With the advent of a New Year, John Iwori writes that there are some individuals and organisations that those interested in the maritime sector of the economy need to watch closely in 2017. This is against the backdrop of the downturn in the economy which has compelled the President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration to aggressively explore alternative sources of revenue beyond the oil and gas industry.
Rotimi Amaechi
As a result of the dwindling price of crude oil the international market, Nigeria is seeking for alternative sources of income to boost its revenue. One of the areas the Federal Government is looking to boost the economy is the maritime industry. As the present Minister of Transportation, Right Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi is one of the individuals to watch in the maritime industry. This is not unconnected with the fact that he will be the key driver of how to make the maritime industry an alternative source of income into the central till. Amaechi is a not a neophyte in government. He has spent nearly two decades in government. At various times in his political career, he was the Personal Assistant to then Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili when Chief Rufus Ada George was the governor of the oil and gas rich state. For eight years, he was the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly. This was followed by another eight years he spent as governor. To say the least, Amaechi knows how government works. In spite of the fact that the former governor cannot be described as a maritime expert, those who spoke to THISDAY said he has Buhari’s ears on the need to speedily deliver on the campaign promises of the retired military officer in the sector. He has the experience and exposure to deliver on the charge given him on the day he sworn into office at the Presidential Villa, Aso Rock, Abuja. Besides, he has a lot of aides and the bureaucrats in the ministry to guide him. A lot is expected from Amaechi in the implementation of policies and programmes, particularly in the 24 hours cargo clearance in the nation’s seaports, returning Nigeria to category C in the Governing Council of the global maritime watchdog, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), privatisation of the major airports, as well as the rehabilitation of railway lines across the country. The enormous roles and responsibilities placed on the former governor shoulders make it imperative for those interested in the maritime industry to watch him closely this New Year. In the same vein, the Ministry of Transport has several parasatals under its supervision. These include the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, Akwa Ibom State; Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) which has its corporate headquarters in the Kogi State capital, Lokoja.
Others are the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), as well as the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology, (NIIT) Zaria, Kaduna State. Though there are speculations in some quarters that Amaechi may be removed in the imminent changes in the federal executive council (FEC), until that happens not a few will want to see whether he will deliver on key promises such as the resuscitation of the national shipping carrier, single window in the nation’s seaports, airports and international land borders, and the coastal rail line this year. To say the least, Amaechi has the yam and the knife in his hands and those who need either of them or both in 2017 need to watch him closely in the months ahead.
Lagos Ports Complex
The Lagos Ports Complex (LPC), Apapa is unique in so many ways. Besides the fact that it has Apapa Quay, the nation’s premier port, it also home to other terminals, including ENL Consortium Limited and Apapa Container Terminal (ACT), the largest container terminal in Africa. According to the statistics of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the LPC generates billions of naira as revenue on import duty into the coffers of the Federal Government annually. Though the day-to-day running of these terminals is no longer in the hands of NPA as a result of the ports reforms programme midwife by the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, the federal government remains the landlord. Against the backdrop of the insecurity posed by the Islamist sect fundamentalists, Boko Haram with bombs here and there, LPC remains one of the institutions to watch in 2017. Similarly, the Port Manager of LPC is also one of the individuals to watch in the maritime industry in 2017.
Hadiza Bala Usman
The Managing Director of NPA, Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman remains one of the individuals to watch in the maritime industry this year. The appointment of Usman who is regarded as an outsider in the maritime industry makes her the cynosure of all eyes. As the chief executive of the nation’s gateway, a lot is expected from her in 2017. Since her appointment last year, Usman has made a number of promises. These include the blocking of all revenue leakages in the system; better port access roads; improve revenue generation; and a review of the port concession agreement with the concessionaires. Not a few stakeholders in the maritime industry will like to see whether she will falter or deliver on these promises this year. They will also like to see how she will handle the payment of the terminal benefits of those that will be laid off from the authority, the imminent recruitment of new personnel, and the review of the concession agreement with the terminal operators in the months ahead.
They will also like to know how far Usman will go in the passage of the much awaited Port and Harbour Bill into law in the National Assembly. Will Usman deliver or falter like some of her predecessors?
