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From LAMATA to NIMASA: The Task Before Dayo Mobereola. 

Dayo Mobereola, taking over the mantle of office at NIMASA

The Eyewitness Reporter

Last week Friday, March 22nd, 2024, the new Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dayo Mobereola quietly walked into the Kanti Towers( now NIMASA Towers), the new ultra-modern headquarters of the agency, to assume duties.

He was pronounced the new helmsman of the rich government parastatal on March 11th, 2024 by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to replace Dr Bashir Jamoh, whose four-year eventful tenure lapsed on March 10th, 2024.

As expected, the former Lagos Metropolitan  Area Transport Authority(LAMATA )boss was elated by his new office and status.

He said this much when he expressed his enthusiasm to become the new NIMASA DG.

” It is with great enthusiasm and a sense of purpose that I step into this position” he had said with a glowing mien when he took over the baton of leadership from Mr Chudi Offodile, the Agency’s Executive Director, Finance and Administration, who had been acting since the exit of Jamoh.

It is expected that Dr Mobereola should be elated given the fact that he now sits atop an international-inclined, money-spinning government agency which is by far bigger in status, stature and scope than LAMATA.

However, we want to advise Mobereola not to be carried away by the euphoria of his new office and position as he is faced with the daunting task of driving the most critical, dynamic and highly technical agency which is by far more tasking, engaging and challenging than LAMATA.

He should also know that he is in an industry that is international in operation and whose operators are cynical but discerning and sophisticated in thoughts and actions, who are unsparing in their criticism, who are impatient with laggards and who are quite friendly and supportive of intelligent, proactive and impactful Chief Executive officers of the frontline regulatory agency in the industry.

The industry whose stakeholders are intoxicated by successes but incensed by failures.

So Mobereola should know what he is up against as he is stepping into the big shoes vacated by his predecessor, Dr Bashir Jamoh, whose modest achievements have now set parameters by which his performance shall be assessed.

Such parameters include but are not limited to shipping development, CVFF disbursement, full deployment of the agency’s floating dock, change in Nigeria’s fortune at the IMO elections where the country has become a serial loser, the proactive approach to the controversial National Seafarers Development Programme(NSDP).

Cabotage Vessels Financing Funds(CVFF)

Mobereola is coming into the office to meet one of the most controversial, highly politicized and brazenly abused interventionist Programmes of the agency, the Cabotage Vessels Financing Funds (CVFF).

Initiated in 2003 through the Cabotage Act, it is meant to empower indigenous ship owners to enable them to compete effectively in the Cabotage trade.

The fund is the accruals from the two per cent deductions made from Cabotage contracts of indigenous ship owners.
The special purpose loan facility is meant to be disbursed to qualified beneficiaries who meet the stringent guidelines.
Instructively, the funds have not been disbursed 20 years after it started. and it is said to have accrued the sum of $700milion as at 2023.
It has suffered several abuse and postponements of disbursement dates and become an object of official deceit and controversy so much so that the indigenous ship owners for whom it is meant have lost hope and confidence in government sincerity.

Under Jamoh, who appeared genuinely sincere and committed, the funds came close to disbursement as it got two presidential approvals under President Mohammudu Buhari, first to Rotimi Ameachi and then in December 2022, to Muazu Sambo, both former Ministers of Transportation.

Sambo even had to stake his integrity on the disbursement of the controversial funds when in December 2022, he bragged “Hold me responsible if this funds is not disbursed. I am staking my integrity on the approval granted by Mr President”
We need not say that the funds were still not disbursed before he exited.
We went into the intrigues and opaque manner in which the vexed issue of CVFF disbursement had been handled for 20 years so Mobereola would know the task at hand.

If he could eventually break the 20-year-old jinx of CVFF disbursement before he leaves office, he would become an instant celebrity among the highly sceptical stakeholders who have already written him off as a misfit before he even assumed duties.

Nigeria’s Serial loses at IMO Category C elections 

Another parameter that will be used to measure the performance of the new NIMASA DG is how he would turn the fortunes of Nigeria around at the International Maritime Organisation(IMO) elections.

Since 2007, when Nigeria last won the election into the Category ‘C’ council of the IMO under the former NIMASA DG, Dr Ade Dosunmu, it has been A string of consistent loses after then.

Since 2009 till date, Nigeria’s bids to win the coveted position at the IMO have been met with crushing defeats and near-misses.
The country became defeat-weary so much that it chickened out of the 2023 biannual elections when it failed to participate in the election held in the London headquarters of the IMO in December 2023.

Gboyega Oyetola, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, who led other government officials on a jamboree visit to London in 2023  to observe the election which Nigeria ought to have participated, said Nigeria will not participate in that year’s election to give ample room for preparations for the 2025 edition.

Mobereola, with the active support and guidance of the minister, should leverage the giant stride made by his immediate predecessor towards this direction.

