Director General, NIMASA, Dr Dayo Mobereola (third right), former DG, National Maritime Authority NMA, Ferdinand Agu (third left), Chairman, Seaport Terminal Operators’ Association of Nigeria STOAN, Dr Vicky Haastrup, President General, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju (first right) and other eminent stakeholders at the official presentation of Revised Minimum Standards for Seafarers at the maiden stakeholders meeting with the new NIMASA DG in Lagos, Thursday.

The new Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, Dr Dayo Mobereola has pledged that the agency under his watch would run an all-inclusive governance system where stakeholders would be the centre- piece of the policies and programmes of the agency.

Speaking at the maiden meeting with stakeholders organised by the Maritime Stakeholders Group MSG in Lagos, Thursday, which appeared an agenda –setting gathering, the new DG also assured that the management has already commenced the process of automating the country’s Ship Registry, which would be completed soon.

Recall that President Bola Tinubu had appointed Dr Mobereola as the new helms man of the country’s Maritime Administration on March 10, 2024 following the expiration of the four-year tenure of the immediate past DG, Dr Bashir Jamoh.

According to the new DG, the management in the last five-six weeks has already been brainstorming, sharing ideas for the good of the industry, adding that the management decided to organise the forum to feel the pulse of the stakeholders, who should be the centre-piece of the policies and programmes of the management under his watch.

Chairman of the occasion, Captain Emmanuel Ihenacho (second right) and DG NIMASA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola (third right) at the event.

He further disclosed that in addition to feeling the pulse of the industry stakeholders, the forum, which also featured past CEOs of the agency was designed to share ideas and knowledge of past events with a view to forestalling the repeat of past mistakes.

Dr Mobereola said: “We’ll have to learn from mistakes of the past so we need to consult widely. The past five-six weeks have been interesting and engaging in terms of sharing knowledge, collaborations and partnerships. Most importantly, I am glad that the Directors of the Agency are here because what we have learnt today means a lot to us as an agency.

“We will go back, develop objectives, goals and strategies and we are all going to do it together not the executive management alone but it has to be all of us together. We have to align with the vision of Mr. President. The purpose of this forum is to come and listen and I can tell you, we have learnt a lot. Though there are rapporteurs, you could see us take notes of all the comments and we are sure that all that has been said will be put into consideration while we are developing our plans and strategies for the next four years so that we all do it together.

“You will agree with me that the purpose of NIMASA is to serve the industry and so, we cannot decide on what is good for the industry unless the stakeholders work with us. Some of the things we have in mind have been said here; one of them is the automation of the Ship Registry and I can assure you that it will happen very quickly. Also, gender balancing is what we will look into and where there are shortfalls, we will make necessary amendments.

“All the issues and challenges that have been listed by the various professional groups and solutions proffered would be looked into and included in our strategies to come up with a sustainable plan for the maritime sector. So, we want a plan that is acceptable to both NIMASA as a regulator and the stakeholders. We have to come up with plans and strategies that would make us a world-class maritime sector that will be able to compete globally.”

Chairman of the event and Managing Director of the country’s foremost indigenous shipping firm, Genesis Worldwide Shipping, Captain Emmanuel Ihenacho, who has been a long- time friend of the new DG, described him as an impeccable shipping expert, having studied the rudiments of the industry several years ago.

Captain Ihenacho recalled that he met Dr Mobereola over 20 years ago while he was undergoing his PhD programme in shipping at the University of Whales, United Kingdom while he was doing a Master’s Degree Programme at the same university.

The event also featured a paper presentation entitled: “Marine and Blue Economy: Navigating to the Promised Land” by Dr Emeka Akabogu, which was an agenda setting for the new management of the agency.

Dr Akabogu had listed several challenges militating the growth and development of the industry, which include but not limited to non-availability of reliable data, poor automation of the processes, need for the development of a pool of funds such as the Maritime Fund for the development of maritime infrastructure as well as training and re-training and capacity building for members of staff of the agency.

A highpoint of the event was the official presentation of the Reviewed Minimum Standards for Nigerian Seafarers and Dock Workers, which was witnessed by the DG NIMASA, Mobereola, President-General of the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, Chairman, Seaports Terminal Operators’ Association of Nigeria STOAN, Princess Vicky Haastrup and former Chairman, Joint Maritime Industrial Labour Council JOMALIC, Alhaji Tijjani Ramalan.

In attendant at the event were eminent professionals, ship owners and stakeholders including President of Nigerian Chamber of Shipping, Aminu Umar, a former DG of NMA, Ferdinand Agu and former DGs of the agency, Dr Ade Dosunmu and Temisan Omatseye, among several others.