NIMASA staff petitions federal character commission over alleged ethnic victimisation
Staff of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) under the aegis of ‘Concerned Staff of NIMASA’, has submitted a protest letter to the chairman of Federal Character Commission (FCC) stating the alleged intention to demote and promote staff without reference to the provisions of Federal Character guidelines.
According to the letter, dated September 3, 2015, Haruna Baba Jauro, acting director general of NIMASA has on assumption of office, initiated moves through the Federal Ministry of Transport, tagged ‘proper placement’, aimed at victimising staff from the three geopolitical zones of southern region including South-West, South-East and South-South so as to make top management team northern driven.
The aggrieved staff further alleged that the panel has the ulterior motive to demote, sack and victimise professionals from a section of the country, despite their requisite professional qualifications and experience, upon which they were employed.
Responding to the allegation on a telephone interview with our correspondent, Lami Tumaka, deputy director, Public Affairs, confirmed that NIMASA management set up a committee to review staff placements and promotions from 2010 till date.
“The result of the review is not out, so I cannot comment on something that has not been done. The committee is still sitting and for anybody to say what the committee is going to do, and for me to comment on something that has not been done, I think is a bit difficult for me,” Tumaka explained.
These professionals, the letter said, were staff recruited into dully advertised positions; went through various degrees of written tests and interviews, and were head hunted due to their years of experience, in various field to help NIMASA deliver on its mandates. They were brought to fill in existing gaps and to enable NIMASA comply with IMO mandates, for which Nigeria would have been facing possible sanctions.
“Akpobolokemi was able to engage more professionals in the right positions and made NIMASA the maritime administration that it’s supposed to be as recognised by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the global maritime regulatory body. This helped in improving the Port and Flag-State control activities of the agency such that Nigeria is presently doing more than the minimum requirement of 15 percent for vessels visiting Nigerian ports,” Adewale Ishola, a prominent master mariner, who was close to the happenings in the maritime sector, told our correspondent while reviewing the tenure of the immediate past DG of NIMASA.
The efforts of these technocrats enabled the agency to deploy appropriate technologies and logistic platforms in the discharge of its coastal, Flag and Port state control through the acquisition of satellite surveillance equipment and platforms that enabled the agency to monitor the nation’s maritime domain electronically.
Also, there was comprehensive implementation of the International Ships and Ports Security (ISPS) Code, which reached over 90 percent compliance from zero level and made the ports and terminals more secured than before. This has been widely commended by the US coast Guard and IMO.
Based on these, “We pray you to help ensure that no staff is demoted, sacked or victimised in NIMASA, on the basis of the planed ‘Proper Placement of Staff’. We also request you to help compel NIMASA management to comply with the provisions of Federal Character and ensure that postings and promotions reflect fairness, equity and justice,” the group pleaded in the letter.
UZOAMAKA ANAGOR-Ewuzie