Mr. Bolaji Sunmola, the President of the National Association of Stevedoring Companies was a fortnight ago elected the new Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Consultative Council, NPCC. In this interview with our correspondent, he paid glowing tribute to the immediate past Chairman of the Council, Late Otunba Kunle Folarin. He equally spoke of his encounter with a former Rector of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, MAN Oron, his emergence as the new Chairman of NPCC, his agenda for the Nigerian Maritime industry and many more. Excerpts:
Just about last week, you were elected the new Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Consultative Council, NPCC following the demise of the former Chairman, Otunba Kunle Folarin. Tell me, did you for one day plan to be the Chairman of the Council?
(Laughs) In actual fact, this was never planned for because I can’t say I am the oldest in the industry or old in the industry but everything happened one, by the dint of hardwork and then,of course, God’s providence comes in. And more especially, I wouldn’t have wished Otunba death anyway, I did not see him dying at the time he died because Otunba worked till he died and I have never seen such a strong man at his age in my life. Very hardworking even at over eighty years and it hasn’t come to my notice where he had complained about having slight headache talk less of fever.
So, he has been an embodiment of encouragement to me. So, I did not even envisage at all and the death came as a shock, so sudden that it hit me like a thunderbolt. And the most surprising thing too was his dying on my birthday. It was too much for me to bear and that’s why I see that he must have a befitting burial.
In the run up to Otunba’s replacement, did you ever campaigned or called for this office to be entrusted to you?
No! There was no campaign like you would see. Otunba, like I said, did not plan that he was just going to die, so, he couldn’t have planned his succession too. But I can say with all confidence that I was the next to him by the time of his death even though I wasn’t occupying the position of the Deputy Chairman. But the Deputy Chairman then, just few months before his (Otunba’s) death, resigned, that is Captain Adetumobi because of his health and the distance between his house and the Council and as a result of what he’s presently doing, he might not have the time and this really jolted Otunba because he never saw it coming and then, he didn’t even know what to do. So, there was vacancy in that position even though I was a member of what I will call the senior Council member, if there’s anything like that. That position was not filled and that was how it was till when Otunba died.
So, I wasn’t thinking of that because my hands are always full being the National President of the National Association of Stevedoring Companies, it was really taking my time but in between, Otunba knew that any time he called on me, any time there’s a need for us to work, I am always fully dedicated and that I have shown in the last fifteen years or so that I happened to be in this course.
Now that fate has brought you into this office as it is, do you think you can really fit into the shoes left behind by Otunba Kunle Folarin?
That’s a good question. God has made us in our own unique ways. If I say I am going to replicate Otunba today, it will be a big lie. Otunba was unique in himself as a human being, and he had his qualities which were unique to him and to his gene and that, no man can copy
I don’t intend to copy Otunba but I intend to see in my own way and manners that the legacies that he had left were replicated but not in the same manner with which Otunba did his things because that human being was an enigma of a person if at eighty he was still up and doing.
Well, three days before his death, he just came back from Abuja and that was it and he died in his room. So, he died working. When he was in Abuja, he called me to say that he was coming to Lagos and that there were certain things we needed to discuss together based on his meeting with the Minister and of course, that Saturday that I learnt of his death, he was supposed to share a book launch and I was there too,I was invited as a member of PCC and we were there waiting for Otunba to come and we didn’t see Otunba and we now believe that he was held up in traffic. Then I called him and he said he was not going to make it, that I should go and represent him there and I had to stand in for him and then, the event went very well.
So, saying that I will be like Otunba is like not valuing what God has done for him or what plan God has for my very self and it’s just expediency coming to this position, it was never planned and I didn’t even hope for it because I see that office as a kind of retirement place for people who have attained some kind of leverage. I am not retiring,I just want to do my good work because I believe in PCC from day one. I believe in their principles, I believe in their philosophy, I believe in what they can deliver, I believe that Nigeria needs such a body to move the practice of maritime in general to the zenith of what it should be as compared to what it is in the whole world.
Now that you are here, what should the industry stakeholders expect of you?
Collectively, I won’t say individually, we have to work in concert with other people and I have been thinking of that in my heart, what mark do I want to leave in this industry? And I said to myself that the two or three men that have been the head of this Council had created their marks. So, Bolaji in your own way, what are you going to do? And I want to leave an indelible Mark that over years, would be seen that there’s a rejuvenated PCC. That’s what I can say.
Otunba has tried his best,he has thrown the baton for us to grab, though it wasn’t done formally but he had left a mark that will create an impact. So many issues burning in the industry, there’s no sector of the industry that does not need a kind of reformation, rejuvenation and we coming together to see that we do it well and then stand Nigeria as one of the best nations practicing maritime the way it should be practiced.
So, many issues for us to see that cut across board. Where the knowledge is not there, gain the knowledge, sit with experts, work together and provide a management expertise to see that we achieve the best for all the exotic and sophisticated human resources we have in Nigeria. I have so far seen so faces of the people who are ready to do this and it’s just galvanize them together and approach the government and and making the right start to see that we move the maritime industry higher and higher.