Jamoh has built international goodwill and made the government invest in robust maritime infrastructure which engender maritime security and safety.

It behoves the new helmsman at the agency to harness all these and deliver to Nigeria a place in the prestigious category C at the IMO Council.

If he does that in the next council elections in 2025, then some of his critics, especially in the maritime media, would be falling over themselves to confer on him the Maritime Man of the Year Award reserved for the performing CEOs in the industry.

Full deployment of the agency’s floating dock.

Again, his immediate predecessor, Bashir Jamoh, had prepared a ground for the eventual deployment of this national asset.
NIMASA acquired the giant floating dock in 2018 at the staggering sum of N50 billion in what appeared that the agency put the chart before the horse as it searched for a suitable operational base for six years while the facility was idling away and gulping national resources.
However, Jamoh made what appeared to be concrete steps towards the eventual deployment of the giant floating dock before he bowed out of office.
He convinced the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to lease its facilities at the Continental shipyard for the anchorage of the floating dock.
He also engaged the services of Melsmore Marina Nigeria Limited as a technical partner to drive the deployment of the dock.
Shortly before Jamoh exited, the floating dock had been dragged to a jetty at the Standard Flour Mills, Apapa in preparation for its final movement to its scheduled operational base at the Continental Shipyard.
So, Mobereola has had its work cut out for him by his immediate predecessor.
All he needs to do is finalize the arrangement that would enable the floating dock to commence operations that will conserve the scarce foreign exchange that Nigeria’s local ship owners use to dry dock their vessels outside the shores of the country.

Sustaining the momentum in the fight against piracy.

One of the legacies left behind by Bashir Jamoh is the highly emasculated pirate attacks on Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea.

Nigeria led the international onslaught on piracy in the Gulf of Guinea which recorded a considerable decline in the operations of pirates in the last few years.
Through the deployment of its sophisticated infrastructures under the Deep Blue project, Nigeria has fought piracy to a standstill.

This laudable effort was further boosted by the promulgation of the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act, 2019 (SPOMO) Act which helped in speedy and effective prosecution of pirates in the country.

With these far-reaching measures and efforts, all that Mobereola needs to do is to sustain the fight against piracy.
He can’t afford to ease his foot on the pedal as a spike in the unholy activities of pirates will deal irreversible damage to his tenure.

Revival of dying indigenous shipping operations. 

One of the cardinal objectives of NIMASA is shipping development.

However, this is a dark spot on what could have been a glittering tenure of his immediate predecessor,  Bashir Jamoh.
Under Jamoh, shipping development didn’t enjoy as much attention as other areas of the agency’s mandates as businesses most of the indigenous ship owners went under.

Probably due to the non-rebursement of the controversial CVFF which should have empowered the indigenous ship owners, the operations of these operators nose-dived as substantial numbers of them went out of business.

To worm himself into the hearts of the distressed and depressed indigenous ship owners, Mobereola should court them, consult them and engage with them in decisions that would be taken by the agency concerning the promotion of their businesses.

The National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP)
The National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) was initiated by NIMASA in 2008 under the former DG, Dr Ade Dosunmu. It was designed to train Nigerian youths up to a degree level in Marine Engineering, Nautical Services and Naval Architecture in some of the best maritime training institutions abroad.
Since its inception, the programme is reputed to have produced about 2,000 beneficiaries.
However, the sore point in the programme is that most of the cadets who passed through the programme lack the requisite sea-time training as that important component was not initially embedded in the terms of engagement between NIMASA and the foreign training institutions.
Also, it has been alleged that the programme has largely been an instrument of nepotism as beneficiaries are friends, relatives and cronies of highly placed Nigerians in government, including successive Minister of Transportation (Marine and Blue Economy ministry).
As a result, some stakeholders have called for its scrapping.
Mobereola should look into these allegations and provide workable solutions that would address the lack of seatime training for the cadets and the issue of nepotism should be looked into.
The duties of the new NIMASA DG have clearly been cut out for him and adequate ground was prepared for him by his immediate predecessor.

It is now incumbent on Mobereola to latch on these opportunities to drive the maritime industry higher than he met it.

Failure to do this and make an impact within the next six months of his tenure, he would have the harsh, hard and highly sceptical stakeholders to contend with.
His short speech at the handing-over ceremony last week Friday, March 22nd, 2024 was not inspiring as it gives him away as someone who hasn’t gotten a grasp of the task ahead

“I do not doubt that every individual within our organization has the potential to achieve greatness.

” We will, therefore, ensure that we build a purpose-driven organisation by investing in our staff, processes, and the entire system to achieve our mandate.

” I aim to foster an environment of innovation, collaboration and synergy, creating an atmosphere that encourages the development of our employees’ skills, talents, and creativity” he has said.

To stakeholders, the statement is nebulous as it was not specific on key areas of interest to industry operators.

