By Pius Mordi
SAT, 6 AUGUST 2016-Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has an opportunity to write his name in the history books. Every Minister of Transport before him had always seen their appointment as a blank cheque to appoint their own men to man the key parastatals in the ministry. The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) have always been seen as the cash cows and the priority is always to change the personnel not for any fresh impetus or to drive a new initiative.
With a coastline stretching over 853 kilometres, eight seaports and numerous jetties hugging the Atlantic Ocean, Nigeria is, by all conceiveable definitions, a maritime country. In the west and central African sub-region, she accounts for up to 60 percent of the inward and outward cargo traffic. Add to that a vibrant oil and gas industry dominated by off-shore operations and a unique location on the sub-Saharan axis of the Atlantic coast where Nigeria sits almost at the half way point, you have a perfect setting for an economy primed to reap from the limitless opportunities that abound in the maritime world.
In the oil industry where Nigeria has entirely anchored its developmental agenda, our successive leaders have so sensationally shortchanged the country that despite being classified as a gas-rich country sitting on some crude oil deposits, all there has been to the country’s much-vaunted perception as a major oil-rich producer is to just sell crude oil and quickly share the proceeds. Until recently, almost all associated gas was flared, we still do not refine oil but prefer to import and local shipping operators are not involved in the very lucrative business of lifting crude oil exports where up to $600 million is earned annually by tanker operators involved in the business.
Now that oil is no longer there for economic planners to routinely reel out lazy development and visionless budgets, it is time to return to to the most enduring natural resource the world has – water. Despite the advancements in supersonic intercontinental travels, water remains the major platform for trade among the continents, accounting for more than 90 percent for the carriage of goods globally. Nations that focussed on harnessing the boundless opportunities that water offers have charted that path to greatness.
In announcing his stance to shut down the Maritime University at Okerenkoko, Delta State, Amaechi said the institution is a “misplacement of priority”, pointing to the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology in Zaria and the Maritime Academy, Oron as reason. His other arguments against Okerenkoko are that the area is unsafe and the location being an island poses challenges in terms of accessibility. Definitely, there are security challenges within the entire Niger Delta area, the precise reason Nigeria’s economic crisis goes beyond the crash of oil price in the international market.
The security challenge in Okerenkoko is not peculiar but an offshoot of the prevailing situation in the entire region. But if oil deposits are discovered on the island in tantalosing quantity, the so-called insecurity will not hinder the deployment of requisite men, machine and materials to exploit the oil to service the federation account. The adduced reasons are preposterous and will only deepen the insecurity around oil installations in the entire region.
One of the arguments against the Okerenkoko maritime university is the fact there is an existing maritime academy in Oron, Akwa Ibom State. The argument is as short sighted as the failure of successive governments to see beyond the immediate coastline on the opportunities available to Nigeria as a maritime nation. The argument assumes that there will be inadequate job opportunities for products of the university. The myopic assumption is built on the premise that government will have to provide jobs for everybody with specialised training in the maritime industry.
For countries with policies anchored on their vision of growing their economies through maritime, the argument is laughable. Bangladesh has 21 maritime academies, nine of which are owned by the government. Similarly, nine of Indonesia’s academies are owned by the government while the Philippines which supplies the highest number of specialised manpower for shipping companies globally has 52 institutions offering maritime related courses. Seven of them are wholly owned by the government.
The common denominator among them is that like Nigeria, they are maritime countries, but unlike our nation, they have developed comparative advantages in many facets of the maritime industry by building a strong manpower base. Most of the products of these institutions are not employed in their countries. Rather, the numerous academies have been designed to bridge the ever increasing manpower gap in international shipping. The Philippines earns most of its foreign exchange through remittances by seamen of its nationality employed in just about every shipping company in the world.
As stated earlier, Amaechi has the privilege of becoming the Minister of Transport at a time that it is no longer business as usual. It is times like this that differentiate leaders from the journey men. He will be forgiven for the initial unimaginative reaction to the Okorenkoko project. The project is not diminished by the fact that it was initiated by his political foe or that he may consider the N13 billion already spent on the university unsavoury. As Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of Petroleum, rightly stated, there are appropriate agencies that can deal with any infractions.
We have gone beyond having our people who hitherto had subsistence fishing as their primary occupation continue in their old ways. We are where are because decisions were taken on primordial sentiments devoid of articulated planning and policies. That is why Amaechi has a unique opportunity to rewrite the history of Nigeria’s maritime industry. It begins with seeing the Okerenkoko maritime university project through and unleashing a new generation of quality maritime manpower to the world. That is a crucial part of the change Nigeria needs.
Pius Mordi is a Nigerian Journalist
