The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) has said that the 1978 Act which the agency currently operates under is obsolete and needs to be amended or repealed in order to align with modern trend and development.
Speaking recently at the Council headquarters when the Nigerian Maritime Law Association (NMLA) paid the Council a courtesy visit, the Executive Secretary/CEO of the NSC, Barrister Pius Akutah, disclosed that the Council has also saved Nigeria N6bn from the application of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) solutions to shipping issues.
According to Akutah, “Today, we have the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, which is dedicated to the maritime sector. This is, in effect, the first step that has been taken by Mr. President in recent time to diversify the economy of Nigeria from the oil dependency to the non-oil sectors of the economy, as you are aware.
“With this kind of approach, it is important for us to collaborate with very critical stakeholders like yours to be able to move not only the ministry forward, but also to promote the development of the maritime sector and the blue economy in Nigeria.
“I know that the Nigerian Shippers Council, which you know has a mandate to take care of the interests of shippers over the years, is operating under a 1978 law which set it up.
“You will agree with me that by 2024, we should all know that the law is obsolete and it’s not going to adequately provide for what the sector stands for at the moment. So there is a need for us to look into that law and see what we can do to change the law and empower the agency to do more of what is required of it in this 21st century.
“Now, the Nigerian Shippers Council has a bill before the National Assembly seeking to transmute into a regulatory agency by law. You are also aware that the agency at the moment is empowered by a presidential directive and a regulation for it to assume the duties of the Port Economic Regulator, which the agency has been carrying out.”
“But the nitty gritty of what the Port Economic Regulator would do is not provided in that presidential order and the guidelines. So there is a need for us to have a legislation.
“We have that legislation. It’s ongoing for some time now. Luckily for us, the National Assembly, the House of Reps has passed it. It’s before the Senate now.
“So many areas of collaboration with the Nigerian Maritime Law Association will be very necessary and needed as soon as that law is passed into law and assented to by Mr. President.”
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