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Temisan Omatseye, former NIMASA DG, rules out disbursement of CVFF under Mobereola

Temisan Omatseye
— says NIMASA has lost focus of its original mandate
Funso Olojo 
The former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Temisan Omatseye, had pointedly told the incumbent DG of the agency, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, that he would not be able to disburse the controversial Cabotage Vessels and Financing Funds (CVFF) during his tenure, no matter how hard he tries.
Omatseye, who was one of the former NIMASA DGs who attended the stakeholders’ interaction session with the new DG at the Eko Hotels on Thursday, May 9th, 2024, got the packed full hall bewildered when he faced Dr. Dayo Mobereola and declared” Let me be frank with you, you will not be able to disburse CVFF”.
Keeping a straight face and not minding the wave of hushed disapproval and surprise from the audience which comprised indigenous ship owners and other stakeholders, Omatseye said his pessimism was based on the conflicting position of the CVFF guidelines and the regulations of the  Banks and Other Financial Institution Act(BOFIA)
” I have my reason.
” By virtue of the CVFF, NIMASA is engaged in risk assessment before the funds are discussed but BOFIA does not allow an outsider to do risk assessment as it relates to funding “Omatseye claimed.
He however said the Mobereola does not need to be held captive by the politics that has stalled the disbursement of the controversial CVFF since 2006 as he has an escape route in the guidelines of CVFF disbursement.
” You can go outside the box.
‘The beauty of it is that the CVFF has to be disbursed according to the guidelines made by the National Assembly and approved by the minister.
“So you don’t have to be held captive,” Omatseye said.
It could be recalled that the disbursement of the CVFF has been stalled since its inception in 2006 due to the intricate politics and intrigues of some powerful forces.
Despite the efforts of the successive NIMASA DG, especially the immediate past helmsman in the agency, Dr Bashir Jamoh, who displayed undisguised passion for the matter, the funds are yet to be disbursed.
Not even with the ministerial powers wielded by the former ministers, Rotimi Amaechi who was frustrated in his attempt and had to hand off as well as Alhaji  Muazu Jaji Sambo, who staked his reputation, the CVFF has since then become a jinx which nobody has been able to break.
However, the former Barrister Omatseye, who was at the helm of affairs of the regulatory agency from July 2009 to December,2010 before he was unceremoniously removed, had earlier lamented that the agency has over the years lost its core objectives as maritime administration.
Omatseye, who came to the event with two other former DGs of the agency such as Dr. Ade Dosunmu and Ferndinad Agu, declared that the main core function of NIMASA is not about regulation but promotion and development of the capacity of indigenous ship owners to compete in international trade.
According to him, Section One of the NIMASA Act encapsulates the core function of the agency which is to develop the indigenous ship owners’ capacity.
” The regulatory aspect is secondary.The The main objective is to develop the capacity of the indigenous ship owners.
” The main objectives of NIMASA could be captured in what I call 3 Ps: to promote, protect and provide the enabling environment for indigenous ship owners which is the most important objective of all maritime administration worldwide.
” To achieve this, NIMASA must return to her core function”
Omatseye also noted that the agency does not have a maritime and policy strategy approved by the National Assembly to drive its operations.
” We must first ensure that the National policy and strategy on maritime is approved.
” Secondly, we must have Nigeria’s policy and strategy on maritime that is well outlined on what must be achieved and then set a timeline on when to achieve them.
“Also,  NIMASA must be professionalised by reviewing the agency’s organogram and everybody in NIMASA must have a job description while all NIMASA staff should have a career path”
While advocating for salary review for NIMASA staff to engender motivation, Omatseye also called for process audit and full automation of the agency and devolution of operational powers to the agency’s Zonal offices.
” The operations of the agency should be decentralized and taken to the zones of the agency in the East and West and Abuja.
”Stakeholders, including ship owners, need not be converging on the offices of the agency before they can register their vessels. They should be able to register their vessels in the comfort of their offices,” Omatseye said.
He further advised the agency to streamline the issuance of Certificate of Competency (CoC) to eliminate forgery and quackery in the seafaring profession in the country.
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Headlines

MWUN threatens to picket shipping companies, terminal operators over manipulation of pension remittances of seafarers, dockworkers

Gloria Odion 
The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria(MWUN) has accused terminal operators, shipping companies and ship owners of shortchanging dockworkers and seafarers in their employment in the remittance of their pensions to the appropriate authorities.
In a statement by the union led by  Comrade Francis Bunu Abi, the erring service providers were allegedly either holding back the deductions made from the salaries of their staff into the pension funds scheme or under- remitting the deductions.
The union warned of dire consequences for such act which it regarded as unethical and illegal and threatened to shut down any service provider found culpable in this illegal act.
“The leadership of the Union recently got the wind of these employers of labour and terminal operators over their acts of irregular remittance of their employees pensions to its appropriate quarters.
“Thus shortchanging the Seafarers and  the Dockworkers, both categories of workers from the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria.
“It was also learnt that some Ship Owners and Terminal Operators have allegedly stopped the remittance of Dockworkers and Seafarers’ PSA in their employ, which is a gross violation of labour laws.
” As a result, the President -General of the Union, Comrade Bunu, stated  that the Union will have no other option than to descend heavily and bring to book all the earring managements of these companies working against the ethics and practices of labour rules in their various companies.
“The Delta State- born labour leader made this point known, stressing that it’s unlawful to deny workers their pensions rights either by crook or hook,;  and may not hesitate to call out these Concessionaires and Shipping Companies that have defaulted in the payment of the statutory pensions of the Union Members.
“Comrade Bunu also said that these erring companies in the Maritime sector would be shut down if this ugly trend is not reversed to status quo.” the statement concluded.
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Headlines