So, the sooner Mobereola knows that the maritime industry and administration is more technical, engaging, and in-depth in the conception and execution of ideas and policies than land transportation, the better.

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Stakeholders hail commitment of NIMASA to welfare of Nigerian seafarers as salaries jump by 150 percent 

 Funso OLOJO, Editor

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has won widespread acclaim from key maritime stakeholders for its sustained commitment to improving the welfare, remuneration and professional development of Nigerian seafarers, with reforms that have increased their earning capacity by over 150 per cent.

The commendations came on Thursday, June 25th, 2026 during the 2026 Day of the Seafarer celebration in Lagos, where government officials, lawmakers and labour leaders unanimously applauded the agency’s efforts to reposition Nigerian seafarers for global competitiveness.

Leading the tributes were the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Senator Wasiu Eshilokin,  Chairman of the House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, Khadija Bubar Abba Ibrahim, represented by her Deputy, Uduak Alphonsus Odudou and President-General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Francis Bunu Abi.

They praised NIMASA for implementing policies and programmes that have significantly improved the welfare, working conditions and international recognition of Nigerian seafarers.

Earlier, the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, highlighted the agency’s strategic interventions, revealing that over 2,459 cadets have been trained or are currently undergoing training in reputable maritime institutions across the world under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP).

Mobereola disclosed that Nigerian seafarers’ earning capacity has risen by more than 150 per cent following NIMASA’s successful enforcement of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 and the integration of the National Joint Industrial Council (NJIC) agreement into the International Transport Workers’ Federation/International Labour Organization (ITF/ILO) wage framework.

The development, he explained, has effectively placed Nigerian seafarers on internationally recognised wage scales and improved their conditions of service.

“At NIMASA, the welfare, safety, security and professional advancement of seafarers remain central to our maritime governance agenda.

“We recognise that protecting and empowering seafarers is not merely a regulatory obligation but a moral imperative and a strategic necessity for sustaining the growth and resilience of the maritime industry.

“In line with this commitment, the Agency has continued to champion strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing the global competitiveness of Nigerian seafarers,” Mobereola said.

He called for stronger collaboration among governments, maritime administrations, shipowners, employers, training institutions, labour unions and other industry stakeholders to build a maritime ecosystem that prioritises safety, dignity, inclusion, wellbeing and professional excellence of seafarers.

According to him, the complex risks faced by seafarers require a collective and sustained response from all stakeholders.

The NIMASA boss described the annual Day of the Seafarer celebration as more than a ceremonial event, saying it should serve as a renewed commitment to ensuring that every seafarer is respected, protected, fairly treated and empowered to realise his or her full potential.

He paid glowing tribute to seafarers for their invaluable contributions to global commerce despite the enormous challenges they confront at sea.

“Beyond transporting cargo, seafarers navigate unpredictable weather conditions, demanding working environments, evolving security threats and increasing geopolitical realities.

“They endure prolonged separation from their families and loved ones while coping with the physical and psychological demands inherent in life at sea.

“Yet they continue to demonstrate exceptional resilience, professionalism and unwavering commitment,” he said.

Addressing Nigerian seafarers and their counterparts across the world, Mobereola added:

“You are not only the backbone of global trade but also proud ambassadors of our maritime nation. Your contributions continue to strengthen the maritime sector, support economic growth and enhance Nigeria’s standing within the international maritime community.”

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FG to Shipping Firms: End abuse of Nigerian Seafarers now or face consequences

— as Oyetola vows zero tolerance for poor welfare of seafarers , unveils national carrier plan to boost jobs, sea-time training

Funso OLOJO, Editor

The Federal Government has issued a stern warning to shipping companies, crewing agencies and shipowners against the maltreatment of Nigerian seafarers, declaring that any practice that undermines their welfare, safety and dignity will no longer be tolerated.

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, delivered the warning at the 2026 Day of the Seafarer celebration held in Lagos on Thursday, June 25th,2026, where he reaffirmed the government’s commitment to protecting Nigerian seafarers and improving their welfare.

The event, themed “Carrying World Trade, Carrying the Risk,” drew key stakeholders from across the maritime industry, including heads of maritime agencies, members of the National Assembly, shipping companies, crewing agencies, ministry officials, maritime labour unions and seafarers.

Speaking through the Director of Maritime Safety and Security in the Ministry, Mr. Makoji Musa, Oyetola said the era of neglecting Nigerian seafarers must come to an end.

“Let me send a clear message to all shipping companies, crewing agencies and employers of seafarers.

“Our seafarers must be treated with dignity, fairness and respect at all times.

“The era of neglecting the welfare of seafarers, denying them their legitimate entitlements, or subjecting them to unacceptable working conditions must come to an end.

“The well-being of our maritime workforce is non-negotiable,” the minister declared.

