Peterside set to sail the troubled waters of NIMASA

There is no job anyone cannot do as long as such a person is ready to apply him or herself to such. That applies now to Dakuku Peterside, the new man in charge of affairs at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) going by his current appointment with immediate effect by the Federal Government.

The 45-year old Warisenibo Dakuku Adolphus Peterside has quite an impressive profile with no stigma attached. He had his secondary education at the famous Okrika Grammer School (OGS), which has churned out a lot of bigwigs in Rivers State. He proceeded to the following universities: University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, University of Port Harcourt, Georgia State University Atlanta and Harvard-Kennedy School, University of Harvard, for his tertiary and post graduate studies. Accordingly, Dakuku holds degrees in Business Administration, Leadership and Project Management and Medical Laboratory Science (Heamatology).

His appointment might stir up some dust because he is not a graduate of any maritime institution, as stipulated by NIMASA’s Act, but again he might just be the right man for the job. He will be working alongside his former boss, Rotimi Amaechi who is the current Minster of Transportation.

I knew him as a feisty and passionate young lad, before all his accomplishments and marriage to Elima who is a lawyer. Those were his years at the University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, that I knew him because he was a friend to my cousin Adedamola Okuyiga, whose mother was a retired Deputy Commissioner of Police in Rivers State. Her sister, Mabel Opuiyo, a home economist and retired senior education officer, had a restaurant and bar at the end of Aggrey Road, one of the popular roads in Old Port Harcourt Township. They were all my seniors but we had a good rapport. On many occasions, the restaurant was their meeting place, and you could hear their voices as they discussed politics and school activities passionately. I did not have any inkling that Dakuku was grooming himself for the national stage. So, when the Federal Government announced his appointment on Thursday it was another notch up his sleeve because he has gone through the ranks.

In the year 2002, Dakuku; a native of Biriye, became the chairman of Opobo-Nkoro Local Government Area of River State, a position he held up until 2003. Between the years 2003 and 2005 he was the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Rivers State on Works. Dakuku served as Executive Director of Development and Leadership Institute (DLI) between 2005 and 2007. Within the same 2007, he was appointed the Commissioner of Works in Rivers State, a position he held twice until 2011. In the year 2011, he was elected to represent Andoni/Opobo-Nkoro area in the House of Representatives. The father of three was also the gubernatorial candidate of APC in April 11, 2015 Governorship Election in River State which he lost to Nyesom Wike, the incumbent governor.

He is set to sail the troubled waters of an agency shrouded in fraud which culminated in the removal of the previous DG, leaving the agency without a head.

Well, while his new job at NIMASA comes with some tough challenges, he is already equipped, especially from the several battles he fought at the fiercely contested Rivers State gubernatorial elections whose controversies lasted until this appointment.