Mixed reactions have continued to trail the April 15 declaration by Chief Adegboyega Oyetola, Nigeria’s Marine and Blue Economy Minister, ordering the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, to immediately commence the disbursement of Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund, CVFF. Coming 14 days after the April Fools Day, this does not appear to me as an April joke.
It sounds so real to me, even though I am still evaluating the context under which the 10 paragraph press statement signed by, Bolaji Akinola, Oyetola’s newly appointed Media and Communications Advisor, was made.
Was it a coincidence that this declaration coincided with the day Oyetola was being conferred with the Marine and Blue Economy Pacesetter by Maritime Media Ltd, organisers of the Maritime Merit Industry Merit Awards?
As a maritime journalist of repute, Akinola, like other serious and senior maritime media practitioners, has been a strong and unrepentant advocate for the prompt release and disbursement of the CVFF.
Most Nigerian indigenous ship owners have long lost hope that the CVFF will ever be disbursed in their life time. No thanks to the constant shifting of the goal post by previous occupants of NIMASA.
In fact, most Nigerians could swear to the high heavens that the CVFF funds are no longer in the vaults of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Apart from this obvious misrepresentation, which Team Oyetola has dismissed as “evil machinations” of those who see nothing good in the Tinubu administration, there is also the contentious issue of the exact amount of funds domiciled in the CVFF account.
Critical stakeholders have over the years expressed worry that the fund has remained stagnant at $350 million and a naira component of N16 billion, despite daily contribution by shipowners plying their trade in Nigeria.
Another very worrisome question, according to stakeholders, is the wisdom in warehousing the CVFF funds in the TSA account as against the previous arrangement where the funds were kept in designated commercial banks, yielding interests.
It is this arrangement that has cast serious doubt on the claims by previous administrators that the CVFF funds are truly intact. But if the statement by Akinola is to be taken seriously, he has alluded to the fact that the Dayo Mobereola led management at NIMASA has indeed issued a Marine Notice, inviting shipowners to send in their applications, provided they meet the requirements set out in the guidelines.
While emphasizing the determination “under the visionary leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the determined stewardship of Minister Oyetola that …disbursement of the CVFF will represent not just the release of funds, but a profound commitment to empowering Nigerian maritime operators, bolstering national competitiveness, and fostering sustainable economic development”,
Oyetola believes that “this is not just about disbursing funds, it is about rewriting a chapter in our maritime history.
But a cross section of critical stakeholders who reacted to the development say they are not carried away by this statement of commitment by Oyetola, but would wish to see a clear departure from previous attempts, where similar pronouncements were not matched with actual disbursements. .
While the statement was silent on the list of Primary Lending Institutions, PLIs, appointed by the Federal Government, it is yet unclear whether the bank interests will be on a single or double digit, an issue which had remained highly contentious.
The CVFF, established under the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act of 2003, was designed to empower Nigerian shipowners access structured financing for vessel acquisition. However, successive administrations have failed to ensure its disbursement.
Will Oyetola break this 23 year old jinx? Posterity beckons on His Excellency, Adegboyega Oyetola, to be on right side of history and write his name in gold.