Mixed reaction trails appointment of Dakuku Peterside as DG of NIMASA

Industry stakeholders, who took turns to review the recent appointment of Dakuku Peterside as the substantive director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), have shared divergent views regarding the capability of Peterside to run the affairs of the agency in the next four years.

While some believed that to an extent, Peterside has the capacity to run NIMASA by virtue of being the former chairman of House Committee on Downstream, others were of the view that though not qualified academically to head Nigeria’s maritime regulatory agency as specified by the act setting-up NIMASA, he needs to surround himself with a management team made up of professionals in different aspects of maritime and shipping, to guide his decision on how to effectively run the agency.

Adewale Ishola, a renowned master mariner, told our correspondent in a telephone interview that the government always has a way of doing things without regards for the appropriate laws especially as regards the appointment of heads of parastatals, and there is nothing professionals can do to remedy that.

“We have no option other than to work with the new DG, but the important thing is that there is need to ensure that a management team that would work with him, consist stakeholders and professionals because they are the people, who know what should be done to move the industry forward,” he said.

Continuing, he states: “To be honest, no matter how the public perceives Patrick Akpobolokemi, the immediate past DG of NIMASA, I give him 100 percent credit for bringing in professionals onboard to work with him, even though he was not an industry expert.”

Hiring professional to help run the agency, he noted, not only gave Nigeria the recognition and credit of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), but also helped the country to exceed the minimum requirement for the implementation of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, which before then, was poorly implemented.

“The new NIMASA DG is just a political appointee but he needs to liaise with professionals to enable him deliver on his responsibility and guide him in the right direction.”

Tunji Brown, secretary general of the Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA), who applauded the recent appointment of new NIMASA DG, described it as long overdue, and said that stakeholders have been waiting for the appointment of a substantive DG for long.

“Peterside is not a greenhorn in the industry as he was a former chairman of House Committee on Downstream, which to an extent gave him clue on what the industry is about,” he added.

In his view, Emeka Akabogu, a maritime lawyer, who stated that the inability to appoint a substantive DG for NIMASA in the past nine months held the operations of the agency at a standstill, also welcomed the appointment of Peterside at this time.

According to him, it is entirely the responsibility of the President to appoint heads of agencies like NIMASA, and given the fact that the challenges ahead are significant, there is need for all stakeholders to give the new DG the required support to deliver on his new job.

Recall that NIMASA Act stipulates that only persons with adequate skills and qualification in areas such as Maritime Safety, Security and Pollution; Nautical Science and Hydrograph; Maritime Engineering; Marine Law; Transport Logistics and Marine Labour were qualified to run the affairs of NIMASA as DG.

Uzoamaka Anagor-Ewuzie