As stakeholders await the announcement of the date for this year’s edition of the Nigerian Maritime Expo (NIMAREX), the Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA), Engr. Emmanuel Ilori has said that NIMAREX is in the process of restricting.
Speaking to newsmen in Lagos, Ilori hinted that the restructuring had become imminent so as not to turn the event which prides itself as the biggest maritime event into a mere jamboree.
Ilori said that the restructuring would be such that it was going to make a meaningful impact to the industry by the time it would be re-launched.
“NIMAREX is not dead, NIMAREX will take place but it will take place in a way and format that it will be adding value to the industry because it was turning to a showpiece and that was not what we at NISA want NIMAREX to be, that was not the original intention.
“We understand there is a little deviation, we believe that NIMAREX needs to be refocused to contribute to the development of the indigenous shipping in Nigeria, contribute to policy, and contribute to a situation where the indigenous ship builders, shipping equipment manufacturers come together. So, that was the intention, that is why what is worth doing is worth doing well”, he said.
He disclosed that NIMAREX would come out on a later date before this year runs out adding that the date once agreed upon would be communicated to the industry stakeholders.
“The Executive Committee of NISA is making all arrangements as we speak and the date will be communicated to you when the time comes. The NIMAREX we are expecting this year is not going to follow the same pattern that we know before because we have identified some issues we want corrected”, Ilori said.
The NISA spokesman maintained that the restructuring was not necessarily an indictment on the way and manner the event was organized in the past saying that an even that held for some years needed to be re-evaluated to see what value it had added to the industry so that it could be organized differently.
He said,” The even has succeeded in raising an awareness but we have moved beyond raising awareness, we want to begin to see real input, we want to see it create different opportunities, we want to see manufacturers coming to NIMAREX to be able to say, this is the value NIMAREX has added to my business. So, it is going to be business focused event not just awareness. Before, it was focusing on awareness and now we need to shift the focus to become a business focused event”.
He however denied the fact that the event might have been stalled as a result of lack sponsorship even as he opined that NIMAREX was a known brand but that it must be an event that sponsors would end up having value for their money.
It will be recalled that the Acting President of NISA, Alhaji AminuUmar had earlier in a chat with journalist in Lagos sometime this year said that NIMAREX would hold in September this year but with the turn of event, it appears the event will go for a break in the current year as investigation by Primetime Reporters revealed that there was no concrete signs that the event will hold this year.
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