Ugochukwu Nnadi (Deputy President, NAGAFF)
Ugochukwu Nnadi (Deputy President, NAGAFF)
The maritime bills is all about whose interest is being protected and whose interest is being sacrificed, this is what has been delaying the bills, as long as the power that be feels that their selfish interests are not being protected, things will continue to remain the way they are. We have been talking about the Maritime Security Bill before the waters were concessioned, all of a sudden to a private firm, another thing is that the legislature should stop making excuses of the bill being delayed as a result of the change of guard at the House, the National Assembly will remain but lawmakers will always change, I believe they only want to look at the bills that favour their selfish interests. In my own opinion, the only thing that can be done to help the maritime bills is to keep on appealing to the conscience of the law makers, they should think of what they can do for our country and not only what they can get from the country.
Ossai Uwaka (Business man)
I believe that no man is an island and nobody has the monopoly of knowledge, when these maritime bills were sent to the House, to some stakeholders, it is not the importance of the bill that is in question, it is about who will be in command and be controlling, they don’t care about the importance of the law to the maritime sector, for example, the CEMA bill is being antagonized today because people fail to see its importance to the Customs and to making sure that customs are well trained in order to be able to block the loopholes where government is losing money, but thank God for the enterprising young men at the House of Reps who modified the bill.
Owolabi Omotayo (Water Transporter)
It so unfortunate that in this country we allow things to happen before we take action, these bills that we are talking about that have been abandoned at the National Assembly will go a long way to assist and develop the maritime sector if it had been passed. Today, the rating of Nigeria in the maritime world is very low because everybody is working against themselves, agencies are taking over other agency’s duties and responsibilities, had these bills been passed the responsibilities would have been spelt out, but today the sector is going down and something has to be done, pressure has to be mounted on the members of the National Assembly to pass the bill. They were elected there to represent our interest so they have to do the right thing, if they do not understand what the bill is all about, they should try and get an interpreter that will explain to them the legal terms so that the bills can be passed in the interest of the nation.
Cosmas Ndimkora (NAGAFF Chair, PTML)
When the military were in power, they were ruling with decrees and fiat, and this was why they were able to achieve the little things we can still see today, because there is no bureaucratic delays, it takes immediate effect. But in a democratic setting there are certain things, I will advice caution on the side of people sending bills because they cannot be passed as in the military era, when a bill is sent, a counter bill is also sent, the Ports and Harbor bill for instance will remove certain powers from the NPA so they cannot be watching you take off almost half of what they are controlling, and there is money available that they can use to induce whoever to scuttle whatever that is happening, this happened in the CRFFN Bill, the dissenting voices against the Maritime bills are coming from the core professionals who are already grounded, people whom if the bill is passed, it will remove one or two things from them and they don’t want this, it is greed.
Osuala Nwagbara (Maritime Lawyer)
I am aware that some port industry related bills are pending at National Assembly , I can remember the Port and Harbour bill, the Chartered Institute of Shipping bill jointly sponsored by Nigerian Institute of Shipping and Certified Institute of Shipping, there is also the National Transport Commission bill, but to me, I do not think the MASECA bill that seeks to provide security for our waters is necessary. Because whatever that is supposed to be done with the law that will promulgate maritime security institutions is being done by NIMASA. By and large, I want to say that those bills are ripe for debate and passage into law and I want to urge the National Assembly to double its effort to get these go through it and promulgate it into law. In a nutshell I think that they are all overdue.
Chris Sadoh (Stars Maritime Academy)
For a couple of years now, there are lots of maritime bills in the corridor of the National Assembly, but nothing has been done about them. We all know that for a bill to be passed into law it must go through due process and consultations, so having attempted to promote or sponsor a bill for the benefit of the maritime industry and the economy as a whole, the sponsors still need to stay focused for the approval of the bills. If the Chartered Institute of Shipping bill is passed into law today, it will change maritime education system in the country. Therefore the sponsors of the various bills still need to work harder.
Adele Matthew (Dockworker)
The bills are delicate to the maritime sector and I believe that stakeholders in the industry are in proper position to fight for the bills at the National Assembly to be passed into because it is of good interest . The ports and habour bill , the Chartered Institute of Shipping bill are all good bills that tend to reposition the industry.
Eniola Odulaja (Stakeholder)
The bills have been abandoned at the National Assembly no doubt because of some political reasons. Most of the politicians do not really understand the importance of the bills. However the minister of transport has a role to play in ensuring that the bills are passed into law, because they are to make our maritime industry to move forward, I believe the minister of transport has a role to play for the bills to see the light of the day.
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