The Nigerian Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Staff Association has come down hard on the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi for his inability to refloat the national carrier two years down the line after he had promised to get it up and running in six months.
The National President of the association, Engr. Matthew Alalade who expressed sadness over the development in an exclusive interview with Primetime Reporters in Lagos state blamed the development on the inability of the Minister and other government official to carry the unions along in executing any project in the nation’s maritime sector.
Alalade posited that it was failure of government and its officials to consult with experts in the sector that led to the liquidation of the former Nigerian National Shipping Lines (NNSL) as well as other projects handled by the government in the past as the beneficiaries tend to see it as part of the national cake.
He said,” Two years ago, the Honourable Minister promised us national carrier and they went to some ship owners in Singapore and up till now, we have not seen light at the end of the tunnel. So, the youths are roaming the streets waiting for sea time, not only sea time, for them to be engaged on a vessel too, if you have a sea time but you don’t have anywhere to be engaged, you go for sea time in other countries for them to absorb your people but mind you they have their own people too, you can train seafarers not militants.
“In that past, we don’t know who they consulted, that was why the thing easily passed as a national cake but why don’t they consult the unions? They are not consulting us, that was why the other ones went that way. So, they should carry the unions in the maritime industry along, whatever they want to do regarding seafaring because we are not being carried along”.
He however called on the Minister to expedite action towards acquiring vessels to carry Nigerian cargoes as Nigeria was not having her fair share of global cargo lifting not to talk lifting cargoes from West Africa even as he pointed out that all other foreign vessels come the country and take these cargoes as well as bring cargoes from abroad adding that it should be vice versa.
“We don’t any vessel even to train our seafarers. I recall that two years ago, the Honourable Minister of Transportation promised that they will acquire vessels within six months, they went to Singapore but up till now, we are still expecting the vessels that the Honourable Minister promised us. No vessel up till now because most of the cadets coming out of schools, they don’t have where to train.
“So, that is our expectation this year, that they should do something to acquire vessel for our people so that we can lift our cargoes, we can train our seafarers instead of them roaming about the streets doing Okada work, we can train them so that Nigeria too can be a hub of seafaring like Philippines, India and China.
“So, let government be serious about it, acquire vessels for us. Yes, we can train people outside the country but let us have our own so that in terms of emergency, it should be of a lot of assistance to Nigeria, the vessels will carry a lot of thing from other countries if we have emergency”, he said.
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