“The Sudden Appearance Of Maritime Security Bill Is A Threat To Port And Harbour Bill”…Otunba Kunle Folarin
After being around for close to 40 years, who else is better qualified to discuss the state of the Nigerian shipping sector than Otunba Kunle Folarin? I doubt if there is. Apart from being the Vice Chairman of Port Consultative Council, he is also the Chairman, National Seafarers’ Welfare Board, among other engagements. Somehow, Otunba Folarin has not featured on this page since October, 2007 when this newspaper made its heroic debut in the maritime industry, but last week, I was able to scale all hurdles and succeeded in pinning him down for this lengthy but insightful interaction. Please, savour this first part of a two- part encounter with this shipping technocrat.
First, I want to express our condolences to you and through you to members of the Port Consultative Council Over The Death of Dr Waheed Kareem.
Thank you very much, thank you.
What do you remember about Dr Kareem who happened to chairman and you are his second in command
It is a very difficult task to talk about what you want to remember Alhaji Dr. Waheed Kareem for; from the perspective of an innovator, from the perspective of a performer or as an icon in the port and maritime sector of Nigeria economy. But then, we should make an effort to probably identify the key areas where he has left indelible marks, the port industry reform and transformation from the status of a typical port that is handling cargoes and husbanding ships to the point of privatization, concessioning, modernization and attracting direct investments into the ports,; all these happened in Dr. Kareem’s time, he was in the forefront to identify the areas of reform, he was also a player in ensuring that the reform is actually carried out to the point that his dream of seeing an emerging modern port that responds and is competitive in the region was actualized in his time. Apart from that, there are certain initiatives that happened in his time, don’t forget that one of the greatest woes of the industry and perhaps the country at large was the issue of corruption and Dr. W.A. Kareem set up the anti- corruption committee which actually contributed a lot in identifying areas where corruption could be checked, the anti-corruption committee operated at a level of a watchdog in the port industry cutting across the ports, customs and all the key agencies providing services in the ports. In the region, he was among those who ‘midwifed’ the Regional Trade and Transport Associations (RITA) that cuts across all the major countries in West Africa and this is a formidable association that was formed recently and of which he was the president. When you look at the international level and even locally here, there is no policy of government that he did not contribute either ideas or in fact performing a role either as a committee member, in conferences, public hearings, at the National Assembly and so on. He indeed played a major part.
Who is Otunba Kunle Folarin?
Otunba Kunle Folarin is a private person, but he is a player in the maritime sector, he has a career spanning almost four decades in international shipping. He originally rained as an economist and a maritime economist. He is very cerebral and interested in seeing the growth of the industry, particularly given the enormous potential of Nigeria water resources. Otunba Folarin is a committed player and will continue to be a committed player.
The IMO has declared 2010 as the year of the seafarer, do you (in your capacity as the chairman, National Seafarers Welfare Board) think that the Nigerian seafarer has his fair share of good fortunes
First of all let us look at seafaring in Nigeria, from the early 1970s when Nigeria (as a deliberate government policy)? decided to take part in international trade by acquiring vessels and establishing the national shipping line, that was a time it became compelling for Nigerian government to make sure that they build capacity for the national shipping line and the seafaring cadre was developed where a lot of young Nigerians were sent abroad as cadets to various institutions and also as marine engineers and so on. We had a deliberate policy of government and also there was at that time an establishment that will make use of their services, the Nigerian economy is import- dependent therefore it was obvious that there will always be business for each organizations and agencies that were set up by government. Over time, Nigerian ports also needed to develop harbour services and the port authority also got unto capacity building by sending their employees to various institutions abroad to be trained and they came back to work in the harbours department of the Nigerian Ports Authority. The seafaring cadre started developing and supplying other agencies and organizations that needed seafarers; this is on the officers level and on the ratings level, most of the European companies and conferences that were trading with Nigeria were also recruiting able seafarers to work on their vessels and that was the time the Nigerian Shipping Federation was formed, the federation was formed as a pool whereby ratings and other cadre of seafarers could be recruited to work on vessels trading in the West and Central African region. There was therefore a deliberate policy of training and capacity building and placement for those who are in that sector. After that was the demise of the conference lines, the need for ratings declined so the conference lines were no more and individual members were free to recruit their ratings from anywhere in the world, some of them went to the Philippines to recruit ratings, some of them went to India and some other countries.
Were the conference lines determining who to employ?
Yes, because the conference lines were members of the Nigeria Shipping Federation, so they are stakeholders in that organization that formed a pool house for seafarers, so there was encouragement and enthusiasm for people to be called seafarers because they know that they will always get the job because the conference lines who were part of the establishment of the pool will always take from their own establishment. So when the conferences were dissolved due to the philosophy of free trade without trade barriers or discriminations, the conferences collapsed and when it did, the shipping federation became less patronized by shipping companies. As that was, the national shipping line was declining from the height whereby they had over 30 vessels to a point and time where they had less than 10, in spite of the fact that this would have been a boom time for them because of the UNCTAD that allows Nigeria to carry 40 percent of the cargo generated by international trade, so with the decline of that, the seafarers that were there started to suffer unemployment, those that have been trained had no opportunity of further training. So compliance with the new competence demand by international shipping could not be met. They were not able to acquire, the SWTC and many other requirements, the existing seafarers were not able to get that training.
