Does NIMASA Have Will Power to Reform Nigeria’s Ship Registry?

Dakuku Peterside, the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on February 27th, 2018 assembled fine minds in maritime industry into a committee to critically look at the nation’s ship registry which shipowners have over the years treated with ignominy.
The committee consists of no mean personalities in the industry and their tasks are no less daunting.
They are expected to review the activities and operations of Nigerian ship registry, to examine the status of the Nigerian ship registry in line with international best standards
The members are also to ensure that Nigeria’s ship registration is in tandem with other relevant global ship registries.
In addition, the committee was mandated to determine the level of automation of the registry as well as advising the NIMASA management and recommend possible improvement on necessites in the Nigerian ship registration.
The last mandate of the committee is to access and determine other jurisdictions with more advanced ship registries which NIMASA can establish a relationship.

To our mind, the comprehensive nature of the terms of reference of the committee, which is also populated by professionals in the industry, speaks volume of NIMASA’s seriousness and its concerns about the unwholesome state of Nigeria’s ship registry.
We observe that the nation’s flag has become unattractive to vessels owned by even Nigerians.
More puzzling is that the Nigeria Liquefied Gas vessels, in which Nigerian government has substantial shares, do not flag Nigerian flag.
They prefer, just like some other Nigerian – wholly owned vessels, to fly foreign flags , even that of Liberian flag.
What could have gone wrong with the Nigerian flag that vessels, especially those ones operating in Nigeria and those owned by Nigerians, are not proud to flag our flag?
Experts believed that nothing is wrong with Nigerian flag but plenty is wrong with the maritime administration in the country, nay,NIMASA, which is said to be running archaic, repressive and opressive ship registry that is not in tandem with international standard.

Engr.Greg.Ogbeifun, the President of Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) believed that Nigeria’s flag administration is so weak that vessels loathe to fly the nation’s flag.
He alleged that rather than improve and modernise the process of vessel registration, the flag administration which is NIMASA is concerned with collection of levies and revenue and relishes in punishing ship owners through arrests, threats, intimidation and shutting down ship repair yards.
Given this revelation, nigeriamaritime360 welcomes the inauguration of the committee to look into all these problems and other challenges which have make the nation’s ship registry unattractive.
Our confidence that they will do a thorough job is boosted by the calibre of the members of the committee.
Chaired by an erudite Marine Engineer, Emmanuel Ilori, the committee is made up of Mr. Taofeeq Adegbite,. A.J Musa (Mrs.),Abdulsalam A.S ,Agbaminoja Peter as the Secretary.While Nwoko Desmond, Mr Emeka Udu and Mr Kayode Areogun were later co-opted as members.
But our fear is that will the management of NIMASA allow this distinguished committee do its work?
Would they not be given no go areas in the course of doing their work?
Would there not be bobby traps planted in their ways?
Would the recommendations of the committee be implemented and not dumped on the shelf where they will gather dust?
Our pessimism about the genuineness and sincerity of NIMASA’s management to actually want to reform the ship registry finds expression in the revelations made by Engr. Greg Ogbeifun over similar exercise.
The ship owner, who is fearless and critical about the administration of maritime industry in the country , said NIMASA had discarded offers from NLNG to help reform the ship registry in the past.
“The NLNG actually approached our flag administration to express their desire and preference to register all her ships in Nigeria if the flags administration can be enhanced and reorganised to meet international standard.

“They went further and paid for a consultant to carry out a study of our flag administration and made recommendations to achieve this objective.

“The report and recommendations have been awaiting implementation by the maritime administration since then, over three years ago.”

Ogbeifun further alleged that the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on assumption of office , had constituted a committee to look at possible ways to make the nation’s flag administration attractive for international patronage.

“That committee has since finished its work and have handed same to the NIMASA management.

“A team of sound professionals worked assiduously to produce a comprehensive report and recommendations to achieve the objective but there has not been the political will to implement the recommendations of their report.”
Engr. Ogbeifun is of no small status in the industry and he is not likely to engage in idle nor frivolous talks, given his stakes in the industry.
Then if similar efforts to revamp the nation’s ailing ship registry were exercise in furtility, what assurance will Dakuku and his team give the expectant stakeholders and the international community that the current efforts of Engr. Emmanuel Ilori and his committee members would not be consigned to the dust bin of history.
We fervently hope that this platform would be proved wrong in its foreboding feelings that the inauguration of the committee is another grand standing and rhetoric which stakeholders have accused the present NIMASA management of .
We also wish we are wrong in our instinct that the assignment given to Emmanuel Ilori and his team is meant to keep them busy and distract their attention and that of other critical stakeholders from the long political journey of Dakuku to recapture the Rivers state government house.
But we know that Dakuku would not want to gamble with this rear opportunity to write his name in gold as the DG of NIMASA who musters enough courage to sanitise the nation’s ship registry and make the Nigerian flag attractive for both foreign and indigenous vessels to fly.
The challenges of the nation’s ship registry are so deep and huge that it will take the sheer knowledge, patience , professional acumen and articulate diagnosis by the crack professionals as Engr, Ilori’s committee to unravel .
It would therefore be unthinkable for the flag administration to treat the report and recommendations of such committee with levity.
The unattractiveness of our ship registry has not only rubbed the country huge revenue but the much desired tonnage which the international maritime community uses to gauge the seriousness of a country’s flag administration in deepening its maritime economy.
It was as a result of such lapse that resulted to low tonnage that contributed to Nigeria’s loss in the IMO election .
This platform therefore urges Dakuku and his management team to muster the necessary political will power not only to give the committee all the support and encouragement to go to the root cause of the malaise of the ship registry but should ensure that their recommendations are implemented to the letters.
That way, more vessels will fly Nigeria’s flag which will boost our tonnage that will make us to be respected and courted in the International maritime community.
In addition, the status of the 4000 vessels which NIMASA claimed that it has on its register would be determined and those that are dead wood among them will be weeded out.
To prove wrong all the sceptics and critics, NIMASA’s management should exhibit uncommon transparency by making public the interim report of the committee when it is submitted in May, this year.
This will afford the stakeholders to monitor its implementation that will bring a resurgence of confidence in the present NIMASA administration.