NIMASA set to grow shipping business with medium-term devt plan

Determined to build capacity that would enable the growth of shipping business in Nigeria, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has concluded plans to draft a three-year medium term maritime development plan, covering from 2016 to 2019.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ interactive forum themed, “Repositioning the Maritime Sector for Greater Impact,” Dakuku Peterside, director general, NIMASA, who said that the proposed development plan will be stakeholder-driven, which led to the interactive forum, added that the agency will also embark on a comprehensive structural, cultural and performance reforms.

“We are looking at the possibility of changing the structure to make things fall in place. Another area the agency plans to address is the issue of wrong work ethics, as the new leadership of the agency believes that reforming the staff’s work culture will improve its performance,” he noted.

The DG emphasized that NIMASA’s performance cannot be measured by how much money was raked into the government coffers but rather, on the number of operators who were able to acquire vessels; involved in coastal and inland trades; and how many ships were stopped from polluting the waterways. “Our performance must be measured by services rendered and not in naira and kobo or pounds and dollars.”

Stakeholders, who spoke at the event, believed the agency needs to draw a map on ways to boost participation of indigenous ship owners in the nation’s shipping business, currently being dominated by foreign owned vessels.

CHIGOZIE EGWUATU