The Rector, Certified Institute of Shipping (CIS), Rev. Dr. Alex Okwuashi has warned that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety agency (NIMASA) may have been overstretched beyond its limits on account of many responsibilities that the agency now has.
Okwuashi who spoke in an exclusive interview with Primetime Reporters in Lagos recently apparently was reacting on the recent ground breaking ceremony in Delta State of the new Nigerian Maritime University (NMU) by President Goodluck Jonathan under the auspices of NIMASA.
While pointing out that those who fashioned out roles for the agency wanted it to perform every function warning that the trend if continued unabated may spell doom for NIMASA as well as the maritime industry as a whole.
He observed that Nigeria as a nation could have as many maritime agencies as possible and still manage them efficiently rather than overbearing one agency with every maritime activity which according to him, may lead to its destruction.
In his words,” the problem with the Maritime administration in Nigeria is the struggle for jurisdiction. NIMASA wants to do everything or those who pushed for NIMASA’s programme, they want it to do everything and it is not possible!”
“We can have forty maritime administrations, all of them can still work together but for you to put the control of every maritime activity under one agency is to multi-task that agency and it will crumble, it will fail”.
“So, if they don’t want NIMASA to fail, I have been saying this as a professional, I know what I am talking about as a Manager; let them stop loading NIMASA with responsibilities. This establishment of late of the Nigerian Maritime University should not be NIMASA’s Concern. Federal government can set up a University; it doesn’t have to be NIMASA”.
“Now, NIMASA is funding Oron, it is now going to fund its own University. Why? It is going to fund the National Shipping lines. It cannot, where is the fund going to come from?”
He also faulted a publication in one of the National Dailies where NIMASA was quoted as asking the federal government to grant it tax holiday from its usual remittances to the Federation account to enable it execute some of its projects arguing that it was not supposed to be so.
He warned that unless NIMASA integrate the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron as pat of the new University, it would soon abandon its responsibility to the institution as provided for in the NIMASA Act of 2007.
“So, let us first of all do the right thing. Those who are preparing these papers and clamouring to make NIMASA bigger than what it should be will soon leave and become irrelevant in the system and the load they have put on that agency will destroy it”, Okwuashi said.
Reacting, the Director-General of NIMASA, Mr. Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi refuted the claim describing it as untrue.
Akpobolokemi stated that the agency had been able to take account of its activity in the life of the current administration of the agency and was satisfied with its performance so far.
He observed that the agency was not overwhelmed by whatever role it was currently playing in the maritime sector as it had the capability, the zeal and the will to carry on such roles with a sense of commitment and dedication.
According to him,” I think we have been able to take a self audit of what we have been able to do in the brief period of the current management being in place in NIMASA. We can beat our chest and say that we have done very well”.
“We are not overwhelmed; we can rise to the occasion. We have the capability, we have the zeal, we have the will and we have a supporting President and we have a supporting Minister. So, we are not overwhelmed.
