Nigeria maritime industry : Sad tales of woes as told by stakeholders

Funso Olojo ㅣ

‘The Nigerian Maritime industry is like a sinking ship which entire body is already submerged in water but has only its mast above water level”

Captain Taiwo Akinpelumi, the Managing Director of Oceanic Energy Limited, sums up his feelings about the state of maritime industry in Nigeria.

This chilling description of the calamitous state of the industry was shared by majority of stakeholders and operators whose business fortunes in the sector have taken a sudden plunge.

For those who stand afar and do not have any stake in the industry, Captain Akinpelumi’s comment may be an exaggerated perception of the state of the maritime sector.

But for the operators, those who have invested in the sector, as well as experts who are knowledgeable in the affairs of the industry, Captain Akinpelumi’s assertion was an understatement.

He who wears the shoes knows where it pinches.

In recent years, the Nigerian Maritime industry, despite its boundless opportunities, has been in crutches, gradually limping to a precipice, threatening to take a plunge.

At the recent luncheon intervention which the members of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport had in Lagos with stakeholders, the event turned into lamentation of the operators about the unpleasant business climate in the industry.

One after the other, industry operators wailed, lamented, grumbled and complained about the great calamity which they have suffered due to the under-performance of the sector.

Captain Isaac Jolapamo, the pioneer Chairman of Nigeria Shipowners Association (NISA) recounted his loss to the bewildered Senators.

In a slow, measured pained voice, Jolapamo recalled how he lost his entire fleet to what he described as government inconsistencies in the maritime industry.

“Dr Dakuku (NIMASA DG) can check his record that my company is one of the companies that had the highest number of vessels in the Nigerian ship registry in the last over 30 years. Today we do not have a vessel that is operating and there has not been any Nigerian who has made success of ship ownership in this country ever since “, he declared with a hint of sadness in his emotion-laden voice.

Jolapamo identified two major reasons why the industry is under performing.

“What is wrong?” he asked rhetorically.

According to him, government inconsistencies and inefficiency of his colleagues are the major malaise that have plagued the industry.

“But our inefficiency is as a result of government inconsistencies” he noted.

The port concessionaires, who took over the terminal operations in 2006 and have so far invested so much into port operations, also counted their losses.

Princess Vicky Haastrup, the Chairman of Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) and the Vice- Chairman of ENL Consortium, one of the terminal operators, recounted the dwindling fortunes of the operators due to what she attributed to government failure to rehabilitate the decaying infrastructural facilities at the ports.

According to her, the loss has resulted into the inability of some of them to pay their staff salaries as at when due.

She lamented that despite the fact that the concession agreement was a tripartite arrangement among the Operators, the NPA and BPE, government has failed to keep to its own side of the bargain.

Haastrup revealed that due to the avoidable intractable traffic gridlock on the port access roads, the concessionaires have incurred heavy losses.

“The volume of cargoes coming into the terminals is less compared with what we experienced about five years ago.

“Turn-around time of vessels is much slower as we now handle few vessels.

“The terminals are congested because the trucks find it difficult to evacuate those already discharged due to bad roads.

“We find it very difficult to pay salaries “she made an endless list of woes brought on the operators by a failed maritime industry.

Using her own terminal as a case study of what obtains among the distraught operators, Haastrup revealed that her terminal handled 17 ships per month before the malignant traffic gridlock started but lamented that she now handles between three and four vessels within the same period.

According to her, it takes a vessel between 30 to 35 days to discharge its cargo because the terminal is full as consignment could not go out due to the lock down of roads.

She agreed with Jolapamo when she attributed the untold hardship in the maritime sector to government policy somersault.

“Government should declare a state of emergency in the maritime industry” the STOAN Chairman blurted out in frustration.

Mrs Margaret Orakwusi, another operator, was no less emotional in her own rendition of the calamitous state of the industry.

She said that importers pay through their noses to evacuate their containers from the ports as a result of the traffic crisis.

As a fishing trawler operator, she revealed that her business has gone under due to insecurity and lack of funds.

“Insecurity has raised freight rates. Traffic gridlock has also pushed up the cost of movement of goods. Perishable goods are being lost to endless traffic gridlock.

“Maritime business is dying and practitioners are quitting while foreigners are taking over but could go anytime. Orakwusi lamented.

She expressed frustration over the high cost of owning a vessel as banks give loans at double digit rate.

“Whereas shipping is a long-term investment, yet we are expected to compete with foreign operators who have access to cheap loan facilities with single digit interest rates” the former Chairman of NIMAREX declared.

Olisa Agbakoba, a maritime lawyer was unsparing in his condemnation of government lack of focus that is gradually killing the sector which he said is capable of earning the country over seven trillion naira per year if its vast potentials are properly harnessed.

He believed that creating a separate ministry to supervise the sector will solve the myriad of problems plaguing the industry.

Temisan Omatseye, the former Director-General of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency(NIMASA) came heavily on the government agencies in the sector for what he called gross incompetence, a position shared by Captain Akinpelumi who regarded some of the heads of the maritime agencies, especially NIMASA, as square pegs in round holes.

Omatseye lampooned NIMASA for its lack of capacity to implement Cabotage and incompetence to manage the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF).

He advocated for a separate body to take away this function from the regulatory agency.

Omatseye also called for the split of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) into four separate entities for efficiency.

He believed that the present arrangement is too cumbersome which he said considerably slows down the agency to effectively monitor port activities outside Lagos.

“Presently, they (NPA) concentrate their attention and focus on Lagos while leaving other ports outside Lagos unattended to” the former NIMASA helmsman claimed.

His position was corroborated by one of the terminal operators in the Eastern ports where he said insecurity has greatly diminished shipping operations.

“There is no night pilotage at the Eastern ports. Ships can’t sail immediately it is past 4 O’clock due to insecurity.

“All the tug boats purchased by NPA are for Lagos ports, none for Eastern ports.

“Before concession, NPA introduced price concession for vessels sailing to Eastern ports to encourage patronage but not anymore. “The terminal operator bemoaned.

The members of the Senate Committee were apparently dumb-stuck at the magnitude of the problems that are threatening to submerge the maritime sector.

From their frightened expression, it was obvious they did not bargain for what they learnt from the stakeholders but promised to look into these complaints.

Government non-challant attitude towards the development of the sector was demonstrated by the fact that none of the 10 bills meant to reinvigorate the industry has become a law.

They are in various stages of legislative consideration.

In that case, the industry is still bogged down by archaic laws.

While some stakeholders like Isaac Jolapamo have given up on the industry, majority of them like Captain Akinpelumi are still hopeful of better, rejuvenated industry.

“From what I heard here today, I have already lost hope about shipping development in the country.

“If ship ownership and shipping development do not work in the country, then nothing can work” Jolapamo declared with despair in his voice.

But Captain Akinpelumi thought otherwise, as he allows himself the luxury of indulging in self-confidence of a new rebirth in maritime industry.

He urged government through its agencies, especially NIMASA, to embark on capacity building and shipping development.

Hassan Bello, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council has also said that the rot in the industry is so deep that it could take a minimum of three years of pain-staking cleansing to restore the confidence of both local and foreign investors.

The concerned stakeholders however said they are waiting on government to pay more attention and commitment to revamping the industry in the coming year and safe it from total collapse.