Apparently because of its serial losses at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council elections, the Minister of State, Transportation; Senator Gbemi Saraki has declared that Nigeria is not keen about re-contesting.
The IMO Council elections which are three categories take place every two years. After series of losses, Nigeria lost again in 2021.
Fielding questions from journalists on Friday at the end of her weeklong consolations with maritime industry stakeholders, the Minister disclosed that, Nigeria would have to appraise her previous participations and why she lost.
The loss in 2021 was shocking, because the committee which was headed by the Minster thought it had done its best.
The Minister’s Friday declaration raised fears that the nation may have developed cold feet. She confirmed on Friday that, Nigeria was no longer keen about the IMO Council seat.
“It’s not about contesting always, we are going to look at it very well and ask questions about what we really what. We don’t want to lose again”, she said.
Saraki said her visit to Lagos was to take stock of the state of the two ports in Lagos, which were in dire need of repairs.
On the connection of the Lekki Deep Seaport in Lagos, she acknowledged that the port ought to be linked by rail to enable evacuation of cargoes by rail.
She said government had taken note of this when the port was being constructed.
She also noted that the much-touted blue economy at times sounded like a puzzle, but it could create a lot of jobs in the maritime sector, adding that if the country didn’t have oil, maritime would be the next biggest sector of the economy.
“We need to take advantage of what God has given to us. We have a large young population and wealth and there are many ways we can engage our youths in employment in the sector”, she stated.
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On the controversial floating dock, which is owned by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Saraki , agreed that the facility ought to be providing jobs fir Nigerians.
“The floating dockyard is an area that can provide jobs for the youth as it has been estimated to provide up to 20,000 jobs and we have gone to the Naval Dockyard to see how best we can put it to use. Government has this programme of bringing Nigerians out of poverty in the next ten years and we need to have the maritime industry contributing to that, the floating dockyard will see to that contribution”, she said.
The Minister also disclosed that the National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) need to be taken stock of, to appraise how it has fared since it was established.
Saraki also added that the review should include how many its cadets have access to the mandatory seatime, as well as the categories of seafarers that are required.
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