The Federal Government has said that the movement of petroleum products by oil tankers on Nigerian waters has attracted activities of sea robbers and pirates more than the cargo vessels.
This was disclosed by the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Maritime, Mr. Leke Oyewole in an exclusive chat with Shipping Position Daily.
The Federal Government has said that the movement of petroleum products by oil tankers on Nigerian waters has attracted activities of sea robbers and pirates more than the cargo vessels.
This was disclosed by the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Maritime, Mr. Leke Oyewole in an exclusive chat with Shipping Position Daily.
Oyewole said that statistics have shown that petroleum tankers attract pirates more than dry cargo vessels. He however pointed out that cargo vessels are currently being made to pay more insurance premiums before coming into Nigeria.
"If you take look at the number of piracy attacks on vessels, it does not happen to cargo vessels, it happens only to tankers, but the cargo ships pay more for the goods they bring to Nigeria as insurance premiums" he said.
Oyewole however stated that the government is embarking on a campaign to ensure that the perception of the rest of the world towards Nigeria insecurity challenges is changed.
According to him, the collaborative efforts of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Navy have been able to reduce piracy on Nigerian waters to the barest minimum.
"We are not there yet, but I know we are making progress" he said.
Continuing, he stated that, "We are trying to tell the world that Nigeria is not insecure as people think, we are also trying to embarked on a campaign, we need to tell people that it is not as bad as they think"
"Considering the security challenges in the North, the mariner knows how far Maiduguri is from Lagos, but that notwithstanding, it is one Nigeria we are talking about, when you talk about the challenges in Maiduguri you are talking about Nigeria" he said.
Oyewole however stated that one of the major challenges of indigenous ship owners in Nigeria has to do with lifting of petroleum cargoes, but he however reassured that government is working assiduously to correct the trend.
"Sooner than anybody ever imagined, the President is coming up with a joker" he assured
However, in a chat with our correspondent also, a vessel owner and former President of the Nigerian Trawler Owners Association (NITOA); Barrister Margaret Orakwusi confirmed that there are still challenges facing indigenous players in the industry.
Orakwusi stated that reasons Nigerian vessel owners have not been considered to lift petroleum product was due to their inability to acquire ships that will enable them compete with the International Oil Companies (IOC)
"We still have a lot of problems, I don't believe we have done very well in that regard, we need to increase the capacity of owning ships by indigenous players"
"We have a law; the Cabotage law, but for us to take benefit of that law we have to start to own vessels, but I think our today is better than our yesterday and I hope more players will come into the industry" she said.
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