…Says event now to hold 6th to 8th July, 2015
Contrary to speculations over whether or not the Nigerian Maritime Expo (NIMAREX) 2015 will hold, the Secretary of the NIMAREX 2015 Planning Committee, Barr. Osuala Emmanuel Nwagbara has reaffirmed that there was no going back on the NIMAREX 2015 event.
It will be recalled that the NIMAREX 2015 which was earlier scheduled to hold between 29th of March to April 1st 2015 was later shifted to April 27th to 29th 2015 as a result of the just concluded general elections in the country.
Nwagbara who was reacting to a report published in one of the Maritime based online medium (not Primetime Reporters) suggesting that the NIMAREX 2015 event may not hold due to lack of fund and support from partners however said that there was no iota of truth in that report.
He noted that contrary to the report, NIMAREX had been shifted for the second time as against the third time quoted by the medium from the rescheduled date of April 27th to April 29th 2015 to July 6th to 8th 2015.
Giving reasons for the new the date, Nwagbara who is also the Principal Partner, Maritime and Commercial Law Chambers said,” the general election just concluded in Nigeria was the main reason for the postponement of NIMAREX 2015. Don’t forget that the election was billed for February 14th and with that in view, the Planning Committee and the industry stakeholders scheduled NIMAREX event to hold by the end of March and following the shift in the election date to the same week that NIMAREX was billed to hold, we had no choice than to shift for the first time to April and the run off in the election also came just before the rescheduled date and because everybody was involved, again we have to make this shift this time to July”.
“And we reckoned that immediately after the runoff, the incumbent Governors, the Presidency, there was a change at the presidency and you have even seen that the incoming administration has been asking the parastatals to prepare their handover notes and all these parastatals particularly those in the maritime industry are involved in the planning and execution of NIMAREX event”.
“NIMAREX is an event of the maritime sector in the Federal Republic of Nigeria sponsored mainly by the government, the Ministry of Transport, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, the Nigerian Ports Authority, other stakeholders including the Nigerian Ship owners Association whose brainchild NIMAREX is”.
He further explained that the shift in the date had nothing to do with President Goodluck Jonathan losing the election as alleged by the report adding that NIMAREX was not the event of President Jonathan’s administration rather NIMAREX was an idea of the maritime industry which the Ministry of Transport being in-charge of the maritime industry in Nigeria bought into even as he said that that was how it was done all over the world.
On the crisis rocking the Nigerian Indigenous Ship owners Association (NISA), Barr. Nwagbara stated,” we are not into the politics of NISA and it has nothing to do with us. All the stakeholders in the maritime sector whether they are members of NISA or not are working with harmony in the planning committee. Infact, we don’t discuss NISA politics in the committee, if you have the opportunity of looking at our minutes, we have never for one day in our various meetings discussed the politics of NISA”.
“So, NIMAREX event is to promote the business of maritime in Nigeria, it is not to promote NISA. So, the disagreement that NISA has has nothing to do with the planning and execution of NIMAREX”.
On the alleged undemocratic manner the Chairman of the NIMAREX 2015 Planning Committee, Ayorinde Adedoyin was the running the Committee, he dismissed the report as unfounded noting that the report was never credited to anybody known to the Committee as it only talked about anonymous source thus describing the Chairman as a “Perfect gentleman”.
While attesting to the ability of the members of the committee to bequeath to Nigerians and the maritime sector in particular an event that would turn out to be a huge success, the NIMAREX Scribe reassured Nigerians and the world that the NIMAREX 2015 would not be shifted again for any as according to him,” we are looking good, we are set to go”.
