Obasanjo to chair NIMAREX 2013

Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has expressed particular interest in how well Nigerian ship owners have fared in recent times.

Obasanjo, whose government acquired 19 ships for the defunct Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL) while he was military head of state (1976-1979), made this known when the chairman of Nigeria Maritime Expo (NIMAREX) 2013 Planning Committee, Margaret Onyema-Orakwusi, led some members of the committee on a courtesy visit to the former president at his Hilltop mansion residence in Abeokuta.

He promised to give a hint into his thoughts on the best way to develop the shipping sector, while also confirming that he would be chairing the opening ceremony of Africa’s largest maritime event, NIMAREX, slated for March 12, 2013.

The NIMAREX 2013 Planning Committee chairman, who said that all arrangements have been made to ensure a hitch-free event, also added that the expo is a non-profit venture instituted to stimulate rapid development of the nation’s ailing maritime industry and “open up the industry to the rest of the world with a view to attracting foreign direct investments”.

She said, “NIMAREX is an annual event hosted jointly by the Federal Ministry of Transport together with its various parastatals and stakeholders in the maritime industry to showcase the nation’s enormous maritime endowments to the rest of the world,” revealing that the theme of this year’s expo is “Nigerian Maritime: Invest Now”.