Since the coming on board of the present management of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) under the leadership of Dr Dakuku Peterside, it has demonstrated a zeal to rid the organisation of its past negative perceptions. This it has continued to do by ensuring that the organisation remained focused on its core mandates. In this direction, industry watchers have noticed its purposeful strides as part of its commitment to restructure, reform, reposition and reorganise its operations designed to make the agency a foremost institution in maritime administration in Africa which will be in keeping with its mandate. Already, the agency, in carrying on with its commitment to make a difference, is mapping out policies and programmes that will achieve its set goal of revitalising the economic-enhancing activities of the maritime sector.
In this regard, it is commendable to observe that the Director General and his team have shown remarkable determination to ensure that out of every 100 cargo heading to Africa, 65 will come to Nigeria. In our opinion, achieving this is a daunting but not insurmountable task and the new management is proving to be equal to the task and is dexteriously working towards that possibility. In the last one year, it is satisfying to point out that, NIMASA is working towards ensuring that the nation’s maritime sector remained vibrant.
As an agency, charged with the responsibility of advancing maritime sector by regulating shipping, promoting indigenous participation in shipping and ensuring that the ocean is clean and safe for shipping activities, its management is in conformity with the expectations of the stakeholders in the sector. It is also realistic enough to bear constantly in mind that failure is not an option. The implications of these mandates are many and the management which came on board almost a year ago is aware of its responsibilities towards maritime safety and security; seafarers’ standards; and marine environment management.
Also, conversant with its other responsibilities in the areas of search and rescue, ship registration and an added responsibility for the Cabotage Act that was passed in 2003, the management, led by a team player, knows that the demands of the job at hand requires that all hands must be on deck and that means that the workforce needs to be motivated.
Curiously, in our view, NIMASA, since its establishment, is still faced with challenge of working under the defunct and near decrepit structures of the Joint Maritime Labour Industrial Council (JOMALIC) and the National Maritime Authority (NMA) that were merged to form the agency in 2007. Even with this anomaly, the present management, in its forward-looking tendencies, is not deterred as it has adopted a Medium- Term Strategic Plan aimed at repositioning the agency for better service delivery.
Part of this plan is the automation of its operations and administrative processes as well as making the zones semi-autonomous by allowing stakeholders to conclude every transaction at the zonal level. This, by all standards, is an innovation that has the potential to expedite action on its functions and facilitate effective harnessing of time and resources for providing quality service delivery for players in the industry. To make this laudable policy thrust effective, the zones have been upgraded to directorate levels headed by a director.
In line with the restructuring and repositioning agenda of NIMASA, the board recently approved the promotion of over 300 staff as part of the initiatives to motivate and increase their levels of productivity, proficiency and efficiency. Within the same period, NIMASA has detained a total of 63 substandard vessels on account of structural and operational deficiencies in 2014 and inspected 726 vessels under the Port State Control regime, making Nigeria one of the enforcers of the convention in Africa. The intention here is to sound a note of warning to the criminal minded that it is no longer business as usual. In the circumstance, we urge the Director General,, though a distinguished politician who won his spurs as a charismatic and disciplined leader, creative and hardworking, to apply himself to the job in a manner that the agency will play its pivotal role in the economy that is on the fast lane of diversification.