President Bola Tinubu appointed former Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola as Minister of Marine and Blue Economy in August 2023. One year after, stakeholders have been speaking with TOLA ADENUBI on the performance of the Minister in office. Excerpts:
Its exactly one year since former Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola took over the reins of the newly created Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, a ministry carved out of the Ministry of Transportation after stakeholders clamoured for a dedicated ministry to oversee the affairs of the nation’s maritime industry.
With the creation of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy and the appointment of Oyetola as its first Minister a year ago, stakeholders have lauded the efforts of the Minister, stating that so much has changed from what it used to be.
Chamber of shipping
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, the President of the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping, Mallam Aminu Umar revealed that so much has changed since Oyetola assumed office as the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy.
According to the Chamber of Shipping President who is also the first African director on the Board of the International Chamber of Shipping, “The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, GboyegaOyetola has done well in the last one year, and one of the reason for this is that we have seen the energy that he has put into the agencies directly working under him.
“We have seen changes at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA). First, the Minister gave the Heads of these agencies Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and also gave them marching orders to meet these targets.
“This has reflected in the way and manner these agencies relate and engage with the operators in the maritime industry.
“One of the key issues for us in shipping has always been capacity. When you look at what has been done in terms of building capacity and asset owning capacities in the last one year, you can see that the engagement with NIMASA on the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) is at its peak.
“We have also seen that the Minister, through NIMASA has been improving human capacity building through seafarers training programme. The Minister has ensured more Nigerians are being trained as seafarers and he has been developing the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, located in Oron, Akwa Ibom State. In the area of capacity development, the Minister is doing very well.
“We have also seen the Minister, through the NPA, pushing for the infrastructural development or upgrade of the existing port facilities. We have seen the Minister visit these ports to see first-hand their state. Within his one year in office, we have seen a lot of energy from the Minister towards the development of port infrastructure in Nigeria.
“Likewise, we have seen continuous development and improvement of Nigeria’s maritime security. The Deep Blue project is still on and NIMASA is having so much synergy with the Nigerian Navy and other security outfits to sustain the tempo. Our zero-security level is still being maintained and the safety and security of vessels trading within our waters is still being maintained. So for us at the Chamber of Shipping, we think the Minister has done very well in his first year in office.”
Indigenious shipowners
President of the Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA), Mr. Sola Adewumi, lauded the Minister for ensuring the different agencies of government under the ministry now listen more to indigenous ship-owners.
In the words of the NISA President, “For us as ship-owners, what has changed in the last one year is that we now have Heads of agencies that are ready to talk to us. We now have Heads of agencies that are willing to listen to us.
“We have been having series of meetings with the various Heads of agencies and I believe at the end of the day, something fruitful and beneficial to the industry will be achieved.
“It’s a departure from what obtained under the previous administration where Heads of agencies rarely talk to us. We have been having series of meeting with the agencies and they are always willing to listen to us. For us, this is an improvement and we believe the industry will be the better for it if the outcomes of these meetings are implemented.”
Mariners
In their own presentation, the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners said that the Minister has been able to get more clarity and focus for the new Ministry in the last one year.
Speaking exclusively with the Nigerian Tribune, President of NAMM, Captain TajudeenAlao explained that, “Under Gboyega Oyetola’s first year in office, Nigeria’s Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research was brought from the Ministry of Agriculture and positioned under the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. This is remarkable because it brings more clarity to the operations of that institute.
“There is no way we can talk of international shipping without also talking about coastal shipping and how the marine resources can better be harnessed in a sustainable way.
“We would have loved all the Governing Council to be in place by now, but we cannot blame the minister for that because Mr. President has to assent to that before it become official.
“On vessel acquisition, I know that the minister has been pushing NIMASA to meet with the indigenous ship-owners. I believe other sources of funding for ship acquisition aside from the CVFF can be assessed. The fund in the CVFF is not enough for everybody. Other sources should be accessed.
“I will score the minister high in his first year in office. We expect the gains of these meeting between the Heads of agencies and the various operators to start manifesting as the hears roll bye.”
Tribune Online
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