Headlines

Civil society group spurns corruption allegations against Jamoh, NIMASA DG.

Dr. Bashir Jamoh, NIMASA DG

The Eyewitness Reporter

A coalition of civil organisations has risen in stout defence of the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh over a plethora of corruption allegations against him.

At a press conference in Abuja Wednesday, the coalition dismissed the allegations as baseless and political vendetta against the NIMASA DG by his political enemies who are intimidated by the soaring achievements of Jamoh at the agency.

It could be recalled that viral reports by some online news platforms (not the eyewitness news), make a series of allegations bordering on financial prolificacy against the NIMASA DG.

Speaking through Comrade Dele Anifowoshe, the National Secretary, CCSON, the coalition said there was no in-depth investigation before some media houses reported what they received as allegations from some persons they described as mischievous and unscrupulous elements.

According to Anifowoshe, the group, through its investigation, has discovered that the allegations against Dr Jamoh were sponsored by some disgruntled elements whose dirty businesses have been taken away and are now fighting back by using some sections of the media to report unverified facts.

“As Coalition of Civil Society Organizations in Nigeria, CCSON, we have deemed it fit to debunk claims against the Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, over alleged financial infractions which are not true as they make Nigerians to believe a lie.

“Our investigations revealed that the stories and reports put out there are all tissues of lies and baseless.

“It’s unfortunate, that some of these publications were hurriedly put together and some news media ran with them without doing due diligence through investigation to verify and balance their reportage.

“We want to make it clear that these allegations have never been verified and authenticated anywhere and anytime; rather they are deliberately cooked up by some unscrupulous elements who do not mean well for our country and peace, the Scribe of the coalition declared.

He therefore appealed to Nigerians to dismiss the report as cheap blackmail meant to discredit the good work of Dr Jamoh at NIMASA.

“We call on Nigerians to discard this cheap blackmail from persons who are out to defame the Director General of NIMASA who has positively transformed the agency and repositioned it for high productivity.”

According to him, the NIMASA boss is a game changer and go-getter who has transformed the image of the agency and attracted local and international recognition and awards.

“Industry players have showered encomium on his sterling performance since he took over the helm of affairs of the agency.

“Today, NIMASA is recognized for its performance by bringing the agency to be at par with its counterparts across the world based on its global best practices.

“Dr. Jamoh has stood out among those who were DGs of NIMASA by being gender sensitive and friendly, as the agency has 60 percent of directors as women under his leadership

“He has been able, through his proactive and pragmatic steps, to make the Agency have strong synergy between other relevant agencies and established international collaboration against piracy and other maritime offences resulting in an all-time reduction in vessel and crew attacks.

“With his personal involvement and engagement with the NIMASA Board, Executive Management Team and all staff of the agency, they have all worked assiduously to contribute to the success stories the nation’s foremost maritime administration has been associated with.

“He is currently on the move to ensure NIMASA scales up the performance of its statutory functions and activities to woo more investors, professionals and all stakeholders in the nation’s maritime industry to boost the economy,” he said, adding that “Now we have to double our efforts.”

The coalition therefore charged the NIMASA DG to remain focused and not to be distracted by the antics of what it described as mischief makers.

The group declared that the towering performance of Dr. Jamoh as the NIMASA DG has attracted both local and international recognition and accolades through awards.

“Media reports also have it that the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in its recent report had disclosed that piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, which had in recent times become the global epicenter for sea piracy, fell to the lowest since Q2 2019 after Dr. Jamoh started enforcing the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, also known as the Deep Blue Project.

“Based on the impact and achievements of the DG NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh, since assumption of office, has won several awards including the 2020 Zik Prize in Public Policy.

“Also the prestigious media giant, Vanguard Media has given one of its highest awards to Dr. Jamoh as recognition and commendation of his radical transformation of NIMASA, which was the ‘Public Sector Icon (Maritime) Award’, and critical maritime stakeholders who witnessed the ceremony acknowledged the fact that the NIMASA DG has worked hard within a short period to justify the honour.

“Due to his excellent performance in repositioning NIMASA, he was honoured with the prestigious award of ‘Public Servant of the Year’ in 2022 by Champion Newspapers.

“Also internationally, he has been applauded for his doggedness and determination to change the narrative after he hit the ground running as the DG NIMASA”, they added.

“We once again state that the allegations against a core technocrat and goal-getter as Dr Jamoh are all lies from the lips of mischief-makers,” the coalition stressed.

Headlines

Customs Steps Up Nationwide Green Tax Awareness Ahead of July 1 Rollout

Funso OLOJO, Editor

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intensified its nationwide sensitisation campaign ahead of the July 1, 2026 implementation of the Green Tax Surcharge and related fiscal adjustments, aimed at promoting environmental sustainability and encouraging the importation of cleaner vehicles.

The awareness campaign, held on Friday July 26th, 2026 at the Apapa Area Command, brought together Customs officers, licensed customs agents, freight forwarders, importers and other key stakeholders under the theme: “Implementation of the Green Tax Surcharge and Related Fiscal Adjustments.”

Representing the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, the Zonal Coordinator, Zone A, Mohammed Babadende, said the exercise was designed to ensure stakeholders fully understand the policy before its implementation.

