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Indigenous ship owners owe banks over N480bn
The Nigerian Ship Owners Association, NSA, has said that some of its members are currently grappling with huge financial indebtedness to some banks, which has been aggregated at over $3billion, N480bn. NSA, formerly known as the Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria ISAN, is the umbrella body for all fully Nigerian- owned shipping firms made up of over 40 companies, most of which have closed down or at the verge of being closed down due to harsh operating environment.
Chairman of the association, Chief Isaac Jolapamo, who addressed the Minister of Transport, Mallam Idris Umar at a stakeholders’ forum on the issuance of new guidelines for the Coastal and Inland Shipping Cabotage regime, organised by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, in Lagos, noted that apart from huge financial indebtedness, more than 50 per cent of the members of the association has shut down due to harsh operating environment. Jolapamo, who accused the Federal Government of totally neglecting the maritime industry, noted that more than 10 years after the enactment of the Cabotage Act, Nigeria should not be talking of waiver administration, which is a window created for the foreign operators, who dominate deep sea shipping to also dominate coastal and inland trade in the country.
“The aviation industry is not more important to Nigeria more than the shipping industry because crude oil, which is Nigeria’s economic mainstay is freighted out this country through the shipping industry yet the aviation industry gets the necessary attention it deserves”, Jolapamo said angrily.
He also said: “What we want is not a review of the waiver administration, what we want is a taskforce on maritime reforms to be created by the Federal Government to demonstrate to us that it isserious about developing the shipping industry in Nigeria”.
Jolapamo, who is chairman/ CEO of Morlap Shipping, also told the Minister that out of over 40 corporate members of the association, more than half have closed down on the account of domination of foreign operators, which the Cabotage the Cabotage regime was created to check, adding that not more than two out of the surviving firms are doing well.
He noted that though the waiver clause is good in itself, its implementation has been fraught with several inadequacies, which has not made the scheme to work, insisting that the only way out of this problem is to expunge the waiver clause and allow the indigenous operators wobble and fumble until they get it right; “There was a maritime retreat with Mr. President, after which a committee was set and we worked tirelessly and made some far-reaching recommendation up till none of those recommendations has been implemented, which is an indication that this current administration is not committed to developing to the maritime industry”, he further lamented.
Source: National Mirror
Chairman of the association, Chief Isaac Jolapamo, who addressed the Minister of Transport, Mallam Idris Umar at a stakeholders’ forum on the issuance of new guidelines for the Coastal and Inland Shipping Cabotage regime, organised by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, in Lagos, noted that apart from huge financial indebtedness, more than 50 per cent of the members of the association has shut down due to harsh operating environment. Jolapamo, who accused the Federal Government of totally neglecting the maritime industry, noted that more than 10 years after the enactment of the Cabotage Act, Nigeria should not be talking of waiver administration, which is a window created for the foreign operators, who dominate deep sea shipping to also dominate coastal and inland trade in the country.
“The aviation industry is not more important to Nigeria more than the shipping industry because crude oil, which is Nigeria’s economic mainstay is freighted out this country through the shipping industry yet the aviation industry gets the necessary attention it deserves”, Jolapamo said angrily.
He also said: “What we want is not a review of the waiver administration, what we want is a taskforce on maritime reforms to be created by the Federal Government to demonstrate to us that it isserious about developing the shipping industry in Nigeria”.
Jolapamo, who is chairman/ CEO of Morlap Shipping, also told the Minister that out of over 40 corporate members of the association, more than half have closed down on the account of domination of foreign operators, which the Cabotage the Cabotage regime was created to check, adding that not more than two out of the surviving firms are doing well.
He noted that though the waiver clause is good in itself, its implementation has been fraught with several inadequacies, which has not made the scheme to work, insisting that the only way out of this problem is to expunge the waiver clause and allow the indigenous operators wobble and fumble until they get it right; “There was a maritime retreat with Mr. President, after which a committee was set and we worked tirelessly and made some far-reaching recommendation up till none of those recommendations has been implemented, which is an indication that this current administration is not committed to developing to the maritime industry”, he further lamented.
Source: National Mirror
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