The vision of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is to be the leading maritime administration in Africa, advancing Nigeria’s global maritime goals, while on the other; its mission is to achieve and sustain safe, secure shipping, cleaner oceans and enhanced maritime capacity, in line with global best practices, all aimed at enhancing Nigeria’s economic development.
The essence of this essay, therefore, is to critically examine the vision and mission of NIMASA and probably proffer answers to the vital question of whether Dr. Dakuku Peterside, its Director General has actualised these principles on which NIMASA was set up and if he has, does it not then mean that the agency still needs his ingeniuty?
Has Dr. Peterside repositioned NIMASA as a global brand according to its Vision? To provide an answer, in his congratulatory message to Peterside, after his emergence as President, Association of African Maritime Administrators, AAMA, His Excellency, President Mohammadu Buhari, succinctly described his prowess and competence thus; “Peterside’s unanimous election is not only a personal honour and affirmation of confidence in his ability to lead AAMA, but also places Nigeria in a pivotal position to rally other maritime administrations in collaboration with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) towards safer global maritime activities.”
Senator Ahmed Rufai Sani, Chairman, Senate Committee on Marine Transport, beautifully summarizes and lends credibility to the thoughts on Dr. Peterside, when he averred thus; “what NIMASA is doing under the leadership of Dr. Peterside is commendable and as a Committee, we will give NIMASA the necessary legislative backing in terms of amendments to the existing laws and enhanced appropriation that is necessary for the Agency to effectively carry out its regulatory activities”.
This fantastic excerpt from a speech made by Emeritus Professor Dagogo Fubara, captures Dr. Peterside as an intellectual asset, administrative expert and result oriented gentleman.
He said, “Your ingenious leadership in the Agency which will galvanize the maritime industry to greatness is very commendable. I don’t know what you are doing in NIMASA but whatever you are doing is very commendable. Apart from the fact that you have assembled first grade scholars to talk today, this is the first time in my 78 years sojourn on earth that I have chaired an event and four hours after, the hall is still filled to capacity”.
I would honestly also described him as a value-addition to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, because under his watch, NIMASA has recorded countless laudable achievements to the credit of the administration.
I will also like to recall a glowing tribute which the respectable governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai paid Mr. Dakuku recently, when he described him as “a vibrant young man who has brought a lot of reforms to the maritime industry.”
I personally see Peterside as a celebrated icon, an enigma, a study in resoluteness, benevolence, audacity, resourcefulness, creativity and a symbol of unity. He is also visionary, egalitarian and, most importantly, a great patriot whose love for Nigeria and Nigerians is infectious.
Those who have walked same corridor with this examplery Nigerian, will testify that he is a bridge-builder and extremely loyal to friendship. He is an emerging force in the maritime Industry globally, who became the first Nigerian to be elected by 34 countries as the President, Association of African Maritime Administrators (AAMA).
For turning around the fortunes of the Nigeria’s maritime sector, to increase its contribution to the economy, Dr Dakuku has justified his appointment as Director-General of NIMASA, and has helped President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in its drive to revolutionise the maritime industry.
Truly, Peterside is a rare icon, an uncommon achiever, a dedicated reformer and a trustworthy ally of the President. And the fact speaks for itself.
Now let’s review Mr. Petersides achievements. Since his appointment as in March 2016, a lot of reforms have been initiated, including the new Cabotage Compliance Strategy, which has created more employment opportunities for Nigerians in the maritime sector and significantly enhanced the maritime sector’s contribution to both the Federation Account and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and translating to a national economic filip.
Under the watch of this reformer and revolutionist, Dr. Petetside, NIMASA, with its record-breaking income generation into Nigeria’s coffers, received presidential commendation and dusted other similar agencies to top the chart on Port and Flag State Control in the West and Central African sub-regions.
The maritime regulatory agency outranked other maritime regulators in the region, in the inspection of vessels calling at Nigerian ports, according to the latest report by the Abuja Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control for West and Central African Region, otherwise known as Abuja MoU.
All these were part of the fruits of recent reforms initiated by the agency and deliberate investment in enforcement equipment. The fact remains that the management team of NIMASA is conscious of global best practices and is determined to rid our waterways of all substandard vessels, with the ultimate aim of ensuring a safe and robust maritime domain. This afforded the agency the capacity to be a competitive player in the global maritime space, giving her an edge in the comity of maritime investment destinations.
I commend Dr. Peterside and his team for following the international requirement for countries, by inspecting and surveying over 600 vessels calling at Nigerian ports. This is unprecedented, showing that the country is alive to its port state and flag state responsibilities.
The increased inspection and survey has ensured that substandard vessels no longer call at Nigerian ports. It has improved safety on Nigerian waters and led to a reduction of vessels with deficiency from 18.99 % in 2015 to barely 14 % in 2018, with a massive improvement on the statistics in 2019 and further improvement projected in 2020.
“NIMASA has, since the last four years, engaged in deliberate efforts to protect the country’s maritime assets and environment by building up response capabilities under the Deep Blue Sea project. The Agency has acquired special mission aircraft, special mission telecommunications gadgets, and 17 interceptor special mission vessels.
It has also, in conjunction with the country’s security services, set up a Command and Control Centre, with a complement of armoured vehicles to patrol littoral states, and a standing force to deal with criminal activities at sea.Eze
Let me quote Peterside in a recent statement: ““at the regional, continental and international levels, we continued to pursue and support the improvement of International Maritime standards and obligations in accordance with Nigeria’s global Maritime goals. We hosted a number of regional and international Maritime events, collaborated and participated actively in the celebration of the Day of the Seaferers, World Maritime Day and African Day of Seas and Oceans.”
If the words of President Trump that “merit should count in our appointments” is reflected upon, it is only logical to say that Nigeria still needs Dr. Dakuku Peterside.
Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress.