Maritime transportation plays a significant role in the social, economic and political development of different nations globally –whether developed, or a developing nation. Wherever they exist the success of an organisation is highly connected with the degree of development of its maritime transport system, and the Nigerian case is not an exception.
Maritime transport promotes economies of scale, efficiency and adds value to the system in areas such as provision of mobility, creation of employment, promotion of trade and commerce, generates revenue for the government, accelerates urbanisation with inherent advantages for market expansion and helps in industrialisation.
The maritime sector plays a very fundamental role in the employment of labour (skilled and unskilled) and also indirectly in areas such as insurance, customs, haulage, clearing and forwarding, logistics, storage, free trade zone activities and sorting of incoming and outgoing cargo. It is evident from the above that Nigeria has a great potential for an extremely buoyant and viable maritime industry and we must give it our all in order for us a nation to maximise it.
In the pursuit of the economic progress of our nation there is need for an effective and efficient maritime transport system because of its vital role of facilitating logistics and trade through connecting the local markets with the national and international markets and destinations.
It also helps encourage the development of transportation institutions, expansion of transport infrastructure, simulates tourism and also helps facilitate international relations. It is characterized by high demand, very capital intensive, labour intensive, it needs high technical skills, determination of trade patterns, and it needs regular upgrade.
Some of the activities it provides are ship-harbour which is pilotage, dredging, provision of berths, maintenance of navigable channels and stevedoring activities, it also helps in the provision of ship-port interface such as loading, unloading of cargoes, freight services. Lastly, it helps in the provision of port –land interface such as delivering cargo to and from the connected inter land. Some of the above functions require well-coordinated strategies, approaches and organisation.
The relevance and relationship of the maritime sector to the growth of our nation must be taken seriously into account in the formulation of policies because of its strategic role in the economy; all imports and exports move through the maritime transport sector which is central for greater efficiency and competiveness to be achieved in trading.
The urgent need for our government to support and strengthen the capacity of the industry for the development and growth of the maritime industry will definitely help develop the huge prospects and potentials of the Nigerian economy. Some of the areas where the government can come in are adequate funding of the sector, investment and access to available funds for ship acquisition, development of port infrastructure programmes, associated logistics infrastructure support, dredging of channels, ports terminal development, intermodal connections, workforce resource development and installation of modern information computer technology systems.
The Nigerian economy is blessed with abundant human and natural resources which makes it unique and endowed. We are currently ranked 29th in terms of the 2019 GDP ranking, currently one of Africa’s largest trading partners of the US and also the largest oil producing country in Africa. Maritime represents a vast and complex structure in the nation’s transport system in many ways because it provides a number of interrelated and inter-connected activities.
It is important to note that for us to achieve greater success in this sector, as a nation we must urgently start harnessing the full potentials of our maritime transport by constantly upgrading our infrastructures, workforce and we must operate it in a global and competitive standard in order for it be more attractive to both local and foreign investors which will definitely help create greater efficiency and add more value to the economy of our nation.
FESTUS OKOTIE
