A maritime expert has begun an advocacy to revamp indigenous shipping by returning to the 40-40-20 cargo sharing formula of the National Maritime Authority (NMA) era to give local ship owners a fair share of the nation’s yearly $9.1 billion cargo freighting and provide ample sea-time training platforms for cadet seafarers.
Disclosing this at a media briefing in Lagos on Wednesday, maritime researcher and lecturer at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr Edmund Chilaka, stressed that the NMA-era cargo allocation practice empowered and protected indigenous shippers from the established multinationals.
Chilaka, who spoke ahead of the launch of his book, “Nigeria’s Shipping Policy and Maritime Trade up to the Early 21st Century,” said the event, scheduled for July 25th and 26th in Lagos, will feature the book launch, indigenous cargo-carrying advocacy awards, and exhibition.
According to him, “Nigerian shipping lies fallow today due to a lack of cargoes in spite of the abundance that the country generates for both import and export, but which are snatched up by the big multinational carriers, who are supported with low-interest financing and political backing by their governments.
“Fed up with this situation, some stakeholders, including me, are already pushing for necessary amendments to Sections 35-38 of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Act, which provides for indigenous carriers to lift federal, state and local government cargoes in international trade, he disclosed.
“What we want to do is to go back to the National Assembly to fine-tune the NIMASA law, sections 35-38. It is not going to cost NIMASA anything, instead, it would bring more revenue and get our seafarers trained.
“There is no single Nigerian shipping line involved in international trade. Meanwhile, 70 per cent of all the cargoes coming to West Africa are destined for Nigeria, and the ships you see around the Gulf of Guinea are destined for Nigeria.
“Today, indigenous shipping lines are not in any cargo lifting or chattering business. In the past, we had the NMA cargo allocation scheme, where the cargoes in the hands of foreigners now were with the National Maritime Authority.
“Back then, all the cargoes coming into Nigeria were warehoused at CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria), which gets all the Form C. Because your payment passes through CBN, they submit the cargoes to NMA and there is a sharing formula: 40-40-20.”
He regretted that though the Shippers’ Council put Nigerians’ annual spend on container trade at $9.1 billion, “a cent is not coming to us from that money because Nigerian shipping lines are not involved.”
About the book, Chilaka insisted: “Shipping is cargo. If you don’t have cargo, you are not in shipping. If we have the cargo to carry, international shipyards would pay us a visit. This is what inspired my book.”
The book is expected to be reviewed by the former Head of the Department of History and Strategic Studies, UNILAG, Prof. David Aworawo. It contains the origin and implementation of shipping policies in Nigeria from colonial times to the early 21st Century, shipping policy formulation and implementation in Nigeria, as well as shipbuilding and repairs, with Nigerdock as a case study, among others.
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