Anxiety As NIMASA DG’s Tenure Ends In One Week

Abiola Seun

There is palpable tension at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) as the tenure of the Director-General of the agency comes to an end in one week.

Dr. Dakuku Adolphus Peterside assumed duty as the Director-General/CEO of NIMASA on Tuesday, March 15, 2016.

However, his appointment took effect from 10th March 2016.

The four years tenure of the DG is expected to end next week Tuesday but the presidency is yet to make any announcement on the renewal or otherwise.

However, intense lobbying is going on in the presidency over the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to announce either a replacement or otherwise of the DG.

However, with few days to go, the NIMASA boss is yet to secure any assurance either verbally or formally that he would retain the top job at the agency creating an avenue for lobbying in the presidency and high level permutations at the agency.

In terms of performance, the NIMASA boss has been lampooned for leaving it too late to churn out his achievements.

However, the biggest challenge remains the level of piracy which has increased in the last one year despite the arrival of the Anti-Piracy law and the ongoing Deep Blue project.

In the last two months, the Dakuku-led NIMASA has been at the forefront of numerous activities ranging from Ship Registry, Maritime Action Plan for Litters and Plastics, National Security summits for Deep Blue project, disbursement of Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF), Admiralty Law Seminar for Judges, Receiving Special Mission vessels, among others.

While these are laudable conferences and programmes, industry observers have described Dakuku’s activities as a last minute struggle to showcase the agency’s achievements and ensure he doesn’t miss out on the credits for initiatives started by him if he doesn’t get the second tenure.