Oyetola described seafarers as the backbone of global commerce, noting that they facilitate over 85 per cent of world trade despite operating under difficult and often hazardous conditions.

“Behind every successful voyage lies a story of commitment, endurance and sacrifice,” he said.

“Seafarers spend long periods away from their families, work under demanding conditions and navigate increasingly complex operational and security challenges.

“Their profession requires not only technical competence but also courage, discipline and exceptional resilience.”

He stressed that celebrating seafarers should go beyond ceremonial speeches and translate into concrete actions that improve their working conditions, strengthen safety standards and safeguard their rights.

The Minister reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to advancing maritime safety, security and decent work through reforms targeted at improving maritime education and training, raising certification standards, expanding employment opportunities for Nigerian seafarers and ensuring full compliance with international maritime conventions.

In a major policy announcement, Oyetola disclosed that the Ministry is in the final stages of establishing a national shipping carrier under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

According to him, the initiative is designed to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign shipping lines, curb capital flight, strengthen indigenous shipping capacity and, crucially, create more employment opportunities for Nigerian seafarers.

He explained that the proposed national carrier would also address one of the biggest challenges confronting Nigerian cadets by providing adequate sea-time training required for international certification and employment.

“The Ministry is finalizing plans to establish a national shipping carrier through a Public-Private Partnership arrangement.

“This strategic initiative will help stem the enormous capital flight associated with the dominance of foreign shipping lines, enhance Nigeria’s participation in international maritime trade and strengthen our national shipping capacity.

“Importantly, the initiative will create new opportunities for Nigerian seafarers by expanding sea-time placements, increasing employment prospects, developing local maritime expertise and providing a sustainable platform for career advancement,” Oyetola said.

The Minister maintained that protecting the welfare and rights of seafarers remains central to the Federal Government’s vision of building a globally competitive maritime sector and unlocking the full potential of Nigeria’s blue economy.

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PTML unveils $50m expansion plan as Oyetola reaffirms Nigeria’s maritime hub ambition

Funso OLOJO, Editor

Port and Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML) has unveiled a fresh $50 million investment plan to expand its terminal operations in Lagos, in a major private-sector vote of confidence in Nigeria’s drive to become the leading maritime hub in West and Central Africa.

The Managing Director of PTML, Mr. Ascanio Russo, disclosed the planned investment on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2026 during a visit to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, in Abuja.

Russo said the proposed investment, to be executed by PTML– a member of the Grimaldi Group — will focus on expanding the terminal’s berthing capacity and acquiring additional modern port equipment at the Tin Can Island Port Complex in Lagos.

According to him, the expansion is aimed at strengthening port infrastructure, improving cargo-handling efficiency and positioning PTML to handle the next generation of Container/Roll-on Roll-off (Con-Ro) vessels, including some of the largest currently operating in global shipping.

“The Grimaldi Group remains deeply committed to Nigeria and firmly believes in the country’s potential as the leading maritime and logistics gateway in West and Central Africa,” Russo said.

He noted that the planned $50 million injection is designed to prepare PTML for the future by boosting operational efficiency, cargo throughput and service delivery.

Russo explained that the new berthing facilities would enable PTML to receive larger and more advanced Con-Ro vessels directly at the Lagos terminal, a development he said would keep Nigeria competitive in the rapidly changing global shipping environment.

“The maritime industry is evolving rapidly, with larger and more efficient vessels becoming the standard for international trade.

“Through this expansion, PTML will be fully equipped to accommodate these next-generation Con-Ro vessels, ensuring that Nigeria remains competitive and attractive to global shipping lines,” he said.

He described the project as a direct response to the Federal Government’s push for stronger private-sector participation and international partnerships in the modernisation of Nigeria’s port infrastructure.

Beyond its operational impact, Russo said the investment is expected to boost trade volumes, increase cargo throughput, create jobs during construction and operations, and generate more revenue for government through expanded port activities.

Responding, Oyetola welcomed the proposed investment, describing it as a strong endorsement of the Federal Government’s ongoing reforms in the maritime sector.

The Minister reaffirmed government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for private capital and transforming Nigerian ports into the preferred hub for shipping, logistics and maritime services in the sub-region.

“This investment is a clear demonstration that our reforms are yielding results and that international investors recognise the vast opportunities in Nigeria’s maritime sector,” Oyetola said.

He added that the Federal Government remains focused on building modern, efficient and globally competitive ports capable of driving trade, supporting economic growth and cementing Nigeria’s status as the maritime gateway to West and Central Africa.

Oyetola said current government efforts are targeted at improving port efficiency, eliminating operational bottlenecks, strengthening infrastructure, deepening digitalisation and enhancing ease of doing business across the nation’s ports.

He listed port modernisation initiatives, closer collaboration with terminal operators, and policies aimed at attracting higher cargo volumes among key measures being pursued to reposition the sector.

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