The fresh hope of indigenous shipowners to access the disbursement of maritime intervention fund, Cabotage Vessels Finance Fund (CVFF), has been dashed as the Federal Government has blamed the shipowners for failure to disburse the fund.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by the Shipowners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) in Lagos, the Executive Director, Finance and Administration of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Bashir Jamoh, accused the shipowners of lack of unity.
He also berated them for pursuing selfish interest instead of collective interest. Jamoh said the inclination of the indigenous shipowners to pursue personal interest over collective interest remains a hindrance to the CVFF disbursement.
“This issue is something that the minister of transportation has attempted to address and he asked the ship owners to organise themselves as one team and come back to discuss the issues with him. The differences and conflict in interests limited some of these noble actions of the minister.
“It is only when they can make their appeals in one voice that the government would listen and take them seriously. There is no explanation as to why a country as big as Nigeria would subject itself to interests of individuals in this crucial sector. This has been one of the major problems in the delay in the disbursement of CVFF,” he said.
He also said that the frequent changes in the leadership of NIMASA was another factor hindering the quick disbursement of the Cabotage fund.
“Before the present administration, we had followed due process and some companies had been outlined but a new administration came onboard before the process was concluded.The challenge is that a new administration hardly has confidence in any process that wasn’t initiated by it.” Jamo, however, said he would make it his personal assignment to reconcile the ship owners.
Meanwhile, the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has bemoaned the high number of investors that deserted the maritime industry in 2018 over the bad state of the port access roads and insecurities on the nation’s water.
This was disclosed by the President – General of the union, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, over the weekend.
Adeyanju said that the government should ensure prompt repair of the Tin-Can Island road leading to the port for investors who had exit the port to return.
“Our expectations for the maritime industry is very high in the sense that what we have lost last year we pray this year will be better than last year. The road to tin can island should be repaired too.
“The port access road to Mile 2 should be repaired so as to bring back the investors that have left the country. We know we lost so many investors because of the bad roads and now that the road is on the verge of completion, I think we pray for good things to happen this year,” he said. Adeyanju, who also raised the alarm over high rate of insecurity on the nation’s water that has led to kidnap and death of several seafarers.
According to him, insecurity -piracy and sea robbery- have contributed to job loss as shipping companies dread coming to Nigerian waters.
“I think NIMASA is doing a very good job and we pray this year they will improve on the security of the waterway.
“We have been having the challenges for some couple of months but I believe they are trying their best but we hope Nigeria government will strengthen them and empower them to do more. On piracy, I can remember last year, we lost many seafarers and we lost so many investors as a result of piracy but we pray that this year will be better than last year,” he assured.