Author: Saint Augustine

Last week, stakeholders converged on Rockview Hotels Apapa in Lagos to draw a road map towards building what they called a new port order in the Nigerian maritime industry. The event, a one day seminar organized by the Shippers’ Association of Lagos state (SALS) with the theme,” Working Towards a New Port Order”, saw in attendance the crème-de-la-crème of the Maritime and the shipping world with a singular aim of identifying what has gone wrong with the industry that was once the pride of every Nigerian. A lot of organizations namely; the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and…

Following the successful election of the new executives of the Nigerian Ship owners Association (NISA) last Friday in Lagos, stakeholders have continued to reel out their expectation of the newly elected executives of the association. Speaking in an interview with Primetime Reporters, the Managing Director of Fablo Ventures Limited, Capt. Ogunsakin Rotimi Ishola Williams said that he would want the new executives to focus their attention towards bringing back their jobs which had been taken away by the foreigners. Capt. Williams stated that he would also want to see how these aliens who had virtually taken over every aspect of…

The newly elected President of the Nigerian Ship owners Association (NISA), Capt. Dada Olaniyi Labinjo has said that the association would form what he called a Maritime Cluster as part of his agenda for the association. Speaking on the sideline of his election as the new President of NISA in Lagos on Friday, Capt. Labinjo opined that creating a Maritime Cluster was what the association needed to do immediately in order to get their jobs back. He disclosed that on the 15th of October, 2014, South Africa formed their own Maritime Cluster adding that Nigeria would form her own without…

…Promises to bring back their jobs The incumbent Secretary-General of the Nigerian Ship owners Association (NISA), Capt. Dada Olaniyi Labinjo has been elected the new President of the association in an election that was held last Friday at the Rockview Hotels Apapa, Lagos. It will be recalled that the election was the first the association is organizing in the last ten years. Capt. Labinjo polled a total of 31 (thirty-one) votes to defeat his closest rival, Engr. Greg Ogbeifun who polled a total of 23 (twenty-three) votes to rank second and the former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and…

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has called on the federal government not to go ahead with its plan to designate INTELS Terminal located in Onne, Port Harcourt a national terminal for the clearance of heavy lift cargos and deep draught vessels saying that such move would lead to job loss on the part of the nation’s dockworkers. The union which made this observation at the end of the meeting of its Central Working Committee (CWC) warned that the plan if implemented would create industrial crisis in the maritime industry and affect other terminal operators in the nation’s sea…

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has said that it would support the Nigerian Shippers’ Council in its assignment as economic regulator of the nation’s seaports. Speaking when the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Barr. Hassan Bello and his Management team paid a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja, the Director-General of BPE, Mr. Benjamin Dikki assured of his agency’s support to the Council for it to achieve its mandate. Dikki believed that one of the major challenges in the ports reform was the absence of a regulator for the sector, adding…

The Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) has finally responded to the allegation of arresting containers on the high way by its enforcement unit leveled against it by the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) saying that it has the mandate to cub the influx of sub-standard product into the Nigerian markets. It will be recalled that the Founder of NAGAFF, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam had argued that the Act establishing SON did not give it the mandate to arrest containers duly released and exited by the Customs from the port on the roads rather to follow such suspected containers…

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Zone A, Lagos has reiterated its optimism that it will achieve the 75% of the entire revenue expected of it by the Service by the end of this year. Speaking in recently in Lagos, the Zonal Coordinator of the zone, Assistant Comptroller-General Victor Gbemudu stated that going by the level of increased importation in the last four months of the year, that he was sure the commands under the zone would eventually met the revenue target. Gbemudu observed that the policies of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Inde Abdullahi were usually read out during…

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has threatened to shut down all the nation’s ports that were yet to comply with the International Ships and Ports Facility Security (ISPS) Code. Speaking at a one day Seminar with the theme,” Working Towards A New Port Order”, organized by the Shippers’ Association of Lagos State (SALS) in Lagos Wednesday, the Director-General of NIMASA, Mr. Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi stated that even if the agency failed to close down those ports, they would still not get international shipping businesses. Represented by the Head, Planning and Research of the agency, Ibrahim Jibrin, Akpobolokemi…

The Shippers’ Association of Lagos State (SALS) has called on the Federal government to regularly fund and give monthly grant to support run its Secretariat as well as run its activites. Speaking at a one day Seminar in Lagos with the theme,” Working Towards A New Port Order”, organized by the association, the SALS President, Rev. Jonathan Nicol stated that the interests of the shippers were not adequately protected in the country. Nicol noted that since all their money had been decimated through various government agencies and enactments, the little money left at their disposal, they used in promoting the…