In this interview with Shipping Position Daily newspaper, seasoned master mariner; Captain Adamu Biu talked about the proposed construction of deep seaports in some parts the country. He also touched on the much-expected dry ports projects. He told our correspondent; Roland Ekama that rather than establish a maritime university, the Federal Government should place more attention on the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron in Akwa Ibom State. The foremost master mariner and former Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Shippers Council also talked about his post-retirement engagements.
“I think there is need to establish one deep seaport first”
“I think we should have one body of ship owners, we are too small in this country to get more than one association of ship owners”
Having left the industry as the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, what is your overall observation of the maritime industry?
The first thing that comes to mind is the recession which has affected almost every facet of our economy, but that is a passing phase because it will definitely go and I see a lot of focus and prospects in the maritime industry; most especially in the area of continuity. When you don't have continuity; most especially, you find out that the zeal to push through to get result will never be achieved, and you will never get result and that I think is happening in some government agencies in the maritime sector. The leadership in some of the organisations in the maritime sector has not been blessed as such, because there have been too many changes in leadership. When you have too much frequency of changes in leadership you will naturally have some amputation of programmes. For example, if a man comes and says he wants to execute a programme; another man comes and says no, it is not A but B; another will come and say C; this will not help in any form. Look at the parastatals in the maritime industry, hardly will you see a Chief Executive Officer that has spent more than four years in office and that is a problem, which has to change. It is either we have the right people with the right knowledge and drive or whoever that is appointed is encouraged; which of course with government checks and balances must be in place. If somebody is bad while in office that person is indeed bad, but I think there is need for continuity; a person who stays in office for more than four years can achieve something but if you are in office for just two years as CEO, there is nothing such person can do to bring about development or growth in the industry and that is it.
Sir you talked about continuity in the agencies, please kindly tell us the programmes that we are looking at?
There are so many programmes in questions and I can only speak strictly about the Nigerian Shippers’ Council. The council has been able to make the headways it has made for a couple of reasons; it is a place that has steady leadership. From the establishment of Nigerian Shippers Council in 1978 till date, I can tell you that we have not had many CEOs. I don't think we are more than six. But take a look at NIMASA which was established in 1987 how many Chief Executives has the government appointed? Therefore they cannot make continuous impact in the area of progress. Now there are so many reasons why changes must take place. If you say somebody is bad or corrupt as a CEO, it is a different ball game, but these things happen because none-industry practitioners are appointed and I think that if you have somebody who is well known in the industry; who has spent about 30 to 40 years in the industry just to come and say he wants to do some stupid stuff may not work, but if you have somebody who is coming on board for a particular purpose; he may have something to showcase once he is allowed to focus on that particular aspect. Mind you, the industry is not an all-comers affair, because shipping is dynamic and in a place like Shippers Council there is room for continuity and people are allowed to do their jobs and afterwards there are results to show for it. Supposing we are there as leaders for two or three years, I don't think we can achieve anything; most especially when you are brought from outside the industry. Two years is not enough for CEO to understand the industry; talk less of adding value and these are some of the problems I am talking about. What is happening in our industry is happening elsewhere and there is nothing new and that is what I can say about continuity because we need people that can be allowed to spend some time in office, then you can assess them in the area of performance and decide if they have been able to effect some changes or to push the organisation forward in achieving desired results or goals and if he is not forthcoming, then there must be a reason and there is need to find out what's the problem.
As a foremost master mariner in Nigeria, it appears that there are so many issues affecting MAN, Oron. What do you think is the best way out of these challenges?
I am not in a position to advice the minister of transportation on the state of MAN Oron. I have made my comments during the World Maritime Day, fortunately the minister agreed to my points; that the issues of establishing a maritime university I think should be kept aside for now and for the time being. I am not saying it’s a bad thing to establish a new maritime university, but we have an academy that can be upgraded and if we have such, why don't we upgrade it instead of starting all over to create a new maritime university. To me, it does not make economic sense, because what you will spend in upgrading MAN Oron is probably not going to be half of what we will use to establish a new school and if Nigeria is crying about recession and somebody is saying establish a maritime university when we have so many things to contend with, then it doesn't make sense. Politics aside, I am not a politician, so I wouldn't know the political implications of establishing a school – university or polytechnic in some locations and all that, but I am speaking from a technical perspective and I think we can upgrade MAN Oron; make it a place we can be proud of, a place that can be useful to only to Nigerians, a place where almost all the African countries can come to train their children, we can do it, we already have the space, we already have half the infrastructure, all we need is upgrading and I think that is all I can say but it is not an advice to the minister rather it’s my personal view.