The late Otunba was so ubiquitous in the maritime industry and he became so “powerful” in the maritime industry that the government agencies as well as the private establishments in the sector would pay attention when he coughs. Are we going to see such personality in you? If yes, how are you foiyto achieve it?
You know for sure that the maritime industry is a serious industry. It’s not a showman industry.i am not going to make a show and say because I want my name to be heard, I will just be shouting anyhow. We are going to look at peculiar areas that need to be touched. For me, we are going to look at areas that there’s need for us to move forward and for us to do the things that needed to be done.
Just about two weeks ago, not even preparing for this position as I mentioned, talking with the late Engr. Olu Akinsoji when I went to visit him at Abeokuta for him to even be part of the quarterly meeting, may his soul rest in perfect peace. Amen. He was saying, hey Bolaji, I am old now, I can’t do anything but I can only assist to see that we move forward. I said but we need you sir and he said, I am weak,my brain is still there but my limbs are weak. And such words kept reverberating in my head and of course, are we going to tie him to a chair and drag him down? So, somebody needs to do that job.
Like I said, I am not going to make a show man of this position, we are going to take issues frontally as as they are. Whenever there’s the need for us to knock the door, we knock the door, the statement that needs to be make, I will make sure I make it so that we can move the industry forward. I am for the totality of developing this industry.
In my discussion with the late Olu Akinsoji, he was talking about the Cabotage. That the Cabotage as it is being implemented today is not what they planned. Look at it, the local shipping industry is dying. That’s an enormous industry that can be regenerated for our youth, for our industry, for revenue. Now, look at, there is no local ship movement and that really touched me. He said the whole of NIMASA, that’s what they are created for, why are they not doing that? Where is the shipping policy? Wherr are the ships that are supposed to carry local cargoes even if we cannot do international movement?
What about the freight? Why are we continuing to pay CIF and not have our FOB? So many issues that he raised that I felt challenging but unfortunately, we couldn’t get him to freshen it up. These are the things I will be having my eyes on. We must create, now we call it marine and blue economy, we must create a true marine and blue economy that will serve the locals, that will serve you and I do that we can leave a legacy for our children’s children, that is the generations coming behind us so that they can have something they can lean on. Not too much talk but do many actions for us to see that things are done. it is not by fight but we have to create our own niche.to see that it is done.
All I want is not by myself like I keep saying, we will create a team that cuts across the whole industry so that everybody has a contribution. This NPCC – Nigerian Ports Consultative Council is for all even you the journalists have a role to play. For instance, we have not seen you in the Council, you only come to cover our activities, no! You should be part of the Council too, you should have your representation in the Council because it is a Council. So, it should embrace all manner of players in that industry. That’s what we intend to do.
Our agenda will be very well articulated, our plans, our strategies will be in the open for everybody to see. During my tenure, we shall be open for criticisms and contributions, nothing will be hidden from the people.
You must have one or two priority areas as the new Chairman of NPCC. If you are to list them, what are they?
Like I said, so many issues have been coming but one of the areas is to redefine the role of customs. What is the role of customs in the whole polity of our work? We are shouting that most of the industries are moving away from Nigeria. What are the reasons they are moving away? One of the basic issues is the issue of trade facilitation. Are we facilitating enough trade to keep the ones we have? We are not! It’s so embarrassing to find a new Customs Controller coming to say I want to generate thirty billion or I want to generate fifty billion naira. From where? For what? Are we dependent only on the money that is coming? No! That won’t develop us.
But we know why such issues are coming in the front burner because we know most individuals benefit from such but we want trade facilitation, we want our borders to be open, we want our waters to be open. We want industries to flow, like I just said, we want local shipping to be encouraged, we want the local people to operate the vessels Yes, we want shipping to be shipping not representatives or agencies, no! That should not be the case.
Nigeria is so big, one of the biggest economies in the world not even Africa, we have vast resources. Are we talking about the minerals, Agriculture, petroleum, gas, so many enormous resources that should be harnessed and these all have a flavour of marine contribution into it without marine, nine of these industries can flow. So, we need to really get ourselves together.
Coming back to customs, customs need to come to terms with what roles they want to play in all this because they are the gate and once they are not practicing what they are supposed to do, we will continue to have problems and we shall continue to be running a buying and selling economy which won’t favour anybody.
Yes, some of us will be millionaires but millionaires that are not contributory to the GDP and GNP and to the growth of millions of our youth. Those are the things that will contribute to the growth of our nation because if you check our population, it continues to leap in bound and there is a mass movement towards the city. Why do we have this mass movement? People are leaving there,no development and no infrastructure because factories find it difficult to go into strict production or manufacturing just doing trading and that’s not going to help us.
…To be continued.
Photo: Mr. Bolaji Sunmola, newly elected Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Consultative Council, NPCC and President, National Association of Stevedoring Companies, NASC.
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