Kunle Kalejaye 08 June 2016, Sweetcrude, Lagos – Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, says the agency will undergo major reforms in the next one year to boast its capacity to drive the growth and development of the Nigerian maritime industry.
Peterside said the reforms were in line with the ‘change’ agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, which is committed to the diversification of the nation’s economy.
Speaking with a delegation of the Oxford Business Group led by its Country Director, Izabela Kruk, during a visit, Peterside emphasised that the agency had quality human capital, noting that what was required to refocus and reposition NIMASA was a committed leadership which the present management was willing to provide.
He said the agency was developing a medium-term strategic growth plan which will aid the management to focus on its core mandate of promoting the development of indigenous capacity in international and coastal shipping as well as effectively regulating the maritime industry in Nigeria.
He said the agency under his leadership would change from the negative perception of corruption, inefficiency and abandonment of its core mandate to that of a maritime administration that is alive to its responsibility intent on making Nigeria the preferred destination for maritime activities in Africa.
He emphasised that the agency would leave no stone unturned, including seeking legislative amendment if need be, to ensure full compliance with the Cabotage Act 2003, which, according to him, is necessary to fast track desired growth in the maritime sector.
The Country Director of the Oxford Business Group, Izabela Kruk, expressed the readiness of the group to partner the agency in documenting and publicising NIMASA activities in its widely read journal.
Ms Kruk who, highlighted the benefits of the group’s partnership with some Nigerian agencies, including the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, said the collaboration has yielded a lot of positive results for Nigeria.
According to her, the partnership with NIMASA would yield same result.