You made a strong presentation on the establishment of deep seaports project in the country at the world maritime day held recently; can you kindly shed more lights on the issue?
You don't have to go to school for common sense. If you notice in that paper presentation, I also spoke about NNSL. I said one of the things that killed NNSL is buying 19 ships in one day and nobody does such things in the world, because they will age at the same time, therefore the cost of maintaining those ships was what actually killed all the ships because they couldn't manage them anymore.
What would have been the best solution?
Spacing is key. If we had spaced the purchase of those ships, I don't think we should be talking about how NNSL failed. We are supposed to buy like three or two ships, then space it before buying another batch; otherwise when you buy vessels in large numbers, they will age at the same time; which is the common sense that I am taking about because the cost of maintaining those 19 ships at the same time became a problem. Now back to the deep seaports question, I think there is need to establish one deep seaport first and foremost, because when you establish one port running, it gives room to understudy new port and in five years, you can start planning for another, if you build one new port you will rest assured that the port will last for 10 years; the industry is dynamic ,the industry is not static therefore the kind of vessels we have today is not the same vessels we had 10 years ago ,it is not the same vessels we will see in the next 10 years to come and that is why the ports of Tin Can Island and Warri are gradually becoming obsolete because they can't handle modern vessels, it’s so simple and that is what is done in other places. We are building ports that don't have rail network; Tin Can Island and Calabar don't have rails, Sapele and Warri ports became an issue due to the fact that the two ports are in the same location and at the end Sapele was given to the Navy. Are we going to repeat that same process? These people that are advocating for deep seaports, where were they when the issue of Warri and Sapele became an issue? And that is why I advocated for one deep seaport and in some years’ time, start another. When we start with one, we can be able to understudy the trends and the challenges and then learn from it before coming up with another deep seaport. The Lekki and Badagry ports project will give the future headache because Tin Can Island, Calabar, Sapele ports were built the same period and you know what is happening to some of those ports at the moment. Money that was supposed to be pumped into other things are used for projects which can't be viable in the future and that is my take on that. And that is why I said let us start with one deep seaport, as time goes by maybe after 10 years we would have seen how it works, we would have seen what benefit we derive from it, we would have learnt certain lessons from it before we can start to develop the next deep seaport at another location entirely and to also make sure that those ports are connected with rail and good network of roads. It’s so simple to understand if we are sincere to ourselves, but I am not a politician. The issue of deep seaports is just like what we have in the education sector. We have so many universities in the country but what is the quality. Are we looking for quality or quantity?
The issue of the dry ports came to the fore recently when the Executive Secretary of Shippers Council threatened to withdraw licenses of concessionaires who fail to complete their facilities before end of 2017, what is your view on that?
I would not want to make too much comment on that because the present Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council knows the story from the beginning till now. He also knows what government has done, and he has his directives from the government as well. It will be difficult for me to say it should be done this way or that way. But I know that the ICD did not take off for a lot of reasons. I think the initial concept of the ICD was misunderstood by the operators. Maybe the concessionaires did not fully understand that it was not going to be funded by the government. Maybe they thought government will fund it then they will run it and make their money, but that was not the concept of the government. It was supposed to be built operate and transfer. But some of them felt government will build then they will run it. Then the issue of making the ICD to be ports of destination is fantastic and is the aspect I love mostly in the ICD project. I know my successor would be in a better position to talk more about it, because he is definitely on top of it.
What have you been doing since your retirement?
I know nothing, but shipping, thus I am still into shipping. I have been into shipping since 1971 to date, nothing else. I have done nothing but shipping, I can't go to my village for farming because I am not farmer. I can't do farming at the moment, but people are doing it for me. Right now, i am a ship charterer and that was what I was doing before I came into the Council as the CEO. I am a non-vessel shipping company owner. I don't own a vessel.
What is your view about the proliferation of ship owners associations?
Don't push me into making enemies, I am not a ship owner. I have friends who are members in those associations. I would not want to comment on that and I want to be a bit careful, because I don't know their workings. But on a serious note, I think we should have one body of ship owners, we are too small in this country to get more than one association of ship owners
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