MASECA Bill: the macabre dance of feasting vultures

Recently, the stakeholders in the maritime industry were shocked at the news that another attempt was being made to foist the controversial Maritime Security Agency (MASECA) bill on the industry.

The bill seeks to establish an agency that will see to the safety and security of Nigeria waterways and backwaters, including creeks, rivers, inland waterways and other marine infrastructure.

For reasons obvious to discerning minds, the bill was killed in two previous attempts by his sponsors to smuggle it through the National Assembly.

The bill, under different guises, had been presented to the National Assembly in 2009 and 2011 but was roundly condemned and thrown out by the law makers.

Just like the majority of stakeholders in the industry, nigeriamaritime360.com was shocked at the latest attempts by its sponsors to hoodwink and misinform the Honourable members of the National Assembly to pass the controversial bill.

Going through the provisions of the bill, we discovered that they were mere rehearse of the Act establishing the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

By name, functions, nature, intent and purpose, MASECA is a flip side of NIMASA that wishes to perform the same functions as NIMASA and similarly funded.

By implication, the sponsors of this bill are either seeking to kill NIMASA by rendering the agency redundant or out rightly replace it by replicating its duties.

That is why we found the promoters and supporters of this bill as people who do not mean well for the development of the industry but who are out only to feast on the inadequacies of government in putting NIMASA in a strong footing to effectively and efficiently discharge its statutory functions.

The inadequacies that have left a yearning gap that these promoters, who we wish to describe as opportunists, want to feast on like a vulture.

The inadequacies that government itself exacerbated when it brought interlopers, at different times, to take charge of the security of our marine environment.

The misadventure of Global West Vessel Specialist Limited (GWVSL) in the security architecture of the industry is still fresh in our memory while stakeholders are yet to recover from the controversy generated by the failed maritime security contract awarded to HLSI Security Systems and Technologies, an Israeli firm worth a whooping sum of $195m.

We therefore find the MASECA bill as one assault on the maritime industry too many and the quicker it is killed the better for the sector which is already overburdened with too numerous challenges.

The desperation of the promoters and supporters of this controversial bill to push it through the legislative chambers at all cost despite the rejection of stakeholders has given their intention away, which we dare say, is self-serving.

The bill was presented three times and it was rejected each of these times.

We are intrigued by the tenacity of the sponsors of the bill despite its unpopularity among the stakeholders.

Our curiosity got us to discover that the bill is mostly supported by Merchant Navy Officers, retired Generals and Nigerian military experts while one Captain Jacob Ovweghre, who styles himself as the Director-General of the controversial MASECA, is the sponsor of the bill.

So these few powerful individuals who are behind the controversial proposed security agency, to us, want to ambush the industry through the vilified MASECA.

We want to therefore lend our voice to the multitude of the dissenting voices in the industry that the bill is an ill wind that will blow the industry no good.

We are aware of the strong opposition mounted during the public hearing of the bill in the House of Representatives by critical stakeholders such as Maritime workers, administrators, Maritime experts and other core practitioners in the industry.

We want to appeal to the National Assembly to listen to the voice of reason by throwing out the bill.

The Honourable members of the house should resist the pressure and overtures made by these few powerful promoters by electing to be on the side of the majority of the practitioners in the industry.

Because whatever their position on the controversial bill is, will be remembered by posterity.

Rather than creating a parallel agency, the National Assembly should instead strengthen the Act which established NIMASA and reposition the agency for better service delivery.

We are aware of the existing collaboration between NIMASA and the Navy for the security of our waterways. Such collaboration could only be strengthened through creation of enabling environment and more empowerment that would ensure effective coverage.

High incident of pirate attacks on our waters is more of policy gaps by government than the need for additional agency that could muddle up the maritime land scape.

MASECA will not only be an additional burden on the finances of government, but will also add to the expenses of business transactions in the industry.

So, we strongly advise against the creation of another agency that will create distortion and confusion in the maritime industry.

We would like to also warn that giving legitimacy to the proposed agency will not only lead to clash of interests between it and NIMASA, it may also lead to the emasculation of the existing agency.

So the National Assembly members should be on the right side of history by warding off these marauding vultures that are engaged in a macabre dance in the maritime sector to feast on our common patrimony.