Capt. Adewale Ishola (Master Mariner)
It is already stated in the Act that sets up the agencies, the Act has already made provisions for the setting up of boards; they are only following the guidelines set up in the law, but putting the right people there is now the problem. My main concern is who they are going to appoint at the helm of affairs, because getting the right calibre of people to be there at the moment is the issue. There is too much of political consideration instead of professionalism.
Capt. Adewale Ishola (Master Mariner)
It is already stated in the Act that sets up the agencies, the Act has already made provisions for the setting up of boards; they are only following the guidelines set up in the law, but putting the right people there is now the problem. My main concern is who they are going to appoint at the helm of affairs, because getting the right calibre of people to be there at the moment is the issue. There is too much of political consideration instead of professionalism.
Alhaji A. S. Adigun (Chairman, Murphy Shipping)
The agencies should have a board which they can report to, the board will control their activities and the board should be helpful, but the question we should be asking is that, in some cases, are the constituted people the right set of people that should be there? In fact the people that ought to be at the helm of affairs of the board should primarily be those that are professionals and career people, and not people who are being put their basically on political patronage.
Engr. Olu Akinsoji (Former Rector/ MAN, Oron)
The Act that established NIMASA made provision for the setup of the board of directors, for the purpose of ensuring that the national policy is executed in line with the functions establishing the agencies, the only problem we have with the board is that the law was not strictly complied with, because the laws states that it should be people who have experience and knowledge that are qualified to be appointed, they have not complied with the provisions of that law. So they may not be able to fulfill the aspirations of the people who conceive the idea of having a board of directors, they don’t have the knowledge of the functions of the agencies, how are they going to direct the functions to be executed if they don’t have the deep knowledge of the functions that the law provides for the agencies, they may not be able to direct it properly, so the agencies will not be able to fulfill the functions.
Chima Sampson (Registrar, NIS)
Anything board appointments is always political, in my opinion there is no need for all these positions, the main thing I am concerned about is the operations, the board members are all policy makers, they are not important to monitor the day to day maritime activities, which is what I am concerned about, we have a lot of issues to tackle in the maritime industry, so bringing board, we have no problem with that, but it is only just political.
Venerable Mike Adebiyi (Chaplain, the Seafarers Centre)
The setting up of these boards is long overdue because it is going to make the ports to move forward, this is also to move the industry forward. The minister deemed it fit to put certain people at the helms of affairs to move the industry forward. The board is just to be set up to serve as some form of control on the activities in these agencies. I am not against the setting up of these agencies at all because in my own opinion, it is the in-thing in politics since the Minister is a politician himself, but the board members must be professionals, but if it is just to seek positions for the boys so as to involve them in some areas, then that is a wrong approach, but if you do it in order to put sanity in the industry, then we will know it is the best.
Chris Sadoh (Stars Maritime Academy)
Setting up of boards is not a new thing, if you go to other nations of the world; they also have agencies, so Nigeria is not an exemption, the main reason for setting up of boards is to be able to shoulder the responsibilities and meet set objectives of setting up the agencies. There is nothing wrong with the setting up of the board, the main question is that are the board of directors ready to work? They should be ready to function in their various jurisdiction, and be able to carry out their duties as at when due. However, even if the constitution of these boards of directors is done politically, it doesn’t matter, what matters most is that they should be ready to meet the responsibilities given to them and be able to function.
Demola Irinyemi (Senior Lecturer, Fortune Business School)
The introduction of the board is only to expand our expenses, we are spending so much money, and we are not looking at the aspect of reducing costs and making service delivery more efficient. For me, we don't need the board because with the introduction of these boards, decisions to be carried out will be delayed, the board is normally a political platform to siphon money. We don't need the board, what we need is to allow these executives, especially the CEO and his team to do the work, if they are allowed to do the work; we are going to see them to be even more responsive, effective and efficient. But with the introduction of the board, there will be so many delays when issues arise, they will need to take it to the board to look at before decisions are taken.
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