2.1billion litres of imported fuel trapped at Lagos ports – Omatseye 

TAYO OLADIPUPO         I      

A former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Barrister Temisan Omatseye says 2.1 billion litres of refined petroleum products imported into the country is presently being held in Lagos Port due to inability of the government to discharge the products.
Speaking at the third edition of the One Day With Nigeria Maritime Students, 2018 organised by Platforms Communications on Monday in Lagos,, Omatseye said that the relevant agencies saddled with the responsibility, had no requisite vessels to get the fuel from the foreign vessels on anchorage.

He said this on the heels of the passive attitude of the Nigerian government towards development of the Maritime industry.
Omatseye added that Nigeria was losing about $300 million dollars yearly for berthing five degree East on Nigerian waters.
“As I speak to you, do you know right now that we have 2.1 billion litres of petroleum products offshore Lagos, they cannot dscharge it not because they don’t want to discharge it but because they don’t have the capability and capacity to connect that vessel
“We have so many years sold our birth rights to foreigners and when we now realized that market was not good,they packed their bags and ran away and they left us dry.
“So, right now, we are importing petroleum products but we are unable to discharge them because we failed to see beyond our noses the need for it to build a very strong Maritime industry.
Speaking further, he urged the Federal Government to look into making Nigerian ports cheaper and attractive for port users.
According to him the foreign ship owners have taken over all the maritime businesses while the Nigerian shipowners are left with nothing.
“Nigerian shippers should be allowed  to take charge of their goods as soon as it arrives the country because this is applicable all over the country.
“All the foreign ship owners will not allow Nigerians to get near vessels as soon as it arrives the country inspite of being the landlord of the ports.
‘We want government to assist Nigerian ship owners to be in charge because by so doing, they will create more employment for teaming youths.
“Nigeria will soon be competing with its foreign counterparts with the recent equipments government provided for the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which is presently having multiplier effect on thier operations,”Omotseye said.
He however lamented the inability of young Nigerian seafarers to take up the jobs they  are supposed to do due to lack of Certificates of Competency (CoC) which are not issued to them because they lack sea time training.
“In addition to that, the jobs that are supposed to be done by our young seafarers, after training they cannot get as they don’t have their Certificate of Competence and that kills anything,” he quipped.

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