Nigeria Losing $6bn Annually in Maritime Sector

Patrick Ziakede Apkobolokemi, director general and chief executive officer, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) said that the Agency went into the National Seafarers Development Programme with the sole aim of earning foreign exchange.

Speaking at Oron, Akwa Ibom State, the DG pointed out that the country could actually earn as much as $6 billion annually, while promising that he would leave no stones unturned, to ensure that Nigeria produces not fewer than 5,000 competent seafarers, who would be able to work on foreign vessels, and earn the desired hard currencies.

Apkobolokemi who was represented by, Isichei Osamgbi, deputy director, Public Relations, NIMASA, declared said: “It has been argued that Nigeria loses an estimated $3 billion annually to foreign seafarers. If you add the remuneration of other foreigners in the shipping and logistics chain, we would probably be talking of losing about double this amount”, he observed, stressing that the implication of retaining about $6 billion in the country annually could not be under estimated.

“The standard of living will improve considerably with the attendant vices occasioned with unemployment minimized. This can only happen if we have the right professionals to do the job.

“Besides, a lot of foreign income can be earned from seafarers working on foreign flagged vessels. The Asian tigers are a good case in point. Reports have it that out of the over $16 billion remittances into the Philippines by the Overseas Filipino Workers, over $7 billion is generated by Filipino seafarers.

“If the Nigerian seafarers working overseas can attract this much into Nigeria, it will have a positive impact on the bation’s real GDP”.

Addressing the umbrella body of maritime journalists, the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) who were on the first leg of their two-week long capacity development program, the agency boss noted that the Filipinos had not achieved the feat because they had ships, but because they invested in manpower developments.

“The Philippines have an educational infrastructure of about 90 maritime schools graduating an estimated number of 40, 000 seafarers annually. This explains why 20 percent of global seafarers are from Philippines, translating to about one in every five seafarers aboard a vessel being a Filipino.

“Clearly, the Philippines do not own the most ships but they work aboard the most vessels. This can be replicated in Nigeria as well. If we have all the vessels and do not have the requisite capacity to man them, the sector will still suffer. It is therefore instructive to have the people who will manage our fleet and the sector professionally for the benefit of the country as a first step”, Akpobolokemi reasoned.

He said Nigeria has every reason to aim higher than it was presently doing, especially as a nation with a coastline of over 800 kilometres, higher potential for employment generation and wealth creation and a maritime sector which embodies vibrant shipping activities capable of providing the desired push towards .meeting national aspirations.