Maritime, catalyst for Nigeria’s industrialisation, says Peterside

For Nigeria to effectively move away from being an oil-dependent economy and industrialise, it must develop the blue economy, Dakuku Peterside, director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), at the 2018 World Maritime Day celebration held in Lagos on Tuesday.

Themed “IMO 70: Our Heritage – Better Shipping for a Better Future,” this year’s event, which coincided with the 70th anniversary of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), according to Peterside, could not have come at a better time than now, when Nigeria is taking deliberate steps to harness the enormous benefits of her maritime industry.

According to him, NIMASA is taking various steps to ensure the growth of the sector for the overall economic benefit of the country. “We want to make sure that our maritime sector remains virile and this is why we are making moves to safeguard our maritime domain because we cannot talk about shipping without taking the safety and security of our maritime domain seriously.

Peterside pointed out that the total spectrum of maritime security strategy being put in place by the Agency will ensure that the maritime subsector was rid of criminalities that hamper the industry’s growth and make Nigeria one of the safest maritime domains in Africa.

He said that NIMASA had succeeded in reducing the issuance time for bill and sailing clearance to vessels to 24 hours, thereby reducing the delay in vessel turnaround time in line with the executive order of the Federal Government on Ease of Doing Business.

Sabiu Zakari, permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, who represented the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, said Nigeria received and generated a lot of cargo and must, therefore, take advantage of its geographic position to grow its economy through effective maritime development.

Also, Bala Dikko,, Nigeria’s Alternate Permanent Secretary to the IMO, said in recent times Nigeria’s relationship with the United Nations had improved. He commended the leadership role NIMASA was playing in the West African sub-region, stating that security in the region has greatly improved due to the renewed collaboration and cooperation being championed by Nigeria among the maritime administrations of the sub-region.

Ufom Usoro, secretary-general of the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control For West and Central African Sub Region, popularly referred to as Abuja MoU, noted that NIMASA, as Nigeria’s representative on the MoU, had played a leading role in the region, especially as it concerns port state and flag state control.

She commended the leadership of NIMASA for carrying the stakeholders along in its bid to move the industry forward.

The World Maritime Day is a day set aside by the IMO to celebrate the contributions of the maritime industry to the global economy. Though internationally marked on September 27, each IMO member state has the right to choose a suitable date on which to commemorate the event.

AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE