Maritime, soul of Nigeria’s economy – Peterside

Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, has said the maritime sector is the soul of the Nigerian economy.

Peterside said this in a statement on Friday in Lagos by Hajia LamiTumaka, head, public relations department of NIMASA.

According to the statement, the director-general spoke at a workshop on “Local Content Implementation in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry: A Cost Reduction Strategy.’’

The statement said the workshop was organised by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) at the sideline of the 2016 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas.

Peterside said the oil and gas sector was often referred to as the heart of the Nigerian economy, saying, “Without taking cognisance of the fact that the maritime sector remains the soul of the economy without which oil and gas exploration may just be in vain.’’

Meanwhile, in another statement, Peterside has stressed the need for skilled manpower to spearhead the development of the nation’s maritime industry.

Peterside said this when he led a delegation to a meeting with the United States Commercial Service, West Gulf Maritime Association and the Texas Southern University, Houston.

He mentioned the potential of the Nigerian market including its vast coastline and huge population, and called for greater collaboration with Nigeria’s international partners to grow skilled indigenous manpower for the development of the Nigerian maritime industry.

“The industry is capable of taking over from oil as the nation’s highest revenue earner,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quotes Peterside saying.

He said that the agency would need the expertise of the Texas Southern University on shore-based technical training of maritime personnel to improve on its capacity to regulate maritime activities in Nigeria.

According to the director-general, most of the oil and gas exploration, which is the major revenue earner of the country, is done in the maritime environment.

He said that vessels were needed to transport these products from one point to the other, making the maritime sector integral to the whole economic process.

Peterside presented a paper titled “Local Content and Cabotage Regime Implementation in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry As A Cost Reduction Strategy’’.

He noted that, “The oil and gas industry in Nigeria will not truly develop unless the maritime sector grows with it.’’

He urged investors to commit more resources to building local content in the maritime industry.

The director-general assured operators that it was in their interest to build local capacity, adding that an investment in this regard would certainly be mutually beneficial to all parties.

Peterside expressed concern that NIMASA as a strategic agency of government had been grossly misunderstood.

He assured stakeholders of the commitment of the new management to not only engender the development of local content in the maritime industry but also push for the review of the Cabotage Act to make it more beneficial to Nigerians.

The director-general decried the situation where all Nigeria’s oil and gas resources were transported by foreign vessels.

He urged International Oil Companies (IOCs) to engage eligible Nigerians in the lifting of the country’s hydrocarbons and promised to assist in building the capacity of indigenous operators to participate more actively in moving Nigeria’s oil and gas resources.

Peterside also assured operators in the oil and gas sector that more than ever before, NIMASA was ready to enforce its statutory responsibilities especially in the area of preserving and protecting the marine environment from the adverse impact of oil exploration and other commercial activities.

He warned that the Agency would no longer tolerate a situation where IOCs renege on the payment of levies due to the agency as enshrined in its enabling instruments.

He called on members of the West Gulf Maritime Association to take advantage of the potential in the Nigeria maritime industry to invest in the sector.

The director-general assured the association of the agency’s commitment to effectively end the scourge of piracy in Nigerian waters as well as regulate the sector for economic prosperity of all stakeholders.

In a welcome address, the Commercial Counsellor in the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, Mr Richard Ryan, assured the director general of the cooperation of the embassy, adding that the embassy would forge closer commercial ties with NIMASA to grow the maritime sector in Nigeria.

According to the statement, other officials of the university who took turn to brief the delegation offered technical cooperation in the areas of capacity building, ICT -based Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR).

The officials also promised to provide assistance with the development of Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) to reduce revenue leakages.