Dakuku Peterside
The Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Adol Dakuku Peterside is one the individuals to watch in the maritime sector of the economy in 2017. His appointment was greeted with uproar by some stakeholders who felt that the former member of the House of Representatives and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State was not qualified to head the agency in the line with the provisions of the NIMASA Act 2007. Following the recognition of NIMASA as the designated authority (DA) in the Nigeria maritime domain, a lot is expected from Peterside especially in the discharge of the agency statutory roles and responsibilities. Amaechi had last year ordered a financial and personnel of audit of the agency. He made this known when he visited Maritime House, the corporate headquarters of NIMASA in Lagos during his maiden tour of parasatals under his supervision. Not a few stakeholders are waiting to see the outcome of the audit. This is against the backdrop of the allegations in some quarters that some of the workers in the agency were appointed or given positions that they do not have the requisite qualifications, experience and exposure in line with the laid down rules and regulations in the civil service. One of the reasons why Peterside and the agency must be watch closely this year is the fact that there are many issues that will make or mar him in 2017. Apart from the fact that Peterside still has eyes on the governorship of his home state, Rivers, many stakeholders will like to see how he will handle the disbursement of the long awaited Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF), execute the restructuring of the agency as he promised last year in an occasion to mark his 100 days in office. Moreover, the implementation of the performance of the Satellite and Monitoring System, disbursement of funds to MAN, Oron, Akwa Ibom State, Nigerian Seafarer Development Programme (NSDP); among other issues will put Peterside and NIMASA in the limelight in 2017.
INTELS
The name Integrated Logistics Services Limited (INTELS) is not unknown to many in several sectors of the economy. Nevertheless, its foray into the shipping sector of the economy, as well as the oil gas industry stands it out. The company is the concessionaire of Onne, Calabar and Warri ports following the conclusion of the concession programme of the federal government in 2006. Those who have visited Onne Port Complex, Federal Ocean Terminal, and the Federal Light Terminals were convinced that the management of the firm have matched words with action in its drive to ensure the sustainable development of its core area of business. Managing Director of INTELS, Mr. Simone Volpi told THISDAY that it makes sense to use the income in the oil and gas industry to invest heavily in the agricultural sector of the economy for the benefit of Nigeria, nay Nigerians.
Apart from maritime, INTELS has been spearheading efforts to make Onne port a hub for the oil and gas industry. The company strongly believes that firms doing business in the oil and gas industry must concentrate on their core services while outsourcing peripheral activities to it. This is due to the fact that it has state of the art office and residential accommodation facilities besides catering and health services in Onne. This has made it possible for firms to quickly settle down to do the business that brought them to Nigeria in the first place. Till date, only very few companies have been able to attain this feat as many of them continue to grapple with the challenges militating against doing business in Nigeria over the years.
For years, the company has been organising the annual oil and gas forum which has become a rallying point for the key players in the oil and gas industry and beyond. The forum is fully supported by the federal government with the Ministries of Trade and Investment, Transport, and Petroleum Resources participating actively. These and many other factors make INTELS to remain one of the firms to watch in the maritime industry this year
Port Notel Ocean Terminal
There are many deep seaports in the pipeline in the country. While some are public driven, some are private driven. In some cases, they is a mixture of public and private investors collaboration. However, Port Notel Ocean Terminal which has Mr. Victor Akpanika as its Managing Director is one of the firms to watch in the maritime industry in 2017. It is a purely private initiative project being promoted by a Port Harcourt, Rivers State based firm, Port Notel Limited. The terminal is located in Ibeno Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State.
Its promoters are desirous of developing an ocean terminal devoid of the pitfalls that are associated with government projects. The building of the deep seaport involves many private investors within and outside the country. The promoters are partnering other key stakeholders as strategic investors and major off-taker of the services of the project when fully developed. It was gathered that the company has gone far in the processes involved. These include sourcing for funds towards preliminary market viability study and environmental impact assessment study (PEIA) and other critical studies on the project estimated to cost not less than $1,000,000.
