Stakeholders in Nigeria’s maritime sector have identified a lack of full implementation of the Cabotage Act, conspiracies among manning agents, shipping companies, and labour unions as contributing factors to the country’s heavy reliance on foreign seafarers.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) recently raised concerns over the whereabouts of Nigerian seafarers who were trained under the National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
According to ITF’s Africa Regional Secretary, Safiyanu Muhammed, despite spending more than N16 billion on training of over 2000 seafarers under the NSDP that is being sponsored by NIMASA, Nigeria has no visible presence on the list of nations with seafarers.
The ITF also added that, Africa accounts for only 78,000 of the over 1 million certified seafarers serving on international merchant ships globally.
However, Nigeria seafarers who spoke to our correspondent last week cited real reasons behind the country’s continued reliance on foreign seafarers. They attributed this to alleged conspiracies and inadequate implementation of regulations, amongst others.
In a chat with the Secretary General of the Merchant Seafarers Association of Nigeria (MESAN), Captain Alfred Oniye Alfred Oniye, he highlighted the disparity in wages between Nigerian and foreign seafarers. He said this is evidence of a deep-rooted conspiracy between ship owners, manning agents, and labour unions.
Captain Oniye pointed out that Nigeria pays its seafarers significantly lower wages of N150,000 to N200,000 compared to their foreign counterparts who earn as high as $1,500 monthly for the same work. He emphasized that this huge difference in wages was perpetuated by shipowners, manning agents, and labour unions, who allegedly coerce seafarers into signing exploitative contracts, under the threat of job loss.
Reacting to the impact of the NSDP on addressing Nigerian Seafarers plight, Oniye argued that the programme has failed to address the core issues facing Nigerian seafarers. He asserted that NSDP graduates often struggled to find employment and were not valued any differently from other Nigerian-trained seafarers.
Furthermore, the MESAN helmsman criticized the NSDP, labeling it as ineffective while accusing NIMASA of mismanagement. He alleged that despite the training provided under the NSDP, a large percentage of Nigerian seafarers remain unemployed, with some resorting to illegal activities.
“Nigerian seafarers earn the lowest, and are some of the worst paid in the world. On the same water and the same job, you will see a foreign seafarer earning $1500 dollars monthly and a Nigerian earning N150,000 or N200,000. This is a conspiracy between the ship owner, the manning agent, and the union. They force these seafarers to sign illegal contracts because if they don’t sign, they won’t give them jobs. Even most of these seafarers don’t even have contracts. This is a conspiracy between the shipping company, the manning agent and the union.
“Now, the question is, what value does the NSDP add to Nigerian seafarers? All the NSDP has done was to add to the problems on ground. NIMASA started this NSDP ‘madness’ because that programme was established to embezzle the money. Before this programme came on board, over 70 percent of Nigerian seafarers were already jobless. Now, they now add that to the joblessness. From the over 2,000 to 3,000 seafarers they claimed to have trained, even NIMASA cannot come out to say they have given jobs to 100 out of them”, he said.
Also speaking, the National President of the Nigeria Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association (NMNOWTSSA), Engr. Bob Yousuo highlighted the inadequacies in the implementation of the Cabotage Act, which according to him was intended to reserve certain maritime activities for Nigerian vessels and personnel.
Engr. Yousuo lamented the lack of ownership of vessels by Nigerians, which he identified as a significant barrier to achieving full control over maritime operations in Nigerian waters. He highlighted the importance of bilateral agreements with foreign maritime nations to enable Nigerian seafarers to work aboard vessels operating in Nigerian and foreign waters.
Yousuo urged NIMASA and government authorities to pursue bilateral agreements with foreign maritime nations to facilitate the recognition of Nigerian Certificates of Competency (CoC) and enhance job opportunities for Nigerian seafarers.
He said: “The Cabotage Law is not 100 percent implemented. We are operating on a flexible Cabotage regime. All that we require are not fully-owned by us. Most of the vessels are not built or owned by Nigeria. If you don’t own a vessel, how can you get total control of the operation of the vessels?
“If NIMASA is pro-active doing what they ought to do like other maritime nations, by now we would have had much bilateral agreement with other flagged states. When we have these bilateral agreements with them, when their vessels are operating on our territorial waters, we would be allowed to work as an officer or in that category in those flag states.
“With this Cabotage regime, we are not supposed to have challenges because our CoC covers our territory/ Coastal trade, so, we can work and have enough jobs for us if we can own vessels” Yousuo noted.
On his part, National President of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners (NAMM), Captain Tajudeen Alao Alao dismissed the “blame game”, stating that the shortage of seafarers is a global issue affecting the maritime sector worldwide.
Instead, Captain Alao urged the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping to conduct an Industry Needs Assessment through trade projections to anticipate future demands accurately. He also called for collaboration among maritime professionals to tackle challenges facing Nigerian seafarers and unlock the sector’s potential as a source of employment for Nigerian youths.
He told our correspondent that: “There is no blame game here. Shortage of seafarers is a worldwide challenge. The Chamber of Shipping should prepare for Industry Need Assessment through Trade projection. Young people must be deliberately attracted to seafaring”.
“Many of the young seafarers especially NSDP cadets and products of MAN ORON and other MTIs have been frustrated out of seafaring careers due to lack of berth placement onboard and career growth. Alao admitted.
