Tuesday, March 11Nigeria's Authoritative Maritime News Magazine
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Research is a catalyst for development – Dakuku

Research is a catalyst for development – Dakuku

Breaking News, Business, Maritime, News Feature
The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside has stated that the Agency is ready to partner with the Defence Research and Development Bureau for the growth of the Nigerian maritime sector adding that research is a catalyst to attain sustainable development. Dr Peterside who stated this when the Director General of the Defence Research and Development Bureau, Air Vice Marshall (AVM) Jomo Osahor led his team on a courtesy visit to NIMASA in Lagos noted that what makes a great organization is the ability to initiate new processes based on detailed research, which will in turn guarantee sustainable growth with a positive multiplier effect on the nation. Speaking further, the NIMASA DG reemphasized the need to develop indigenous...
565 NPA Staffers honoured for long service, merit, gallantry

565 NPA Staffers honoured for long service, merit, gallantry

Business, Maritime
A total of 565 staffers of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) were honoured by management for long service, merit and bravery at a colourful ceremony held at the NPA sports ground, Bode Thomas, Surulere, Lagos, at the weekend. Most of the awardees had served the organisation for 25 years and above; seven staffers received merit awards while special recognition went to fire officers, pilots and engineers. In her address at the occasion, NPA Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman commended the workforce for their cooperation, understanding and sacrifices and for helping management attain her goals in 2017. She noted that her open door policy in the organisation was deliberate and intended to enable her achieve the "important task of repositioning port operations in Nigeria for bette...
How half-baked administrators are killing the maritime industry

How half-baked administrators are killing the maritime industry

Business, Opinion
The maritime industry in Nigeria contributes about 90% by volume of the goods that come into the country and by value, it is the third largest contributor to our nation's coffers after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Nigeria Customs Service. Since the early 70s, government has invested heavily in marine infrastructure in the sector to bring about port efficiency and high productivity. At a point in our nation's history, there was need to build a brand new port and government set about building the Tin Can Island Port in 1977 to take care of the cement armada of the late 70s. The agencies in the sector which are funded by government include the NPA, the Nigerian Shippers Council, the Nigerian Maritime Administration & Safety Agency and the National Inland Wate...
President Buhari Authorized NNPC to Hide N50b from TSA Account “

President Buhari Authorized NNPC to Hide N50b from TSA Account “

Breaking News, Business
The House of Representatives on Tuesday raised questions over a “purported” presidential approval withholding some special Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation accounts from being transferred to the Treasury Single Account. The accounts, with funds worth N50bn, are still being kept by commercial banks in breach of the TSA policy, which provides that all accounts belonging to Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government should be transferred to the TSA. The TSA, a centralised Federal Government revenue account, is kept by the Central Bank of Nigeria. A Nigerian firm, SystemSpecs, provides the Remita electronic platform for running the TSA, saving the Federal Government revenue that could, ordinarily, have been lost. An ad hoc ...
Full Text of Engr. Ogbeifun’s Address At Shipowners Dinner Night

Full Text of Engr. Ogbeifun’s Address At Shipowners Dinner Night

Business, Maritime
OPENING ADDRESS BY MR. GREG OGBEIFUN PRESIDENT, SHIPOWNERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (SOAN) ON THE OCCASION OF THE ALL SHIPOWNERS WORKSHOP AND DINNER PROTOCOL- RECOGNITIONS The events at the recent International Maritime Organization (IMO) elections into Category C of the Council where Nigeria lost and actually came second to the last position underscores the importance and urgency of the theme of this end of year Workshop and Dinner “Giving a Critical Lifeline to the Nigerian Maritime Industry”. Our performance at that election has dealt a hard blow on our psyche as a maritime nation. The world has told us that our maritime domain is sick and almost moribund, that we are not a maritime nation that can be relied on for maritime trade, maritime security, maritime infrastructure or ...
$100 billion Ship building Fund: Ship Owners may drag Amaechi before Buhari

$100 billion Ship building Fund: Ship Owners may drag Amaechi before Buhari

Breaking News, Business, Maritime, Opinion
The Nigerian Ship Owners Association (NSOA) is set to drag the Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, before President Muhammad Buhari over the refusal of the Nigerian Maritime Administration & Safety Agency (NIMASA) to commence the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF). The end of year dinner of the NSOA last week in Lagos almost degenerated into a brawl when Engr. Greg Ogbeifun challenged the minister to show them where he derived his powers to hold back the CVFF. The funds are about $100 billion. At the dinner, Amaechi had boasted that as long as he remained the minister of transportation, not one Kobo of the CVFF would be disbursed. The CVFF currently domiciled in NIMASA has become an issue of controversy as successive managements in the agency have ...
Amaechi, Ship Owners Fight Dirty over N100b Vessel  Financing Fund

Amaechi, Ship Owners Fight Dirty over N100b Vessel Financing Fund

Breaking News, Business, Maritime
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi on Thursday announced that he will not disburse the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), dashing the hopes and expectation of indigenous ship owners, who have been waiting for the disbursement of the fund for more than a decade. This is even as the ship owners demanded the sack of Dakuku Peterside as Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for his incompetence in running the affairs of the agency. Amaechi told a gathering of ship owners and key stakeholders who converged at a workshop and dinner organized by the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) that as long as he remains the minister, the fund will not be disbursed. The CVFF which currently stands at over $100billion was created solely...
It’s time to focus on governance and stop blaming Jonathan — Amaechi

It’s time to focus on governance and stop blaming Jonathan — Amaechi

Breaking News, Business
The Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, has admonished his colleagues in the Muhammadu Buhari administration to stop blaming former President Goodluck Jonathan. Mr. Amaechi said it is time for administration officials to concentrate on delivering good policies to the citizens rather than dragging the former president for Nigeria’s woes. “I agree with those who said we should stop criticising the last government and that we should do our own,” The Nation newspaper quoted Mr. Amaechi as saying during a meeting at his office Tuesday. The minister decried Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit, drawing a comparison with other relatively new countries like Singapore. “We need to leverage on what we know. People are shouting intermodal transport; I went to the new airport in Singapo...
IMO COUNCIL ELECTION: Again , NIMASA returns without the ‘ trophy’

IMO COUNCIL ELECTION: Again , NIMASA returns without the ‘ trophy’

Breaking News, Business, Maritime
For the third consecutive time, Nigeria yesterday lost its bid to get re-elected into category 'C' of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) which took place in London, scoring a miserable 98 points in an election that saw five African countries of Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya and Liberia joining the group. The category C is the executive organ of the IMO that takes decisions in the absence of the Assembly and coordinates all activities of the Organs of the organisation. It has 20 member countries with special interest in maritime transport or navigation. Nigeria's 36-man delegation was led by the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), directors and top ministry offic...
Save our ports system from collapse, NAGAFF tells FG

Save our ports system from collapse, NAGAFF tells FG

Breaking News, Business, Port News
The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF, has called on the federal government to urgently address the issue of high port charges imposed on cargoes by shipping companies in order to save the port system from imminent collapse. It further stated that there were official hindrances deliberately put on the path of ports in the Eastern axis, thus making them unenviable and unattractive. These assertions were made in a memo sent to the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman. In the said letter, NAGAFF stated that the port access roads leading into the Apapa premier port had become a national eyesore. "It is now a national shame that the primary gateway access road to the nation's economy is in crisis and a disaster...