It was gathered that a maritime firm based in Europe, Royal Haskoning Group has been commissioned to carry out the market viability studies. It was learnt that the choice of the firm was based on their global network, expertise, and the fact that they were engaged by the World Bank to undertake a comprehensive technical and financial study of Nigerian ports. Similarly, Fugro Nigeria Limited and AvantGuard Security Solutions, United Kingdom have been contacted to handle, the PEIA and ports security studies respectively.
Among other things, these reports are the basic requirement by the Federal Ministry of Transport to grant approval for a deep seaport operating license.
Giving an insight into how far the promoters have gone in their quest to execute the project, Akpanika had said: “We have been issued with a no objection letter by NPA to carry out these studies and detailed technical feasibility studies. We have been trying to network through local and international donor agencies to access grants, and financial aids assistance to fund the studies”. According to him, the firm will soon take a final investment decision (FID). More investors, especially terminal operators, shipping firms have indicated interest to come on board the company.
As a private initiative coming at a time the federal government has been clamouring for the development of Greenfields following the congestion and decay in the infrastructural facilities in the existing ports, Port Notel Limited remains one of the organisations to watch this year.
Slok Shipping Limited
There are many shipping firms in the country. While some are owned by Nigerians, some others are owned by foreigners. However, it is rare to find a brand new ship wholly owned by Nigerians in the Nigerian territorial waters and beyond. This is understandable. It does not only take a lot of resources to own a vessel and but much more to maintain it and make it ready to undertake any job anywhere on the globe. The ship owner must not only ensure bunkering but also render his obligations to the crew on board wherever they are. Indeed, the enormous resources involved besides the technicality and complexity of running a shipping firm is not for the lily livered. These are the reasons why most of the vessels owned by Nigerians are either old or used ones popularly called tokunbo in the local parlance.
The management of Slok Shipping Limited owned by the former governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu has however changed the story. The firm was top on the list of the firms that have been acquiring brand new vessels in recent times. THISDAY checks revealed that the firm has continued to procure new vessels from Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere. From the way it has been it is executing its acquisition drive, it is like procuring a refurbished vessel is a taboo. The former governor has succeeded in telling whoever that cares to listen that some Nigerians has what it takes to compete with their foreign counterparts in the shipping world. Some of the vessels procured by Slok Shipping include a platform supply vessel (PSV). The ships were built by NGS Tech Shipyard, Malaysia. Apart from making a loud statement that its entry into the maritime industry about a decade ago was not a fluke, THISDAY checks revealed that Kalu’s decision to place order for 8 new vessels at a time was meant to intimidate his competitors and announce his foray into the highly risky but very lucrative shipping sector of the economy with a bang. For its bold initiatives and aggressive drive in the maritime industry, among other things, Slok Shipping Limited remains one of the companies to watch in 2017.
Colonel Hameed Ali
The Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Colonel Hameed Ali (retired) is one of the individuals to watch in 2017. The retired military officer who was the former military administrator of Kaduna State took over the reins of administration from the money spinning government agency shortly after the former CGC, Alhaji Inde Dikko Abdullahi resigned from office in August 2015 after spending over four years in the saddle. The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has three statutory functions, namely, revenue collection, trade facilitation, as well as the prevention and suppression of smuggling.
Following the directive of President Buhari that all revenue generating government agencies should be probe, the searchlight shall be on Ali and NCS in the months ahead. Ali was quoted saying in his first public outing shortly after resuming office that corrupt Customs officer “will not go scot-free”. Continuing, he said: “The minimum jail term for corrupt officers is five years, but I will make sure that any officer found to be corrupt gets the maximum jail term of 10 years.”
It must be noted that in spite of Ali’s promise to jail any NCS personnel caught taking bribe, that has not yielded the desired results as reports of officers collecting bribe before carrying out their roles and responsibilities are still rife.
The promise to jail erring officers aside, Ali should eliminate human contact which in most cases gives room for the collection of bribe. He must ensure that the scanners in the seaports, airports and international land borders which cost the federal government billions of naira to procure through three scanner service providers (SSPs) work properly. He should put in place the single window system which some less endowed countries in Africa are already using to clear goods in their seaports. How he carries out the reforms and revenue generation mandate given to him by Buhari makes Ali one of the individuals to watch in 2017.
