Babatunde Samuel (Registrar, POTMAN)
In my opinion, it should be a combination of both government and the private sector because the modern concept today is public private partnership (PPP), the government should be able to put up the structure while the private sector should now flesh it up in terms of providing the expertise required in running it.
The national carrier will promote the image of Nigeria, Ghana which is a neighbouring country has a national carrier and also talk of other big giants like America, United kingdom and so on, they all have national carrier, another thing is that it will also promote the security of this country, most especially we should try to have the understanding that the Cabotage law in Nigeria also anchored on our national carrier.
Capt. Abiodun Ishola (Master mariner)
First of all there are lots of positive reasons why a nation should have a national fleet, apart from it being a national asset for employment and training of people, there are many other points that makes it mandatory for us to have it.
What the government should do is to first of all look back to why NNSL and NUL failed so that we don’t make the same mistake again; Nigeria is an oil producing country and we are supposed to be carrying and exporting our own crude oil just like what Norway is doing; they export 100 per cent of their crude on their own vessels; so all the freight comes back to their country,. But, in Nigeria it is zero freight because the oil is exported through foreign vessels.
The situation needs to be corrected but the private sector alone cannot fund shipping that is why government should fund the shipping sector, give them the ship plus the cargo and let’s see if the indigenous players will not be able to repay.
If government should buy these ships for the indigenous operators, we already have the cargo they can carry and this means that they will earn freight and from that freight, they will be paying back gradually to the government.
Goffrey Okorie (Depot manager)
I believe the private sector should be allowed to participate fully and take sole responsibility because, once its government owned it becomes a national cake where people will now jostle to have their own share of it, government may have a good intention to float another carrier but the people implementing it might be self centered to the extent that they will always want to divert money into their foreign accounts or their relations’ foreign accounts and thereby thwarting government’s good intention.
If we must call a spade a spade I think the initiative should be 100 per cent private, sole private operation will bring about maintenance because by the time these people invest money, they will want to recoup it back, they will also ensure that they make use of vessels that are of international standard and can last over time until they will be able to hand it over. Nigerians have a care-free attitude and nobody will want to protect anything that belongs to government just like the public schools which are practically dead now.
Government has tried it before and it failed so I think they should not go back to it, they should allow the private sector to start it from the beginning and it will work.
Gantima Bilima (IMO consultant)
Lets’ take for example as it is seen in the USA and other countries where government has decided to remove their hands totally from the commercial ventures, They have now been asked to come back, because government still has a custodian’s role to see that they channel the general principles of the commerce, otherwise the private sector is so structured in such a way that profit maximization always frustrate developments in the country. So to a large extent I think the government should be a part of the new scheme in other to play its role as custodians.
Olanife Adeoye (Oil marketer)
I don’t agree to government’s involvement because it will end up becoming a government project and the issue of federal character plus the issue of man-know-man will always come in, at the end of the day, it will cease to function just like the other government parastatals like NEPA and NITEL because they were not managed as a profit oriented organization, they were being financed by the government and so the people on duty take it as a government work were there is no room for efficiency and effectiveness.
But, on the other way round, for a project that will take a large sum of money like this, most individual may not have adequate capital to finance it, so I will want to agree that the government should participate on a lesser basis by owning less than 50% per cent of the shares.
If government has the majority shares the controlling interest will be there. Why I support this is that in the future the government will gradually withdraw their share and sell it to the publics.
Tokunboh Oguntomisin (Depot manager)
All over the world there is no where that we don’t have this kind of innovation, but its just that in Nigeria a lot of people are not doing what they should be doing and that is why we always encounter problems.
If the government can concession the constructions of the Lagos-Ibadan express way then I think they ought to do same with the NNSL because it will allow for efficiency and professionalism which will at the end of the day yield results.
The government can only get involve because of security and national pride while the private sector takes over the rest in terms of management.
Abdurasaak Fadahunsi (Importer)
What is a national carrier in the first place, it is a government fleet where the government have total control and it has a lot of opportunities for government in terms of investment. Trained seafarers (as we know) don’t have the opportunity of going on foreign vessel, by the time we have a national carrier we will be able to place our seafarers on these vessels and so that they can gain experience and expertise, this will position them for foreign opportunity because one of the reasons why our seafarers have not been able to up their profession skill is because we do not have a national carrier.
I believe government should float another national carrier but in doing this they must ensure that the right people are appointed in key position to run it, there should be accountability and punishment should be meted out in case of any mismanagement.
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