Following the high unemployment rate among Nigerian seafarers, the Joint Body of the Nigerian Seafarers Professional Group has called on the Federal Government to empower ship building in the country.
This is even as they advocated for a ban on the importation of vessels into Nigeria, stressing that it negates the provisions of the Cabotage Act which stipulates that ships should be built and crewed and owned by Nigerians.
Speaking at an event organized in commemoration of the 2023 International Day of Seafarers in Lagos on Sunday, a seasoned seafarer and Secretary-General of the Merchant Seafarers Association of Nigeria (MESAN), Capt Oluwasegun Alfred Oniye lamented that 70 percent of trained seafarers in Nigeria are unemployed, adding that currently, 80% of vessels operating in Nigerian waters are owned and manned by foreigners.
According to him, this is a clear violation of the Nigerian Cabotage Act which is supposed to be implemented and monitored by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). Oniye informed that the implementation of the Cabotage Act is enough to generate not less than $50 billion for the maritime industry yearly and create jobs for over 15,000 Nigerians through the development of indigenous ship building and ownership.
The seafarer however advised NIMASA to ensure that the accruals from the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) is used for the empowerment of ship building capacity in Nigeria instead of losing the foreign exchange by going out to import ships.
Oniye also noted that indigenous ship building and development will resuscitate the activities of steel rolling and foundries at Ajaokuta which will adequately contribute to the GDP of the country.
In his words: “If the law says any ship that would sail within the Nigerian waterways must be built here, so why are we importing ships into the country? We are already building ships in Nigeria, all we need is to fine-tune the technical aspects. The approved CVFF should not go out. If the ships are built here, manned and owned by Nigerians, it will create jobs here, so, if we are taking such money out, it is like taking money to buy unemployment to be shipped into Nigeria.
“Taking such money out of Nigeria now is going to cause Nigeria another havoc. Anyone who said CVVF should be taken outside for the importation of ships is an enemy of this country. Nigeria is overdue and we must start building ships locally” Oniye noted.
On his part, the Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Captain Rotimi Ogunsakin lamented that the Federal Government is not encouraging implementation of the Cabotage Act in Nigeria.
Capt Ogunsakin however made an appeal to the new government under President Bola Tinubu on the student loan policy, adding that Nigerian seafarers are in dire need of such loans to further improve their limited certificate and qualifications,
“According to the Cabotage Act when cargo comes from abroad, if that cargo has to leave Lagos to Warri, it must be on a ship owned by a Nigerian, but it is not like that presently. So, all those people that own these vessels, they are the one collecting the economy, so the maritime alone is supposed to make Nigeria buoyant, all these money they are borrowing, maritime can pay it out”
“Nigerian seafarers are not getting paid enough, you just collect salary and you use everything to renew your certificate, and you are not even guaranteed of getting the job back. Let them bring this loan to seafarers” Ogunsakin pleaded.
