Former President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has called for the privatization of the maritime institutions in the country.
He made this call at a two-day maritime stakeholder’s conference hosted by the Ministry of Transportation and its agencies, in Lagos on Monday.
He said, “The institutions that are important in the country which have not worked, we have to make them work. We can use the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas company as a model.
“We should look into these areas and think outside of the box. Until the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency became a place where people steal money, nobody knew much about it. Now everybody wants to work there. Look at the National Inland Waterways Authority, the Maritime Academy of Nigeria Oron and the Nigeria Ports Authority which we tried to privatise. These are institutions we can make to work.”
Obasanjo expressed regrets over media reports concerning the mismanagement of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in the last few years.
He said, “I was instrumental to the reform and establishment of the NNPC from Nigerian National Oil Corporation. Had I known that it would have been mismanaged, I would have done something better. I would have privatized it and put it on the stock exchange.
“NLNG didn’t go the way of NNPC because of the way it was organised. 51 per cent is owned by private investors both foreign and indigenous while 49 per cent is owned by government. In fact NLNG has been making money ever since the initial capital investment. From three trains we are going to seven trains.” He said the Nigerian National Shipping Line failed because of lack of commitment and professionalism, and corruption.
“Whatever we deliberate on in this conference, we don’t need another NNSL or agency like the Nigerian Airways. Our experiences with such were heartbreaking,” he added.
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, in his speech, said that plans were on-going for the re-establishment of a National Shipping Line. He described the absence of a national carrier as a mockery of the country’s status as the largest economic in Africa.
He said, “If we are to build a sustainable maritime industry in Nigeria, then public private partnership in my view is a credible option for building the necessary collaboration that will enable Nigeria take advantage of its enormous potentials.”
Amaechi called for the re-examination of the implementation guidelines of the Cabotage Act, with the aim of enhancing indigenous participation in ship building and ship acquisition.
He added, “Nigeria cannot hope to become a regional and global maritime power without first been able to dominate its inland maritime trade. All stakeholders must rise above personal aggrandizement to establish national consensus that will impose Nigeria’s supremacy as a regional hub.”
Other dignitaries also present at the conference include the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, Director General of NIMASA, Acting Managing Director of NIWA, Danladi Ibrahim and the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi SirikaSirika.
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