The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has called on the Nigerian Indigenous Ship owners Association (NISA) to put their problems behind them and forge a common front so as to attract the attention of the government.
The Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi who made this appeal yesterday in a goodwill message he delivered at the opening ceremony of the 2015 edition of the Nigerian Maritime Expo, (NIMAREX 2015) with the theme, “Nigeria: Regenerating Economic Growth Through the Maritime Sector”, held at Eko Hotel, Lagos.
Nigerian Maritime Expo (NIMAREX) 2015 said that the ship owners cannot make any progress with quarrelling and speaking in discordant tunes urging them to come together in order to achieve their set goals.
Represented by the Executive Director, Cabotage Services of the agency, Barr. Calistus Nwabueze Obi, the Director General stated that there were serious efforts by the Federal Ministry of Transport to look into the operational difficulties that operators were having in the maritime industry adding that there were efforts at developing the indigenous vessel acquisition fund.
According to him, “I want you to identify with this new passion of the Federal Ministry of Transport so that in the next few months, we will begin to see positive results that will be beneficial not only to the operators, but to NIMASA and to the overall benefit of the sector”
On his part, a former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar who chaired the event urged the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to tap from the potentials inherent in the maritime industry to reposition the dwindling fortunes of the nation’s economy.
Abdusalami said that Nigeria was naturally endowed maritime nation with over 400 nautical miles of sea coast and with numerous resources seaborne thereby pointing to the fact that it was very important that Nigeria take advantage of those resources the almighty God had given her.
He said, “The quest by NIMAREX to showcase the enormous potentials of Nigeria as a maritime nation is a welcome development and the consideration to regenerate the economy at this auspicious point in our nationhood is indeed laudable.”
He therefore called on the President to adopt the communiqué that would be arrived at in the 2015 edition of NIMAREX so as to assist in the efforts to refocus and rebuild the economy for national growth.
“I have taken a cursory look at the topics of the papers scheduled to be delivered at the conference session of this event and I am convinced that a lot of impact and useful suggestions under the roadmap will be made at the end of the expo.”
“I will advise the new government to consider the communiqué expected to be arrived at from the conference with a view to adopting the germane issues to assist in efforts to refocus and re-jig the economy for national prosperity”, he said.
Also speaking, the Acting President of NISA, Mr. Aminu Umar called for a national strategy to assure a country’s shipping capability should rank high on the political agenda of the present government adding that he was fully aware that maritime sector was a high technology driven industry.
Umar whose address was delivered by the Secretary of NISA, Mr. Tunji Brown added that there had been instances when this country had not taken advantage of the emerging technologies for the development of the key industries particularly for the cabotage trade.
He said, “Efforts to ensure the technological development should be intensified. A pool of our technical experts should be drawn to develop a national maritime strategy that will ensure the implementation of a maritime development blueprint such that will enable this sleeping giant to wake up and make appropriate contribution to the change initiatives of the nation.
“I believe that NIMAREX 2015 will provide a good opportunity to articulate some of the measures necessary for implementation of a strategy for the realization of how the maritime sector can positively impact the growth of our nation”.
Earlier, the Chairman, NIMAREX 2015 Planning Committee, Mr. Ayorinde Adedoyin said the exhibition was targeted at throwing up solutions that will enhance the economic fortunes of Nigeria saying that with the dwindling price of crude oil at the international market, the organisers of the 2015 edition of the expo deemed it fit to help redirect the economy.
“In the light of the international economic situation which has adversely affected Nigeria’s monolithic economy primed on crude oil, organisers of NIMAREX deemed it timely and topical to address the rebuilding and re-engineering of the economy by throwing up challenges for the policy makers, private sector and all stakeholders in the generation of the Nigerian commonwealth to beam the searchlight on the maritime sector as possible purveyors of economic regeneration, the NIMAREX boss stated”
Adedoyin said the expo would procure a governance roadmap primed on the maritime sector adding that, “It is my pleasure to invite you all to the conference sessions to make expedient contributions to the seriously challenging issues of maritime funding for vessel acquisition and tonnage building, sundry equipment procurement and auxiliaries”..
The Chairman of the Planning Committee also enjoined all stakeholders to join hands for the development of the industry.
He said,“There is need for all players and stakeholders in the maritime industry to join forces positively and not negatively; constructively and not destructively; patriotically, progressively and in accord; to join in the determined task of building a truly united, nationalistic and mutually beneficial industry”.
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