Wednesday, March 4Nigeria's Authoritative Maritime News Magazine
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Author: Asu Beks

IYC Writes Saraki Over Renaming of Maritime University

IYC Writes Saraki Over Renaming of Maritime University

Maritime, Politics
....WARNS AGAINST MALAMI’S UNHOLY ALLIANCE WITH ITSEKIRIS In furtherance of its determination to fight against what it perceives as an injustice being meted to the Ijaws in the recent attempt to rename the Maritime University, Okerenkoko, the Ijaw Youths Council has written a letter to the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki. In the letter signed by its President, Pereotubo Oweilaemi, in retrospection, apprise the Senate President, on the events leading to the current imbroglio over the school’s name. The IYC boss, expressed disappointment in the handling of the matter by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and warned that all the efforts will fail. He further described Malami’s activities as unbecoming of a law officer, who is supposed to be abreast with the ambits of...

Mad rush for deep seaports: Where are the cargoes?

Opinion
In March 2006, the nation's seaports were concessioned to private Terminal Operators after a bidding process that saw the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) letting go of its traditional cargo handling functions to become the port landlord. In the last 12 years, the privatisation programme in the ports sector has been credited with taking our yearly cargo throughput from 35 million TEUs to about 80 million, leading to unprecedented challenges at the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports. In the intervening years, there has been a gradual shift by governments and investors to invest in deep seaports in the country. This is to further broaden the shipping horizon so that bigger vessels can call at our ports with economies of scale. By definition, a deep seaport is one that has the capability to acco...

Sea time training for Nigerian Cadets: Counting our losses to foreign shipowners

Opinion
When the Nigerian  Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) was introduced in 2008, it was meant to develop a pool of trained cadets who would man our vessels especially with the coming on stream of the Cabotage Act 2003. The thinking then was that with the production of certified seafarers, the dearth of seafarers arising from old age and death would be a thing of the past. According to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, so far, about 2, 500 cadets have been trained from the NSDP excluding those trained from the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, Akwa Ibom State and other approved maritime schools within the country. Recently, at a well-attended meeting in Lagos, the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside announced that it was sending out the ...

Maritime University, Okerenkoko: Is Malami playing the fifth columnist?

Opinion
The Niger Delta region seems to be constantly at war with itself. Whilst every region within the Nigerian space reinvent themselves to better their future, our people constantly throw brickbats at one another in order to score cheap political points. At the slightest opportunity, politicians use the youth of their domain to feather their political nests. The latest season of anomie concerns the memo emanating from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. In the controversial memo to the National Assembly, he is alleged to have urged them to situate the "correct location" of the proposed Nigerian Maritime University, in Okerenghigho rather than Okerenkoko. The former belongs to the Itsekiris while the latter belongs to Ijaws. ...
NPA Management Sets Up Investigative Committee on TINCAN Fire Incidents

NPA Management Sets Up Investigative Committee on TINCAN Fire Incidents

Breaking News, Port News
The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman has on behalf of the entire Management team of the organization expressed a heartfelt sympathy to the Executive Committee of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) over the recent fire incidents which occurred resulting in the loss of some official documents at its Tincan Island Port Complex (TCIP) locations. The MD stated that Management will always make sure that the security of lives and property which is one of its cardinal thrusts since inception is strictly adhered to.  According to her, further steps would be taken to look into ways of safeguarding and taking drastic measures towards preventing a recurrence of these unfortunate incidents across all port locations in the country. She...

Delta Local Government Elections: We won fair and square across Delta State – PDP

Politics
DELTA LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS: WE WON FAIR AND SQUARE ACROSS DELTA STATE - PDP We have read with a huge sense of amusement, the spurious, unfounded and even in some reports, utterly nonsensical rantings of some identified chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, APC over the January 6, 2018 Delta State Local Government elections. To us, these comments are nothing more than the typical whining and bellyaching always expected from sore losers, as a diversionary ploy and smokescreen to cover up their obviously pathetic lack of preparation for the Delta Council polls. We are extremely disappointed but not particularly surprised with the comments of Olorogun O'tega Emerhor, Delta APC leader and former governorship candidate, made from the cozy comforts and surrounding of his cou...

Maritime Varsity: 1 million Itsekiri youths to storm NASS

Maritime
Warri-The Isekiri National Youth Council (INYC), has said that it's members in all the states of the country have been mobilized yi converge at the National Assembly in Abuja over the controversy associated with the naming of the National Maritime University in Delta State. INYC, in a statement by it's publicity secretary, Mr. Joseph Uwawah, disclosed that an emergency meeting was held yesterday in warri to review the recent happening as they relate to the naming of the university. According to him, the INYC after the meeting, resolved to stage a one million man march, made up of its members, sympathizers, believers in the rule of law, civil society groups and storm the National Assembly in Abuja to ask the lawmakers to affect the correct/legal name of the university as pronounced by...
Gelegele seaport development to begin as Obaseki signs MoU with China Harbour

Gelegele seaport development to begin as Obaseki signs MoU with China Harbour

Business, Port News
The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC), for the development of the Gelegele Seaport and other transport infrastructure in the state. The landmark event which held in China today, will see China Harbour Engineering Company, the biggest infrastructure company in China, with a robust portfolio covering the broad infrastructure spectrum, lead the development of the seaport that will serve as the gateway for exporting manufactured goods from the Benin Industrial Park under construction and other manufacturing companies in the region. The MoU signing is the result of series of engagements between Governor Obaseki and the Chairman of China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC), Lin Yichong, ...
Buhari, Gov Bindow and Sylva in closed door meeting

Buhari, Gov Bindow and Sylva in closed door meeting

Breaking News, Politics
President Muhammadu Buhari, Monday afternoon, received Adamawa State Governor, Jubril Bindow, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Former Governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, also arrived the President’s office at noon.  It is not clear if the duo were holding separate meetings or a joint parley. Bashir Ahmad, Buhari’s personal assistant on new media confirmed the presence of the APC chieftains at the villa. Bindow and Sylva were still in the President’s office at the time of filing this report.
FOU Zone “A” Nets N5.9 billion in 2017…179 Arrested for Smuggling

FOU Zone “A” Nets N5.9 billion in 2017…179 Arrested for Smuggling

Breaking News, Business, Port News
The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone "A" Ikeja of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, made the highest revenue ever in its anti-smuggling operations by generating N5.9 billion in 2017, despite the harsh economic environment. This figure included the sum of N1.9 billion from duty payments and demand notices on general goods at seaports, airports and bordet stations in the South West of Nigeria. Most importers and customs agents often try to short- change the Federal Government through wrong classification of goods, transfer of value and other deliberate schemes to evade duty payment. During the year under review, the unit made a total of 1046 seizures and 179 suspects arrested for smuggling parboiled rice, frozen poultry products, vegetable oil, Indian hemp, arms and fake pharmaceutic...