Tantita Security to bankroll 2025 OTC in USA

Gloria Odion 
The foremost security provider in Nigeria, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL) has been confirmed as the official sponsor of the 2025 Offshore Technology conference scheduled to hold in Houston Texas, United States on 5-8 May , 2025 .
Executive Director, Technical and operations , Tantita security services Limited, Captain Wareddi Enisuoh  in an interview with journalists on Friday, said the company attracted the OTC conference lucrative sponsorship deal in recognition of its  capacity to deliver on the conference.
Founded in 1969 , Offshore Technology conference is a series of conferences and exhibitions, focused on exchanging technical knowledge relevant to the development of offshore energy resources , primarily Oil and Natural Gas.
The conference also serves as the meeting place for the brightest minds to share ideas , discuss, debate and build consensus around the most pressing challenges and innovations in the offshore energy sector.
This year’s exhibitors , speakers and attendees represent some of the highest calibre professionals from more than 100 countries .
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Customs

Customs shuns N12 trillion inflated revenue target imposed by National Assembly 

— focuses on realising N6.5 trillion 2025 target 
Funso OLOJO 
The Nigeria Customs Service may have tactically shrugged off the imposition of the N12 trillion revenue target by the National Assembly.
It could be recalled that government gave the NCS ₦6.5 trillion revenue target for 2025.
This followed the impressive revenue performance of the service in 2024 when it surpassed that year’s target of N5.07 trillion by 20.2 percent.
However , in January, 2025, the National Assembly joint committee on Finance led by its chairmen, Senator Sani Musa and Hon. James Faleke, believed that the projection of N6.5 trillion revenue target given to the customs was conservative and encouraged the NCS to aim higher.
Consequently, the joint committee slammed a whooping sum of N12 trillion as revenue target, doubling the initial N6.5 trillion projected revenue.
This humongous target sparked off an outrage among perplexed stakeholders who felt the target imposed by the law makers was outrageous and unrealistic which they feared may stretch the capacity of the customs to a breaking point and put unnecessary pressure on the men and officers of the agency.
Indication that the Customs authority may not be well disposed to the imposed target of N12 trillion by the National Assembly emerged recently when the Comptroller -General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, was giving account of the activities of the service in the first quarter of 2025.
While giving the analysis of the revenue performance of the service during the period under review, Adeniyi benchmarked the revenue generated by the service during the first quarter of 2025 by N6.5 trillion revenue target given by the Federal Ministry of Finance, thus jettisoning the N12 trillion imposed by the National Assembly.
“ Against our annual target of ₦6,580,000,000,000.00, the first quarter’s proportional benchmark stood at ₦1,645,000,000,000.00.
“I’m proud to announce we’ve exceeded this target by ₦106.5 billion, achieving 106.47% of our quarterly projection.
” This outstanding performance represents a substantial 29.96% increase  compared  to  the  same  period  in  2024,  where  we  collected
₦1,347,705,251,658.31″ Adewale stated, while giving the analysis of the performance of the service in the first three months of the year.
Analysts believed that from the analysis of the revenue performance of the NCS in the first quarter of the year which was predicated on the N6.5  trillion revenue target, it was obvious that the service was not paying much attention to the imposed N12 trillion,  but rather focusing on how to meet the more realistic target of N 6 .5 trillion.
” You can see that the CGC did not make mention of the N12 trillion imposed by the National Assembly which presupposes that the unrealistic amount is not in the reckoning of the Customs” a customs broker who plies his trade at Apapa port, said, pleading for anonymity.
” Where  on earth do they want the Customs to realize such an humongous amount of money in a depressed economy, in a country where importation has plummeted due to the unfriendly policies of government?
“It is unfortunate that these people (the law makers) have lost touch with the current economic realities in the country.
” All what they are after is to witch hunt government agencies to go and hunt for money for them to share.
” If not, how could they sit down in the comfort of their air conditioned offices and imposed such amount of revenue for customs to realize.
” Of course, the pressure would be on the men and officers of the service who will in turn go after the hapless importers and their agents in the most brutal way to raise the imposed target.
” It is unfortunate that the lawmakers, who are expected to make laws that will encourage export drive of the Federal government, are those asking the customs to focus more on the import goods where such money could be realized” another freight forwarder, who did not want his name in print but based at Tin Can Island port, declared.
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