MAN, Oron
There are many maritime training institutions in Nigeria. However, MAN, Oron remains the only one recognized by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). The agent of death has visited the academy taking the lives of the rector in quick succession. First, it was Dr. Joshua Okpo who died in mysterious circumstances in 2015 in Abuja. Dr. Anthony Isiodu was appointed in acting capacity to replace Okpo. But in another circumstance that is still the subject of talks in certain quarters, Isiodu also lost his life in Abuja after a brief illness. Though the Registrar of the academy, Mr. Mkpandiok Mkpandiok has since taken over as the acting rector, the sudden death of Okpo and Isiodu in Abuja has continued to raise eyebrows. Many want to know what will become the fate of Mkpandiok in the months ahead. Will he be confirm as the substantive rector or will someone else be appointed to take over from him and if so, who? Allegations and counter allegations of how much he has he has been given by NIMASA to run the academy and how the money was spent were rife. Already, Amaechi has directed that an audit of the premier training school should be carried out. What will be the outcome of the report? What will be the reaction of the host community? Will it whole heartedly accept anyone who is not an indigene of Oron as the new rector of the premier maritime training institution? Will MAN, Oron get a degree awarding status this year? These and many more will make MAN, Oron to remain one of the organisations to watch in 2017.
Senate and House Committees on Marine Transport
The Senate and the House of Representatives Committees on Marine Transport are some of the institutions to watch in the maritime industry this year. They stand out as the ones which actions or inactions have the greatest impact on the maritime sector of the Nigerian economy.
All eyes will be on Chairman, Senate Committee on Marine Transport has Senator Ahmed Sani. This is also applicable to his counterpart in the House of Representatives. There is unanimity among stakeholders in the maritime industry that these two committees remain one of the institutions to watch this year.
These committees cannot be ignored in the scheme of things in the maritime sector of the economy as their oversight functions can go a long way to affect positively or negatively the parasatals under their jurisdictions. The helmsmen of the parasatals are not only summoned to the National Assembly but also questioned on several issues, particularly on the discharge of their statutory roles and responsibilities. When and how they submit their annual budgets and expenditures had often become a subject of legislative scrutiny. They are often grilled for not submitting their budgets on time. Again, they were also grilled many times for their revenues and expenditures. Those who choose to ignore these committees and the chairmen do so at their own peril as they can mess up any helmsman who did not know his or her onions. This explained why some industry players told THISDAY that those interested in the maritime industry in 2017 must watch the activities of these committees closely. Will these committees ensure the passage of the Port and Habour Bill and other vital bills that will help Nigeria harness her huge potentials in the maritime industry or will it continue with the old way of doing things? This is a pertinent question on the lips of critical players. Though some stakeholders have queried the way and manner the committees carry out their oversight functions, especially in the late approval of parasatals budgets, they agreed that heads of government agencies now know that they must prepare themselves thoroughly before appearing before the committees, thereby keeping them on their toes.
Economic Regulator
The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) which has a lawyer, Mr. Hassan Bello as the Executive Secretary/CEO is one of the individuals to watch this year. The council has not hidden its intention to transform into the National Transport Commission (NTC) whenever the NTC Bill presently before the National Assembly is passed into law. The NPA has denied it is interested in becoming the substantive economic regulator in the nation’s seaports. It is also interested in becoming the NTC. These and many more will play out this year. How will the council handle the arbitrary increase in the prices of services rendered by the terminal operators? Will it muster the political will to apply the hammer whenever any of the concessionaires fail in their duties? How will the NSC go in the threat to withdraw the license of any inland container depot (ICD) promoter who did not develop their facilities according to the stipulated time? In spite of his achievements, how far will the subtle campaign to relieve Bello of his appointment go this year? Will those who did not want Bello as the helmsman in NSC sheath their swords or intensify their lobby in the corridors of power? Will the council continue to protect interest of shippers? Among other things, these issues will make the NSC to remain one of the organisations to watch in the maritime indu
