… Says lack of coordinated efforts major challenge to Agency
The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh has called on the maritime stakeholders to go back to the drawing board to see to the revival of the Nigerian Maritime Expo (NIMAREX) so as to achieve its objectives.
Jamoh who made this call in his goodwill message at the Nigeria International Maritime Summit which held in Lagos between the 5th and 6th October, 2021 with the theme, “Becoming A Significant Maritime Nation”, said that the successes recorded from NIMAREX during the short time it lasted was numerous.
He noted that NIMAREX had been the focal point and the first in Africa to direct attention of the maritime stakeholders and what they had especially at a time when the foreign companies were trying to take over the business of the Nigerian maritime industry from the rightful owners.
According to him, “The concept of the OTC – Oil Technology Conference in the United States was a product of and cascade into NIMAREX.”
The NIMASA DG continued, “When the organizers (of the Nigeria International Maritime Summit) came to me to tell me that this is what they want to organize, I asked them a question, what is wrong with NIMAREX? And all of them agreed that there is nothing wrong with NIMAREX but it appears that the entire coordinating segment of NIMAREX, something is wrong with it. But all the organizers for this event are part and parcel of the success of NIMAREX to the best of my knowledge and this industry close to three decades now.
“Now, while the Honorable Minister was complaining of segmentation and silos, they were coming on with a function of NIMAREX in another format of the Nigeria International Maritime Summit. On our own, we don’t have anything to do rather than to help galvanize and direct how the industry will have to look like.
“So, my sincere submission and I told the organizers that while we are trying to deliver this particular summit, we should go back to the drawing board to see what we can do to revive the NIMAREX, to see to the objectives of NIMAREX. The successes recorded from NIMAREX, when NIMAREX was onboard; the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo recognized that body by sending his representative in one of the editions. Similarly, former President Jonathan also recognized NIMAREX and sent his representative. So, we still have a very good platform.
“Ladies and gentlemen, let us try, strive and make sure that we come onboard to make the Nigerian maritime industry a unique and a formidable force that can fight for the realization and the aspirations of the maritime industry in Africa and I believe together we can achieve.”
He, however, frowned at the lack of the coordinated efforts by stakeholders for the good of the industry leading to fractionalization of different groups, unions and associations in the industry which according to him, was a big challenge to the agency he was leading.
Quoting the Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi on fractionalization of stakeholder groups, Jamoh stated, “He made mention that the only industry that is disorganize, that you have different function of segmented unions – ship owners association, indigenous ship owners association and so on and so forth, he said he cannot understand the reason behind this. When he came in, he tried to see how he can get the unity of the different factions altogether but up till now, he couldn’t do that. If he is dealing with the railway, he is dealing with the government, so, he doesn’t have any faction. He didn’t have much patience and understanding to be talking to different groups in silos.”
“I remember, Mr. Greg Ogbeifun can bear me witness, about four years ago, he organized an annual dinner for the ship owners and I stood up, at that time, I wasn’t the DG and I made mention that there must be a need for synergy and understanding between the different factions of the ship owners and in return, he stood up and said, he challenge me to talk to Aminu Umar so that they can be able to sit down see how they can synergize.
“I am happy to say that seeing them sitting together, talking together, and working together but what I can say, are they one? Not yet. We are public servants, we have rules of engagement. From the rules of engagement, you cannot deviate and fight for ship owner or for advocacy of what the industry needs and wants. The needs and wants of the industry are best known to the stakeholders, they are the ones to come together and challenge us.
“If we are working together and we get to a junction where there are so many roads and we stand, all of us, somebody will say no, this is the right direction to go, another will say, this is the right direction to go, we will have to sit down and organize ourselves like a team of football where you have captain, you have wingers, you have strikers, you have defenders and say this is the way to go and achieve what we want to achieve.
“And they can go to the government also and tell the government that this man you appoint and you give him this direction, he is not going along the aspiration of the industry so that the government will pay attention”, he added.
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