For a hitch-free business relationship in the nation’s inland and coastal trade, the Federal Government has stressed the need for the International Oil Companies (IOCs) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to respect the laws of the country and play by the rules.
The Honourable Minister of Transportation, Alhaji Mu’azu Jaji Sambo made this request over the weekend during the 2022 End-Of-Year Dinner/Gala Nite put together by the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) in Lagos.
The Minister of Transportation who was represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, charged the IOCs’, which he noted now includes the NNPC (as a private liability company), to play by the rules.
According to the Minister of Transportation, “It is unfair for IOCs’ to decide how they want to do business with Nigeria despite the constitution and rules of the country.
“Some of us may not be able to keep silent over this situation as long as the IOCs’ run contrary to what Nigerian law says concerning doing business.
“We also plead with the IOCs’ to support our agencies and pay them for the services they have rendered, because there is no way we can continue to support them if they don’t pay our agencies for services rendered.
“We want to have a good relationship with the IOCs’. We want to support them to get the best out of business, but they (IOCs’) should also consider us that are providing services for them.
“More importantly, the IOCs’ need to prioritize the welfare of the maritime workers, because in this year alone, we have done a lot of mediation just to make sure that they (workers) don’t go on strike.
“So, please, the IOCs’, the NNPC, kindly follow the footsteps of SOAN that tries to make sure that the welfare of maritime workers is prioritised.
“As we move into 2023, let’s have a cleaner working relationship with the Federal Ministry of Transportation.”
On his part, the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, stated that the NIMASA team under his leadership remains relentless in efforts to ensure conducive operating environment for the Nigerian ship owners.
In the words of the NIMASA DG, “Shipping, being a very capital-intensive business, there is no shipping country that is thriving without being supported by the government.
“So, I try as much as possible to weigh the kind of assistance the Nigerian Government can offer the ship owners in the environment they operate.”
Jamoh disclosed that the pursuit of incentives for the ship owners yielded government’s approval last year of the first batch of fiscal incentives that gives zero duty for imported new ships, while older ones attract higher duty.
The second is a monetary incentive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which guarantees the needed Forex at official rate from the CBN, rather than at the exorbitant black market rate, even though neither has produced any vessel.
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With the recent approval for the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), Jamoh asked those interested to liaise with Aminu Umar and help to build fleets for the nation rather than quarrel over the actual amount in the fund.
“Foreigners out there are milking the country because they have the capital and can come into the country with their ships, make money and take it out of the country.
“It is high time we come together and ensure we benefit from what God has given us, and stop foreigners from taking even the coastal trade.
“Anyone getting this fund will get it on merit, mutual understanding, and based on the agreement with the bank and NIMASA,” the NIMASA DG assured.
Jamoh further dismissed the fears that the CVFF was being diverted to other projects, or not being fully declared.
“in terms of the amount in the CVFF, public funds are statutorily subjected to audit every year, and the CVFF is not exceptional. It is subject to auditor-general’s audit, FMoT audit and external auditors’ audit, so it is open.
“Instead of fighting to see the balance, concentrate on seeing how we can disburse what is available, increase our fleet and benefit from this trade that is very precious.
“Without ships, there is nothing we can do. We have deep seaport at Lekki. If ship doesn’t go to that port, that port is useless. If Nigerians have ships today they will be there.
“Most of us were here when Onne Port was built, but it did not come alive until the first ship went there, and then ship owners started knowing that this is a place to go to.
“All the investments at Lekki deep seaport will be useless if ships do not go there. So, why don’t we put heads together, get the funds, acquire the ships and make our own ports lively instead of struggling to quarrel and fight?,” the NIMASA DG explained.
Earlier in his welcome address, SOAN President, Dr. MkGeorge Onyung, commended NIMASA and the Nigerian Navy, saying that without peace, safety, security, calm, nothing can work.
He further thanked NIMASA for getting the NNPC to allow indigenous vessels to work in the industry, thereby changing the narrative of past decades “when only foreign companies were working for Nigeria while indigenous shipowners only looked on like spectators.