“This sensitisation is designed to ensure that every stakeholder clearly understands the policy before implementation. Our objective is to eliminate uncertainty, promote voluntary compliance and guarantee uniform application of the Green Tax Surcharge across all commands,” Babadende stated.

Delivering a technical presentation, the Comptroller in charge of Tariff, System Audit and Coordination, Murtala Muazu, explained that the Green Tax Surcharge is different from conventional fiscal measures and would therefore require a separate assessment process.

He disclosed that the Service has simplified implementation through the HS Code declaration platform to facilitate seamless compliance by importers and clearing agents.

Muazu also revealed that the Federal Government has reduced import levies on vehicles from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, while import duty on used vehicles has been slashed from 15 per cent to five per cent to cushion the impact of the new environmental surcharge.

Area Controllers who participated in the sensitisation urged importers, licensed customs agents and the trading public to embrace the initiative, stressing that the reduction in import levies would lower the cost of doing business, promote legitimate trade and ultimately reduce transportation costs.

Stakeholders welcomed the policy but called for sustained public enlightenment to deepen understanding and ensure seamless compliance ahead of the July 1 commencement date.

Headlines

Beyond Lagos: The untold realities of Nigeria’s Eastern corridor seaports

Monday Discourse with Ibrahim Nasiru

When the World Bank and S&P Global recently released the 2025 Container Port Performance Index (CPPI), the headlines understandably erupted in celebration.

For Tin Can Island and Apapa to land in the global Top 20 for performance gains is undoubtedly a historic milestone.

Yet, for seasoned maritime analysts and industry stakeholders, a glaring question remains: what about the rest of Nigeria’s coastlines?

While the satellite data accurately captures a localized turnaround in the Lagos pilotage districts, it simultaneously masks a stark regional imbalance.

The narrative of Nigerian maritime modernization cannot begin and end in Lagos.

To truly turn the tide, the conversation must expand to the Eastern Corridor encompassing Onne Port, Port Harcourt Port, Calabar Port, and Warri Port.

The fundamental issue is that the World Bank’s CPPI relies strictly on automated vessel AIS data tracking.

It registers a win when ship turnaround times shrink at a berth, but it completely shuts out the structural and geographical deficiencies that prevent large vessels from even sailing into Eastern waters in the first place.

Modern deep sea shipping lines require drafts starting at 15 meters.

While multi-billion naira investments and natural depths allow Lagos and the expanding Lekki Deep Sea Port to receive mega-vessels, Calabar Port remains severely hindered by an un-dredged channel hovering around a shallow 6 to 7 meters.

Port Harcourt suffers from similar shallow constraints. Without aggressive, patriotic capital dredging projects, the devils in the details ensure that these regional Ports remain underutilized, regardless of how much digitization is deployed on paper.

It is easy for policymakers to announce massive financial interventions.

Critics are entirely right to point out that the Federal Government’s massive Port modernization plans must yield measurable metrics on the ground, not just political headlines.

However, recent data shows that commercial viability is waiting to be unlocked.

In overall cargo throughput metrics, Onne Port has consistently proven that the Eastern flank possesses massive economic power when given the operational room to breathe.

The roadmap for greenfield developments like the Ibom deep seaport and others exists, but real execution under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework will be the ultimate judge of these investments.

The current operational reality forces an unnatural economic bottleneck.

Importers in the South-East and South-South regions frequently clear their goods in Lagos, only to transport them across hundreds of kilometers of volatile highways back to Eastern markets.

This layout drives up logistics expenses, completely wiping out the macro efficiencies celebrated in recent National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) trade surplus figures.

The next institutional hurdle for the Managing Director of the NPA, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, and the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, is the implementation of a unified, cooperative Port development strategy.

This requires more than just launching an electronic call-up system; it demands a deliberate re-alignment of tariff structures that actively incentivizes shipping consortia to divert traffic to regional hubs.

Ultimately, a Port system is only as strong as its weakest link. Celebrating the World Bank validation of Apapa and Tin Can is fair, but treating it as a nationwide victory is premature.

Until the institutional bottlenecks, channel depths, and security challenges of the Eastern Corridor seaports are solved with the same urgency applied to Lagos, Nigeria’s maritime sector will continue running on half its cylinders.

True maritime competitiveness is not won by building an elite logistics island in one state, but by unlocking the full economic potentials of the nation’s entire coastline.

Chief Ibrahim Nasiru, a public affairs Analyst, writes from Abuja

Features

Beyond Lagos ports: Why NPA should position Eastern ports for global recognition

Chief Nasiru Ibrahim

Monday Discourse with Ibrahim Nasiru focuses on why government should look beyond Lagos ports and position Eastern ports for global recognition.

Our feature last week on the World Bank Top 20 ranking for Tin Can and Apapa Ports sparked an intense industry debate.

The biggest question raised: What about the rest of Nigeria’s coastlines?

Dropping tomorrow morning, June 29th, 2026,we go beyond the Lagos headlines to break down the hidden operational realities of Nigeria’s Eastern Ports.

Don’t miss “Beyond Lagos: The Untold Realities of Nigeria’s Eastern Corridor Seaports”