Will it be correct to infer therefore that it was the collapse of the conference lines that killed NNSL?
No, the collapse of the conference lines actually affected the job opportunities for ratings, the liberalization of trade among other issues of mismanagement led to the demise of the NNSL and when it collapsed, there was no opportunity for continuous training or job opportunities for Nigerian seafarers. So the problem of Nigerian seafarers started from the point of lack of opportunities for human capacity development, for competence and as well as competence for jobs because they can no longer compete; a man who qualified 30 years ago needs to update his competence, and if you don’t have opportunity for seatime and for further training, you cannot say that you are a competent master mariner without you going to sea, so you must have a discharge book that logged the amount of time you spent at sea for you to be competent, when there is no such opportunity for placement then you are not going to have the opportunity to be competent and therefore you are not competitive in the world market, unlike the Philippines and the Indians and Indonesians and nationals of other third worlds countries.
What can be done to enhance the marketability of Nigerian seafarers?
First of all, the Nigerian international trade attracts over 4,000 vessels calling at Nigerian ports a year, this suggests openly that Nigeria has the capacity; first of all you look at the market size, the marketability comes from the point of competence, and being able to develop existing seafarers to be able to meet the new skills that are demanded in the trade. To make Nigerian seafarers marketable, you need to undergo series of reforms in the seafaring cadre, the first thing is for us to agree and understand that majority of our seafarers are ageing, those that have been properly trained in the 1970s and 1960s are ageing, so we need a deliberate succession plan at the officers level and at the ratings level. There is need for a deliberate human capacity development project, this is not a recruitment plan for work, but first to make them qualified, to make them acceptable to the international shipping community and for them to be competitive with others who are supplying seafarers to the world. One of the ways to achieve that is what NIMASA is trying to do now for the officers cadre through the NSDP programme which is a deliberate policy to train young people in the areas of navigation and also in marine engineering, when this cadre of people come back qualified they will replace the ageing cadre and also be marketable to the world because Nigeria for instance has LNG which probably has a fleet of over 10 vessels and at least 60 officers are immediately required in this sector, so these are some of the things that can be done.
Aren’t you worried that the Port and Harbour bill is taking too long to sail through at the National Assembly?
The issue of the ports and harbour bill is a mystery; don’t forget that this bill has been on for discussions by stakeholders at the National Assembly for over quite a while, there was the first one about creating two autonomous ports which was put aside, there was also this issue of National Transport Commission which has also been going on for equal number of years because somebody want to situate where technical shipping should be, there is a vested interest somewhere. There is a vested interest in who will control commercial shipping, maritime security and so on, these are the issues that are deliberately stopping the bill from being passed. If you look at the port and harbours bill that has been debated, it is all encompassing but then suddenly we had two bills coming from the sides, the maritime security bill which is taking part of the existing aspect of the bill, then we also have the National Transport Commission bill which is also taking part of the port and harbours bill, so you have created a kind of dilemma, where should the National Assembly go and what should be their decision. As long as we have these delays, things will continue to go bad, all these reforms that we have been trying to canvass over the years will never see the surface. People are talking of high port charges and that nobody is controlling it, people are talking of the need to ensure safer channels in terms of security, incidents of attacks on our waters are rampant, there are lots of issues. In the main time, while we are looking at where the ports and harbours bill will go, all these things that are creating serious problems in the maritime sector. The ports and harbour bill must be passed in a way that all the reforms that have been carried out in the industry like privatizations and concessioning will be taken care of, so that at least we will have a legal frame work of operating in the ports.
Are you saying that the delay is justifiable?
The delay is causing confusion because we have three bills and each of them is purporting to perform the same function, this is the problem and until we can actually localize or locate particular functions in the contentious areas, it may be difficult. We all know these areas; somebody wants some people to be in charge of maritime security, some want the bill to control the port in terms of tariffs and charges, some want to control the technical aspect of shipping, so it is a great confusion and this is what has happened in previous times where there is duplication in the NIWA Act and the port authority Act, the Nigerian shippers Act is a duplication of what is happening in the NIMASA Act, so there will be a lot of confusion in terms of responsibility and mandate and that is why most of the agencies were able to escape responsibilities because each will assume the other is doing it, while nothing is actually being done.
Will you say that port concession is a success?
