The hall was filled to capacity, and tension was high. The stakeholders could not help but pour out their mind on factors that have militated against the growth of the maritime industry in recent times.
Indeed, it was a day for lamentations as major operators in the sector, including the regulators and government functionaries proffered solutions, as they gathered in Lagos, to celebrate the belated, World Maritime Day 2016.
Describing the gathering as a rare privilege, many speakers at the forum enjoined the Federal Government to rescue the ailing shipping sector from imminent collapse through economic/business friendly policies.
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Apparently aware of the numerous challenges, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, immediately assured that all hands were on deck to restore the glory of Nigeria’s maritime industry.
Amaechi said: ‘’Shipping indeed, is indispensable to the world, in view of its contributions towards economic development. For us as a nation, opportunities about in the maritime sector that could lift the economy to greater height, but these have remained largely unexploited.
“There is a direct causative relationship between the development of a nation’s maritime transport and its participation in international trade. It is therefore not by accident that the most advanced economies of the world are those that have highly developed maritime industries and invariably the greatest percentage participation in international trade.
“Nevertheless, the maritime industry in Nigeria is faced with a myriad of challenges bordering on, noncompetitiveness, low level of investment, absence of requisite funding, low implementation and enforcement of existing laws in the sector and high charges among others.
“These have placed the country in a disadvantage position compared to ports of neighboring countries within the West and Central African sub-region,” he said.
The minister however noted that a lot of reform initiatives are ongoing as part of a comprehensive action to address the challenges.
He said the various regulatory agencies are being repositioned for effective service, while assuring that government will vigorously pursue the expansion of the nation’s ports system through the development of deep seaports to be driven by the private sector.
Noting that the Transport Sector Reforms Bill is currently before the National Assembly, Amaechi expressed the hope that the expeditious passage of the bills would give effect to the proposed reform aimed at strengthening the relevant maritime agencies for more effective performance.
A Master Mariner, Adamu Audu Biu, bemoaned the rots in the maritime sector, urging the government to muscle enough political-will towards revamping the sector.
Noting that over 90 per cent of world trade is carried by international maritime shipping, while the industry is inter-linked with global economy, Biu said this underscores the significance of maritime shipping to a nation like Nigeria, which is blessed with a long coastline and boarded with landlocked countries which must depend on our ports facilities and road networks for their international trade.
“It is therefore imperative that for Nigeria to scale our present economic hurdles and consolidate our chances for future economic stability we must go back to the drawing board to revamp our shipping industry,” he said.
He suggested that the Federal Government should create an enabling environment to the success of the new national fleet agenda; upgrade the ports facilities; increase commitment to security of waterways; equip the Maritime Academy Oron for better efficiency and capacity development; dredge the Rive Niger and ensure prompt passage of the pending bills at the national assembly.
The President, Ship Owners Association of Nigeria, Greg Ogbeifu, enjoined the government to put right some misconceptions about the issues of new national carriers.
Ogbeifu said tax laws and some policies such as the export prohibition law should urgently review.
Also, he noted that: “the dry dock facilities belonging to the Nigerian Ports Authority are dead. There is no single repair yard in this country that is functional. We cannot operate a viable maritime sector without having a facility to maintain even our canoes.”
