By Steve Agbota, [email protected]
With a coastline of 852 kilometres bordering the Atlantic Ocean in the Gulf of Guinea and a maritime area of over 46,000 square kilometres., Nigeria is well positioned to be a leading maritime nation.
Also, it has a well fresh and mangrove swamps, creeks, coastal rivers, estuaries, bays, and offshore waters.
With huge maritime resources, Nigeria has the longest coastline in West and Central Africa; 200 nautical miles excluding economic zone and that is potential for shipping development and also for other industries that are tied to maritime.
Moreso, eight out of the 36 Nigerian states, with 25 per cent of Nigeria’s total population, share the Atlantic Ocean coastline.
This is in addition to the country being blessed with abundant resources in its oceans and seas to back its economic growth and development drive along a vast inland waterways resource estimated at nearly 4,000 kilometers, capable of supporting a vibrant intra-regional trade.
The nation’s maritime industry provides services to all enterprises engrossed in the business of banking, information and technology, designing, constructing, manufacturing, acquiring, operating, supplying, repairing and maintaining vessels, or component parts, managing and operating shipping lines, stevedoring and Customs brokerage services, shipyards, dry docks, marine railways, marine repair shops, shipping and freight forwarding services and other similar enterprises to mention a few.
But Nigeria lacks political will and put the needed infrastructure in place to harness the potential embedded in the industry.
Daily Sun learnt that due to lack of infrastructure among others, Nigeria is losing an estimated $1 trillion annually in the entire shipping sector.
However, experts and other maritime stakeholders at the a national discourse with distinguished maritime personalities (DMPs) organised by Maritime Nigeria re-echoed the need to stay focused, muster the political will and put the needed infrastructure in place to encourage private investors to invest in and benefit from the resources of the ocean.
Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer of Starz Marine and Engineering Limited, Greg Ogbeifun, said Nigeria is losing an estimated $1 trillion annually in the entire shipping sector due to lack of vessels, infrastructure, human capacity and cargo carriage.
“If I am to just hazard a guess, this country is losing close to a trillion dollar in the entire shipping sector both infrastructure, human capacity and cargo carriage,” he said.
He also called on the private sector in the shipping subsector of the maritime to establish platforms to help actualise the policies of the sector.
According to him, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done what he is supposed to do by separating the Maritime ministry from the transportation hence it behooves on the sector players to take it upon themselves to make out something from the government’s laudable initiative.
He maintained that creating private platforms would help to refloat the sector and ensure its continuity.
For the purpose of floating the private platforms, the shipping magnate said he decided to come out of retirement back into active shipping operations even as he promised stakeholders to watch out for him in days to come.
“We must commend him for having the boldness to come out whether he understands the implication or not, it is irrelevant. They have done what they are supposed to do. They have appointed whoever they want to appoint but the private sector should now rise up to set up platforms to help that ministry to actualise its objective,” he said.
“If we get established platforms for the policies of that ministry to be actualised, that ministry can get better than others and that is what has called me out back into active Maritime activities. Not because I am looking for money, or because I am looking for a contract but because we must talk the talk and walk the talk,” he stated.
He noted that Nigeria had all that was required to be a great maritime nation.
He said what is lacking is the needed leadership with the vision and the zeal to drive the needed diversification plans with emphasis on maritime potentials.
“Because of the capital intensive nature of shipping; if you want to buy or build a ship and register it in some countries, you enjoy zero import duty on that ship, you get tax holiday for five years or more to enable your cash flow amortize your loan and you also get VAT reviews and other incentives-for public and private sector interests who are desirous of investing in shipping or establishing any kind of fleet.
“The Federal Government must adopt these enabling models existing in many shipping nations of the world if we want to own ships or establish fleet of any kind,” he said.
Also speaking, the president of the Nigeria Association of Master Mariners (NAMM), captain Tajudeen Alao, was very nostalgic on the demise of the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL).
Alao insisted that those ships were overtaken by events and the emergence of new technologies in shipbuilding/cargo handling.
“There was no way those ship could compete. They were old and newer, bigger ships came into the shipping business, which we could not compete with. Today, what ten or more of those vessels could carry are carried by a single vessel, discharged in few hours and the ships sails for another port in another country.”
“In those days we spent weeks if not months at ports waiting for loading or discharge to be completed. There was a time we had year-end celebrations at the Tin Can port. Can that happen today, I doubt it.”
The Convener, National Discourse 2, Mr. Kelvin Kagbare, expressed concerns that Nigeria may lose out in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) due to the country’s shipping development capacity index which they said is almost nil.
He bemoaned that the leaders vision for the nation’s youths and indeed the maritime and transport sector is not in sync with the speed and efficiencies of modern day international maritime trade.