Now that Amaechi may come back

Except there is a last minute political manipulation and portfolio rejigging, Rotimi Amaechi, the immediate past Minister of Transportation, is sure to stage a comeback to the maritime industry during this second four-year term as Minister of Transportation.

He was one of the 14 old ministers and 43 ministerial nominees who had already been screened (took a bow) by the Senate last week to be part of the Next Level cabinet members of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The return of Amaechi to the transportation ministry is very instructive given the state he left the maritime industry during his first outing.

He left many things undone than what he did right which left the industry performing below its capacity.

The industry suffered a stunted growth due to lack of capacity of indigenous ship owners, most of whose businesses were submerged in a turbulent weather of economic downturn.

Insecurity assumed a human form, ravaging Nigeria’s territorial waters, a development which led to massive vessel diversion and imposition of series of surcharge by foreign vessel owners who braced the odds.

The seafarers’ pool, largely populated by old and tired seamen, was gradually getting depleted as the interventionist programme of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) meant to breed their replacement, was largely ineffective due to poor seatime experience of the cadets.

The Cabotage regime has also been ineffective as foreigners have continued to hold sway on our coastal waters meant to be an exclusive preserve of indigenous operators but whose lack of capacity has castrated them despite the cancellation of waiver regime.

The much-touted National Carrier project has continued to live in the fertile imagination of its proponents.

The tale of unfulfilled dreams of Amaechi in the maritime industry was endless.

This much he acknowledged before he took his exit after his first tenure in office for which he profusely apologised.

For this level of his underperformance in the maritime industry as a minister, this platform couldn’t therefore hide its amazement at the propriety of the grand reception organised for the former minister penultimate week by a group which calls itself Team Maritime.

We understood that the event, which was more of an image laundering and self-seeking, was sponsored by the key agencies under the Ministry of Transportation , namely Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency(NIMASA) and Nigeria Shippers’ Council.

In as much as we don’t begrudge these agencies for honouring their boss, we however frown at the lavish use of tax payers’ money on the event.

If we could forgive the heads of these agencies for the wilful waste of public funds that could have been channelled into more productive activities, this platform couldn’t fathom the motive for the participation of some stakeholders, especially the beleaguered indigenous shipowners, in this needless display of opulence.

The businesses of about 90 percent of these indigenous shipowners have gone under due to the actions or inaction of government, especially the outright refusal of Amaechi to disburse the long accumulated proceeds of the CVFF to empower them.

At one of the functions he had with the ship owners during his first tenure as Minister of transportation, Amaechi had openly bragged that as long as he remained the minister, he would not disburse the funds.

And he kept his words!

Due to this insensitivity to the plight of the indigenous ship owners, most of them have gone bankrupt, leaving the few who were ironically saved by the National Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

It was this endangered species that were cheering and applauding the former Minister who flagrantly denied them the opportunity to make their businesses blossom and thrive.

Could this be an act of cowardice to tell the minister the truth or act of self-preservation to be in his good books, having gotten an inkling of his likely return, the same reason for which we think the heads of the ministry’s parastatals may have organised that lavish reception for him?

Or could it be they are playing to the gallery?

Nonetheless, should Amaechi retain his former portfolio in his second coming, posterity has presented him a rare second chance to right all the wrongs in the industry and write his name in gold through innovative performance that will lift the industry from its present state of underperformance.