Port concessioning exercise itself is desirable because the objective of the government is not difficult to understand, government wants a situation whereby we will have a modern port system that is productive and competitive in the region; if not in the world so that Nigerian port can rightly earn the status of a hub port system. On the other hand, government wants to reduce the cost of doing business in the port at the same time attracting foreign investment in port development. Apart from the effort of the last five to six years ago when the private quay was developed in Tin Can Island port, it was in 1977 that the government last developed any new port, apart from what has happened in Onne, in Rivers state whereby the operators improved on the infrastructure which they met on the ground which was started in 1984. Government now wants direct investments in the ports so that they can use the funds in developing or rehabilitating the infrastructure of the port because apart from port operations there is still need to continue to maintain port infrastructures so government will concentrate on making the port efficient and structured in way that it can produce and operate round-the-clock. Now talking about the implementation of the concessioning regime it is a different ball game because you find an agency of government which is the BPE that midwifed the concessioning regime, but we have the NPA who are the custodians of port operations also being part of that process, but not a major player in the decision, the decision of who gets a concession squarely rested with BPE, then you have the other stakeholders who are more or less contributing in a way and regulating functions in the ports, they were not part of the process, it was after these tings came up that questions were now being asked about who should supervise the post-concessioning regime, who should monitor it and to whom are the concessionaires answerable to, there are lots of questions being asked now, but they should have been asked before now.
Will they have been able to capture all these in the concession agreement?
Of course, because the agreement will spell out the obligations of the concessionaires to the agency of government that is giving the responsibility of supervising the concessioning project, it will also spell out the mandate of the concessionaires, when you talk about obligations, you talk about what is going to be their investments, what are the level of productivity expected of them, what are the level of charges they can levy, the infrastructures they should put in place, the human capacity development that should be in place, these are the obligations that already should have been spelt out in the concession agreement, so that the concessionaires knows their obligations before going into the agreement.
How do you think that the Local Content Act can assist Cabotage implementation?
The maritime industry will of course benefit because there are so many articles in that law that give opportunities to the maritime sector. In fact in total, it’s saying that all the cargo generated in the sector should be by carried by Nigerians, so it is a D-day for Nigerians but they should not cry Hurray like they did when the Cabotage Act was passed, a more aggressive input by stakeholders is necessary.
What is your advise for indigenous ship owners under this dispenmsation?
Indigenous ship owners have another opportunity now, they should stop talking about being sidelined, the Act is for everybody, and if the NNPC is not enforcing the Act, then they can go to court and ask the court to interpret it, or if they find that there is somewhere somebody is lukewarm or exploiting the weakness in the law, they should go back to the National Assembly immediately and ask for an amendment to the perceived loophole, they cannot warehouse loopholes and cry foul, there will be no change.
You are playing a critical role in the dredging of River Niger, are you not worried that the project is being delayed?
You know that the River Niger dredging has taken about 38 years to be actualised. It is aimed at providing regional trade, inter state trade, relieving the road from heavy transport, providing alternatives and generally enhancing the well-being of the people within the coastal states and also within the riverine areas. Our beloved late president flagged- off this dredging in September 2009 and of course the ministry also spearheaded a lot of activities to ensure that the project is not only accomplished but satisfactorily completed. But there are two phases to it; there is the dredging phase and also the post-dredging phase. The post- dredging stage is what we call the maintenance dredging while the first stage is capital dredging. I believe that the capital dredging is what is still going on now, there are also some technical issues that are part of the dredging, you can only dredge at a certain season when the water level is high, if not you will not be able to achieve the level you want because of the flow of the sand, so there is always a time to dredge, but then there is need for the companies that have been given that contract to realize that it is a national contract, it is not just a contract, but an important project that is aimed at developing the country, it is the only project that has cut across 156 communities and across eight states. I, as chairman of the community relations committee, I have travelled to all the eight states, had meetings with all the governments, commissioners and Governors and visited more than 150 communities explaining the benefits and hearing their fears and aspirations. Also on the issue of environment impact assessment which is a major issue that was raised, government has conducted environmental impact assessment before the dredging started and in certain areas where they felt there is a need to do more environmental impact assessment, I believe they are doping that, but what is important is that this project must be put on the front burners because as I said, it is the only single project that affects several communities at a go and it cannot be seen as just a routine project, it’s a project that will touch the lives of the riverine communities, its going to awaken their trade, its going to increase their commerce, increase the tempo of their social interactions. After the dredging, there has been the issue of river ports, I believe the president has approved up to six or eight river ports and six of them are ongoing now, when you have a river port at least barges can carry cargo of various modes from the seaport to these river ports and from there the distribution will be easier. Don’t forget that even in the early 1940s and 1950s, people transport a lot of goods from Okitipupa in Ondo state to Lagos, items like palm oil, fish, fire wood and so on are moved from that riverine community to Lagos by water and I know some are still in the business. Water transport has always played a big role in commerce and industry and in fact in other metropolitan areas, the ferry services are supposed to ease the traffic on the roads, but this has not been well developed and I think the opening of the River Niger is supposed to encourage state government, local government and even the entrepreneurs to start providing ferry services between one community and the other so as to reduce the need to go into the city and transverse almost two hundred kilometres.
Discussion about this post