The Nigerian Association of Master Mariners (NAMM) has made a passionate appeal to the federal government to establish three fishing harbours across the nation for the use of the fishing industry.
The President of the association, Capt. Tajudeen Alao who made the appeal in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos recently said that currently, Nigeria did not have a fishing harbor even as he argued that a serious country should have at least one.
Alao maintained that there was the need for Nigeria to have a dedicated fishing harbour for fishing boats with facilities like cold room saying that any of the operators could make use of it as it would not belong to anybody.
When reminded that there was a time the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh pronounced the Kirikiri Lighter terminal as a fishing harbour few years ago, he said,” I don’t think they did. If they did, where is the law that backs it up? We as Master Mariners can write to the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh and demand that we want two or three fishing harbours in Nigeria namely; Lagos, Warri, Port-Harcourt or Calabar, not all these Taraba fishery, Ibru fishery and others who owned private jetties and then some big men use it now for tank farms.
“We want a dedicated harbour for fishing boats, they have their fishing boats there, they have their cold room there and anybody can make use of it because it doesn’t belong to anybody. They can give it to the association to run not that they will concession it to an individual and he starts taxing everybody there”.
While recalling that there used to be about 300 fishing boats belonging to Nigerians, he however regretted that those boats were no longer there now even as he noted that such development was not healthy for Nigeria as a country.
Send your news, press releases/articles to augustinenwadinamuo@yahoo.com. Also, follow us on Twitter @ptreporters and on Facebook on facebook.com/primetimereporters or call the editor on 07030661526, 08053908817.
