Even as elections into its executive positions draws close, indications have emerged that some members of the Igbo Maritime Forum may not be as excited about the planned transformation as many of them have been accused of not showing enough interest and commitment to the activities of the group.
Majority of them, especially the big wigs in the maritime sector, have also been accused of missing out on days of meetings and are not really interested in how policies are formulated in the maritime sector.
Even as elections into its executive positions draws close, indications have emerged that some members of the Igbo Maritime Forum may not be as excited about the planned transformation as many of them have been accused of not showing enough interest and commitment to the activities of the group.
Majority of them, especially the big wigs in the maritime sector, have also been accused of missing out on days of meetings and are not really interested in how policies are formulated in the maritime sector.
Speaking exclusively with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos on Monday, an Igbo political leader, Prince Ozo Chukwura said that even though it is the Igbos that carry out most of the businesses of importation in the country, in the maritime sector, many of them have lukewarm attitudes and that sometimes it is usually because they place their business interest first.
“There is this lukewarm attitude, they don’t want to show interest and because of the economy of the country, they will want to put their house in order before they can say they want to go for a meeting”.
“There are meetings that you will call and some people don’t even have money to attend the meeting, but they have the will to do so, so sometimes we don’t blame them” Prince Ozo said.
Another member of the group, Mr. Isaac Ndukwe who is vying for the post of Financial Secretary in the coming elections also said that most of the established Igbo business men in the maritime industry do not usually see anything good in what the group is doing and they have not shown any form of interest.
Speaking further Ndukwe said that, “the problem we are having in the Igbo affairs is that our so- called brothers that have made their mark in the industry don’t usually come out, they have nonchalant attitude and they don’t always want to know what is happening, but this time around, I am happy that things are getting better”.
Ndukwe said that the perceived marginalization of the Igbo people in the scheme of things in the maritime sector is caused mainly by the Igbos themselves, because according to him, the tribe controls high volume of goods that are imported into Nigeria and apart from this, they own the highest number of custom licenses in the freight forwarding sector.
“The marginalization lies in our hands, we are the main actors in this maritime industry as far as I am concerned, when you look at the number of registered licenses, you will see that we have an upper hand. Talk about importation also, we are the main importers, so I don’t think we are being marginalized, but the problem is the nonchalant attitude that our people put in, they do don’t care because they feel they have made their money, they don’t want to know where policies are made in their industry, and this is the problem” he lamented.
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