Last week, Nigeria clocked 50 years as a sovereign nation, having been granted independence by imperial Britain on October 1, 1960.
At about the same time also, the nation joined the rest of the world to mark the 2010 word maritime day. So it also offers a good opportunity to appraise the state of the nation’s maritime sector, 50 years after independence.
It is natural to think that Nigeria, being a 50 year-old sovereign nation must also have a maritime sector that is of at least an equal age. Apart from the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Ports Authourity (NPA) which existence predate 1960, virtually all the present-day maritime and allied sector agencies were created; post- independence.
At independent, the-then leaders of Nigeria probably dreamt of a vibrant maritime sector, no wonder concerted efforts were made to put the first generation agencies on a sound footing.
The efficiency with which the ‘first generation’ agencies functioned is a confirmation of the fact that their creation was not a mere formality, but their emergence was drawn from a genuine desire to engender sustainable state owned enterprises.
But, that is how far the sweet story has gone. What has become of these institutions? While some have been ‘killed’ by subsequent governments, others have been caught in the web of unstable government policies.
While it is true that Nigeria (at independence in 1960) only had about two maritime – and related agencies, namely: the Nigerian Ports Authourity (NPA) and the Nigeria Customs Service. Agencies like the Nigerian National Shipping Line, National Clearing and Forwarding Agency, Nigerdock and the Nigerian Unity Line are all gone. A few others, like the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, the then- National Maritime Authourity which has now transmuted into the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (courtesy of the merger with the Joint Maritime Labour Industrial Council) and the National Inland Waterways Authourity) are lucky to still remain afloat.
Given the potentials of Nigeria and its vast and natural aquatic coast line, and backed with a good national shipping policy and adequate implementation of relevant legislations, Nigeria should be rubbing shoulders with nations like Malaysia and even Philippines, among others; with which the journey to becoming a strong maritime nation started about the same time.
No doubt, Nigeria has grown as a maritime from what she was on October 1, 1960 to what she is today. So also have the challenges grown. In 1960, our ‘maritime worry’ (just like in other spheres of the nation) was not the mass of unemployed but trained youths who are dotting the nation’s maritime landscape. In 1960, Nigeria did not have to worry about how the nation’s imports were being freighted into the country, neither were our leaders disturbed about other inequalities. Nigeria was simply too happy to be counted among independent nations with her own Customs Service and Port Authourity.
With developments came the challenges of running these institutions to meet the growing needs of the nation and her people.
Some people have argued that the 1995 decision to liquidate the NNSL was the best; given the failure of its managers and the abuse that the national carrier was subjected to by government officials and of course the bureaucracy.
A lot of maritime industry stakeholders are reluctant to agree that the failure of NNSL should be blamed for the mass of unemployment that is plaguing the nation’s maritime sector today. But we ask: where are the national lines of sister nations like Ghana, Gambia, Cote d’ Ivoire and a host of African nations which at independence in the 1960s floated national lines; albeit, for national pride.
If government had not liquidated NNSL in 1995, it would have been privatised the same way that Nigerdock which was doing extremely well was sold under questionable circumstances.
It is most unlikely that our NNSL will be able to stand shoulder- to- shoulder with is counterpart in Malaysia; which today, is a national pride to that country.
As much as we join others to lament the decay and failure of the maritime sector and its failure to meet the yearnings of Nigerians (especially since the late 1980s), we dare say that it is also an extension of the failure of the Nigerian nation to meet the aspirations of her teeming youths.
The greatest opportunity for a better maritime sector is provided in the policy of private sector participation; a policy which has so far seen the nation’s seaports transformed and more efficiently operated.
We are happy that government; through the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is currently tinkering with the idea of a new national carrier in conjunction with the private sector.
After appraising the concept of government- private sector collaboration, we want to submit that the solution to Nigeria attaining her rightful position in the comity of maritime nations rests in government intensifying its current efforts at load-shedding its involvement in the running of the maritime sector.
The involvement should be limited to the level of what NIMASA is currently engaged in and what Nigerian ports have become; after all, the involvement of the private sector in port operations has turned out to a success.
But, by and large, Nigeria’s maritime sector is not a failure; its stunted growth is also a reflection of the slow pace or the near comatose nature of the nation’s economy and politics. The maritime sector can not grow out of the collectivity called Nigeria.
The sector’s hand is still prominently visible in all facets of the nation’s economy; be it: manufacturing, oil and gas, finance, power and so on.
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