Following the successful election that ushered in a new executive for the Nigerian Ship Owners Association (NISA) last Friday in Lagos, some stakeholders have commended the elections describing it as another feat the maritime industry had recorded in recent times.
Recall that NISA last Friday in Lagos had their elections, the first in ten years which saw the incumbent Secretary-General of the Association, Capt. Dada Olaniyi Labinjo and twelve others elected to steer the ship of the association in the coming years.
Speaking in an interview with Primetime Reporters, a member of NISA, Mr. Akin Olaniyo described the election as a milestone in the industry.
Olaniyo stated that the election was not for any of the three presidential candidates in the election rather it was for the fact that the industry was speaking with one voice.
According to him,” the industry has come of age when the ship owners and professionals alike can now come under a peaceful atmosphere to cast their votes, to make their voice heard”.
“Now, we have seasoned professionals in the leadership of NISA, it could have been any other person but irrespective of who it is, I went round to congratulate everybody both the winners and the losers, I went round to congratulate everybody”.
Reacting on the tenure of the outgoing President, Chief Isaac Jolapamo, he said,” every administration is like the day, there is the morning, there is the afternoon and there is the evening. The temperature in the morning is low; the temperature in the afternoon is higher”.
“When Chief Jolapamo was there, he was there for specific things and I think he achieved them. Now, we are not in a T-Junction, we are a concrete association. Now, is the afternoon time, we have another person in the watch. So, we are all going there”.
On his part, one of the contestants in the elections, Capt. Ogunsakin Ishola Rotimi Williams stated that although he lost the election, it was a peaceful one.
Williams also said that he saw the election as a victory for the Nigerian maritime industry which according to him was under a colonial rule before now.
He however averred that with the caliber of people elected to run the affairs of the association, he was certain that they were going to move the association to a level where the ship owners could heave a sigh of relief that their businesses were no longer in the hands of the foreigners.
“Take for instance, if you go to Tincan port or to Apapa port, it is just like you are in your village because all of us come from one particular village or the other. In your village, if the vehicles that are carrying passengers are loaded, none of them belonged to the people from the community, what does it look like? That is exactly what is happening in Nigeria”.
“The whole vessels coming, the containers, the whole cars, you can look at the number of cars that are on the roads, all of them are being carried by foreign vessels. So, where does the money for the freight go to? It goes to them; we only get stipends, like port duties and all other things”.
“In the oil sector, exportation, exploration and exploitation, if you go there, I tell you, some of the vessels there are taking about thirty to forty thousand dollars a day and all these ones does not belong to Nigerians. So, can we say that our maritime domain is free? It is not, we are under colonial rule. But with this elections, history was made here today”, Williams said.
