All things been equal, by May, 2011, that is, in another three and half months, the present National Assembly would be winding down its sitting for the current term and by extension, ended another statutory four years. This means that the Nigerian legislature has had three unbroken terms since the return to democracy in 1999.
The Nigerian maritime sector is one of the beneficiaries of the democratic experience, having been a victim of several years of military rule. The sector has been exposed to the activities and supervision of the various National Assembly various committees and their divergent oversight functions.
At the onset of the democratic experience, stakeholders (especially port operators) who were not used to what was initially perceived as meddlesomeness on the part of the legislature had kicked against the frequent visitations by the lawmakers who often come calling; albeit, in the name of performing oversight functions.
But all that have changed as stakeholders now see the legislature as partners in progress, the lawmakers also see stakeholders as co-travellers in ‘project maritime’. The relationship has blossomed to the extent that the marine transport committees of both chambers often rely on informed suggestions from stakeholders at their public hearings as veritable instruments in the law making process.
Since 1999, the committees have facilitated the enactment of certain key bills, such as: the NIMASA Act, Cabotage Act and Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding Act, among others.
But, there are some equally important Bills that are at various stages of enactment at both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Bills are: Port and Harbour Bill, Chartered Institute of Shipping of Nigeria Bill, Maritime Zone Bill. They have all been subjected to the mandatory first and second readings and have also been subjected to public hearing at various times.
The importance of these bills can not be overemphasised as they are as critical to the engendering of a more robust maritime sector as the ones that have been passed previously.
For instance, the Port Harbour Bill (which ought to have been enacted alongside the 2006 port concession programme) is still pending at both chambers. This is most painful because the Bill would have created an independent port regulatory agency; the absence of which is currently causing friction among providers and users of port services in Nigeria.
While we acknowledge that even though public hearings are not mandatory pre-requisites in the process of enacting a Bill, the House of Representatives held public hearings for all the Bills, during which the views of all stakeholders were collated and subsequently reflected in the final drafts which are now awaiting clause-by-clause considerations at the legislature, we are equally concerned about the slow pace of work on these bills.
While the House may enjoy a little sympathy from stakeholders over the bills, we are very sure that the Senate is fast losing its respect on account of the apparent nonchalant attitude of the upper chamber as regards the maritime sector bills.
It is on records that the House has held public hearings on all these bills, but, the Senate has never had any such interactions (public hearing) with the Nigerian maritime sector stakeholders since the emergence of Senator Gbemi Saraki as the chairperson of the Senate committee on marine transportation, except the one stakeholders’ interaction on the controversial Cargo Tracking Note (CTN).
A few examples will suffice here. The House held public hearings on the Port and Harbour Bill, Chartered Institute of Shipping of Nigeria Bill, Maritime Zone Bill and the Maritime Security Agency Bill. It has passed the Maritime Security Agency bill and the Chartered Institute of Shipping of Nigeria Bill while the remaining bills are awaiting final clause-by-clause considerations. On the contrary, the Senate is yet to show any seriousness in the handling of these bills, except the feeble attempt to deliberate on the Maritime Security Agency bill.
We are worried; hence we are raising alarm that these bills may not be passed unless sufficient pressure is mounted on the National Assembly.
As much as we acknowledge the fact that recently some ‘more national and political’ issues such as the amendments to the 1999 constitution, the 2010 supplementary budget, considerations of the Electoral Reform Act may have taken tolls on the time available for other legislative responsibilities of the National Assembly, we make bold to stress that if the lawmakers consider these bills to be as important the way maritime sector stakeholders consider them to be, they would create time for the bills and give them expedited considerations; after all, they attended to the maritime security bill so expeditiously, why can not the same be done for the Port and Harbour bill.
The tenure of the present crop of members of the marine transport committee will be juxtaposed with that of their predecessors under the leadership of Senator Ibiapuye Martins Yellowe (now deceased) and Honourable Emeka Ihedioha (now Chief Whip).
Perhaps the only way to justify the huge respect of stakeholders and create a legacy for the in-coming members of the marine transport committee is to ensure that the Bills were not carried over to the next legislative term which starts in May 2011; that is less than four months away.
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