NIMASA looks away from core function of Shipping Development in Nigeria—Jolapamo

By Abiodun OBA

The Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA) Chief Isaac Jolapamo has decried the attitude of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in shying away from its function of shipping development in the country.

Jolapamo stated this at a recent Breakfast Meeting organised by the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) in Lagos at the Rockview Hotel, Apapa.

Jolapamo observed that NIMASA as the apex maritime agency in Nigeria has lost focus, and has relegated it’s core function of shipping development to the background.

The NISA Board Chairman noting that other frivolous matters have now taken the centre stage, also criticized the Seafarers development program as it is being executed by NIMASA, saying Nigeria is not doing the program the way other countries are doing it.

Jolapamo said, “Today, the creation of NIMASA had left Shipping Development in Nigeria worst than it used to be, most shipowners of the past today do not have anything to show.

“What NIMASA should be doing today is shipping development, but when you see what they are doing today, shipping development is number six at the bottom, meanwhile the ship is central if you are going to develop the maritime, until you perfect the centre before every other area can come into shape.

“We need to train Seafarers, we are doing it, but we are not doing it the best way that other people do it, this is why we are not getting results. Instead of us going forward, we are going backwards,” Jolapamo lamented.

Also speaking later in day during the commissioning of NISA new Secretariat in Apapa, Chief Jolapamo reiterated that the shipping sector is underdeveloped because the resources meant to develop is being wasted by government officials.

He said if the shipowners were allowed to have input into the running of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), shipping development will not be the sixth item on the agency’s agenda.

© 2023, maritimemag. All rights reserved.