Dakuku Peterside, the director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has announced that Nigeria has ratified 40 conventions on maritime safety, labour and marine environment as passed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Also, 19 of the conventions have been domesticated by way of regulation, adoption or incorporation under the Merchant Shipping Act of 2007.
Peterside, who spoke in Lagos during the 8th Strategic Admiralty Law Seminar for Judges organised by NIMASA in conjunction with the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), also said that non-implementation and enforcement of international conventions on shipping has been affecting investments in the country.
“It has been a herculean task trying to sell Nigeria to the international community for investments because in some cases the investors had raised the issue of uncertainty in dispensation of litigation and implementations of laws. It is on the premise that the seminar titled ‘Strengthening Nigeria’s Admiralty Regime through Effective Implementation of International Maritime and Labour Instruments’ became imperative” Peterside said.
According to him, NIMASA is working closely with the Federal Ministry of Transportation under the auspices of an Inter-Ministerial Committee to ratify additional six IMO conventions before the end of 2019 and to ensure that Nigeria as an IMO member state fulfills its treaty obligation.
“The conventions include the Hong Kong International Convention for Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships 2009; Protocol Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties (Intervention Protocol) 1973; 1996 Protocol on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (LLMC).
Others are 2002 Protocol Relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea (PAL) 1976; International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch Keeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel (STCW-F) 1995, and the Protocol of 2005 to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Act against the Safety of Maritime Navigation.
He added that NIMASA as a responsible Agency is working with relevant stakeholders under the auspices of the IMO Mandatory States Audit Scheme (IMSAS) Corrective Action Plan Committee to ensure that all queries raised in the 2016 IMO Audit report on Nigeria’s maritime sector were addressed before the end of first quarter of 2019 in order to boost Nigeria’s reelection bid into Category ‘C’ of the IMO general council.
Peterside, who reiterated the fact that the maritime sector in Nigeria has a lot of opportunities to become an economic driver, said that this can be fully actualised when the various arms of government work together collaboratively. He urged the Nigerian judicial system to ensure efficiency and timeliness in the dispensation of justice in maritime related cases, as it will boost stakeholders and investor confidence in the system.
“Timeliness in justice dispensation is critical to realising the potentials in the maritime sector to enable investors trust our judicial process. The more time taken on a case, the more investment opportunities are lost. Therefore, I wish to use this opportunity to appeal to our judges to facilitate timely resolution of dispute for maritime cases as we all have one role or the other to play in catalysing the Nigerian economy,” Peterside said.
On maritime security, Peterside said that the draft suppression of piracy and other maritime offenses bill facilitated by the Agency, aimed at criminalising piracy and other maritime offenses has been forwarded to the National Assembly, adding that the bill has passed first reading in both chambers of the National Assembly.
He also expressed optimism that it will be passed into law before the end of the 8th Assembly.
Uzoamaka Anagor-Ewuzie
