Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has restated its commitment in leading the growth and development of the maritime sector in the nation, and Africa.
Hajiya Rakiya Lamai, Deputy Director, Shipping Development of NIMASA, said on Sunday at the closing ceremony of the 44th Kaduna International trader fair, where the agency bagged an award for emerging second runner up.
The theme of the year’s fair was “Promoting Value Addition for Sustainable Growth and Development”.
While thanking the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA) for the award, she said the third position they emerged showed that their efforts was not wasted in putting out their contributions to the success of the fair.
“We thanked KADCCIMA for giving us the opportunity to participate and for the award which we haven’t received before,” she said.
NIMASA which held its day on Feb. 10, vowed to explore the additional value the maritime sector has through the blue economy by bringing it to bear for sustainable growth and development in the Nigerian economy.
Speaking on the day, NIMASA’s DG, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, said that Nigeria has a coastline of about 853km and about 10,000km of inland waterways, 12 nautical miles of territorial waters, 200 nautical miles of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Jamoh, represented by the Abuja Zonal Office Coordinator of NIMASA, Mr Zailani Attah, noted that the maritime sector of the economy is very important in international trade process which play critical role in Nigeria’s import and export.
“It generates appreciable revenue and creates lots of jobs. It is very critical to the supply chain of the Nigerian economy,”he said.
While calling for more collaboration among stakeholders in realizing a robust Maritime Sector interface, the DG disclosed that zero duty has been approved for brand new imported vessels
He also disclosed that vessels who aged one to two years would pay minimal duty of between one to two per cent as a means of boosting indigenous shipping through fiscal incentives by the Federal government.
Jamoh further said that NIMASA would priorities the integration of blue economy into the Nation’s circular economic restoration and growth plan.
“There is no better time to have a national carrier and develop the maritime industry than now, when the world is gradually looking away from fossil fuels, which currently forms the mainstay of the Nigerian economy.
“Nigeria cannot be caught unawares; we need to look at ways of developing our shipping sector, which from studies, is capable of earning the country even more than oil annually.
“The agency in 2021 deployed the most modern technology using the instrumentality of the Deep Blue Project to implement the first ‘S’ of the tripod, which is security, to stem the tide of piracy and other forms of criminality in the country’s waterways.
“The objective is to keep the waterways secure for all maritime activities to thrive, thereby positioning Nigeria’s economy on the path of rapid growth,” the DG said.
He noted that the result of implementing the ‘S’ tripod was the drastic reduction in rate of piracy in the Nigerian maritime environment.
“Statistics released by the International Maritime Bureau, shows piracy incidents in the Gulf of Guinea dropping from 81 in year 2020 to 34 in 2021 representing 58.02 per cent, this is not by accident.
“NIMASA is working assiduously to implement the second leg of the tripod, which is safe on the country’s waterways. This is because security and safety are interwoven,”he said.
Jamoh further said that wreck removal exercise was another milestone in the incremental achievement of the ‘Triple S’ strategy of the current nanagement of NIMASA, anchored on maritime safety security and shipping development.
He added that in December 2021, they launched the third phase of Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP), called NSDP Tera, sponsoring 200 cadets to different countries.
He explained that the NSDP, a programme they created was to address the dearth of trained and certified seafarers in the Nigerian maritime industry.
The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), emerged first in the year’s fair, while Dangote Group emerged second.
