As the world battles coronavirus scourge

The Nigeria maritime industry lays prostrate under Coronavirus as the pandemic rages with the ferocity of a tiger throughout the world.

The industry, just like other sectors of the economy, is panting under the pangs of the scourge.

The respiratory disease, which sprouted from Wuhan, China in December 2019, finally berthed in Nigeria on February 27th, 2020, when an unnamed Italian, as an index case, exported the dreaded disease into the country.

Since then, Nigeria, just like the other conquered nations of the world, has been battling to stay ahead of the pandemic.

The nation is under partial lockdown with the wheel of the economy almost grinding to a painful crawl.

The nation’s maritime industry, which is the second largest revenue earner for the country, is not spared from the evil clutches of the scourge.

The otherwise fast paced industry has lost its lustre and dynamism as most industry operators have closed shops.

Governing agencies such as Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC) have considerably scaled down their activities as non-essential staff of these agencies have been asked to work from home.

Other operators such as terminal operators, shipping companies, freight forwarders and other ancillary practitioners have similarly followed suit.

Stringent entry measures have been imposed on vessels wishing to enter the nation’s ports, all in a bid to checkmate the rampaging disease.

In as much as these measures are necessary to curtail the spread of the virus, we are however sad that they will have debilitating effects on the fragile maritime industry.

We are saddened that the frail -looking industry has to contend with this terrible disease with its attendant consequences at a time the government was trying to reposition the sector.

We shudder at the possibility of the industry flittering away the gains it has recorded over the years as a result of the pandemic.

We are no less saddened by the huge revenue loss that the pandemic will foist on the industry than the loss of traction it has managed to gain in the past few years.

The scaling down the operations of the operators as well as the government agencies is tantamount to a deep dip in their revenue.

Already, the revenue projection for the Nigeria Customs Service has been scaled down from the initial N1.5trillion to about a little over N900b of which it is even doubtful if that too could be met.

We could only hope that the many reforms initiated in the industry to make the sector gain traction will not be emasculated during this trying period.

Since the industry is not immuned from the catastrophic effects of the pandemic as the world is currently reeling under the pandemic, we can only wish the country in general and the maritime industry in particular will recover from the accompanying pains and anguish soon enough to regain its composure.