and Cotonou is petroleum smuggling and this is bad for our economy, there is no refinery in Lome and Cotonou, so why are they selling petroleum products there, how can you say that you have a bill of laden from Lome? It is wrong" he said.
Labinjo charged the seafarers to come together and speak with one voice to fight foreign domination on Nigerian waters.
"All you need to do is block that aspect of the law and insist that on petroleum tankers, we don't want foreigners, and you would see the change, you would get four hundred ships immediately
If all these boys go out to one of the oil jetties and they see a foreign vessel and they hold it down, what will happen? They can only do this if they unite"
Also speaking, Capt Segun Akanbi alleged that NIMASA cares-less about the welfare and post-seatime health hazards of seafarers. He said that many captains and master mariners are now diabetic while some have lost their legs.
He equally accused Nigerian Shipowners of paying token as salaries to seafarers without medical care, training and other welfare packages. He said Nigerian Shipowners do not place value on Nigerian seafarers.
A lot of seafarers according to him are still wallowing in prisons across the country.
He said, "concerning our certificates, NIMASA requires you to have your 'fit to work' medical certificates, but they don't care about 'fit after work', I have some of my captains, a lot of them who have lost their legs to diabetes and other forms of sicknesses which comes after your work"
"We inherit a lot of medical issues at sea, salt content is high, radiation from radar and so on. Once you get any of the sickness, you cannot go back on , nobody cares about your mental welfare which is the theme of this year's celebration"
On his part, Secretary of the Merchant Navy Directorate; Capt Alfred Oniye said Nigerian seafarers are not making any progress and their condition is getting worst by the day.
Capt Oniye said between last year and this year, more seafarers have been thrown out of jobs, while some of them are still in prison for a crime they know nothing about.
He said the essence of the Merchant Navy Directorate is to step up their game with a mission to revamp Nigerian economy through the Maritime sector.
"Over 80% of Nigerian seafarers are jobless and the country is doing nothing about it, let me be blunt with you, NIMASA has failed, and we don't see NIMASA solving this issue because you cannot solve a problem you don't have solutions to, they are not professionals, the solution on ground now is for us to up our game, solve our problems ourselves and call NIMASA to order and teach them what to do"
"The problem is getting worse by the day, on maritime safety, NIMASA is on zero level, security, training and certification, they are on zero level, we are not progressing" he said.
Other dignitaries who attended and spoke at the celebration were; Retired Navy Capt Abel Oga, Rear Admiral Goodwill Ombo and Rtd Col. George Ukeachu of Military Intelligence, and Capt James Falabi among others.
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