Nigerian shipping industry needs urgent govt intervention to stave off foreign domination, says NISA President

Maureen Aguta

Foreign domination of the Nigerian shipping industry is real and any attempt by individual ship-owners in the country to break into the industry has always been warded off by the foreigners through conspiracy and manipulations.

To save the sector from the strangle-hold of foreign ship-owners, therefore, the Federal Government must step in and give the Nigerian ship-owners the necessary support and protection they need to thrive.

President of Nigeria Ship-owners Association (NISA), Otunba Sola Adewunmi, stated this at the 16th Marine and Technical Summit of the Association of Marine Engineers and Surveyors (AMES) in Lagos, on Thursday.

Otunba Adewunmi narrated how he had to sell-off his three vessels, due to the frustration he suffered on account of alleged foreign conspiracy that ensures that Nigerian owned ships don’t get even as little as trans-shipment jobs for Nigerian bound cargoes.

He, however, disclosed that on a positive note, the good reception the Nigerian ship-owners are receiving from the current Management at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), indicate that the good days might be close-by around the corner.

“We are happy that we now have a DG who has a listening ear, unlike the experiences we had in the past. We have been having quality discussions with DG Dayo Mobereola, but the result of those discussions are yet to start coming in.”

Otunba Adewunmi further pointed out that the Nigerian shipping industry would soon suffer generational replacement crisis as those holding forth now are getting older but have nobody to hand over to.

He said, all over the world, governments, gives one kind of subsidy or support to its ship-owners to enable them to thrive and take full charge of the local shipping economy.