Making waves in Nigeria
THE Nigerian maritime industry has witnessed many important developments since the advent of democracy. These changes include a proposal for marine cabotage legislation, the reform of Nigerian ports and the crafting of a new National Maritime Policy.
Cabotage
While almost fifty nations have laws restricting foreign access to domestic maritime transportation, Nigeria is not one of them. There is absolutely no legal provision reserving the provision of marine transport services to Nigerians or to Nigerian-owned/registered vessels. In Nigeria today, foreigners dominate coastal and inland water transportation. Foreigners own the bulk of the fleet operating in Nigerian waters, and foreigners feature significantly as service providers and intermediaries such as pilots, crewmen, engineers, freight forwarders, bunkerers etc. Furthermore, the collapse of the Nigerian National Shipping Line, formerly the national carrier, and the near-absence of a national fleet, has resulted in a high rate of unemployment among Nigerian seafarers.
Nigerian ports are generally regarded as far below international standards and commercially unfriendly charging high tariffs and delivering poor service.
As a result of the abysmal state of the Nigerian domestic fleet, urgent calls were made recently by the ministry of transport and by other maritime agencies for the promulgation of cabotage laws. The Committee on Transport of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly is currently reviewing a Cabotage Bill. A draft law is scheduled to be presented to the National Assembly for consideration and enactment into law during the current legislative year.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Transport, Dr Okey Udeh, in his letter to President Olusegun Obasanjo, urged him to support the Cabotage Bill, saying:
"We believe that the enactment of cabotage in Nigeria would lay a solid foundation for the domestic maritime industry, and stimulate and contribute significantly to the Nigerian economy. It would help to develop the domestic maritime fleet, create employment opportunities for over 30,000 trained but unemployed seafarers, boost training requirements at the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, lead to optional exploitation of the currently under-utilised facilities at Nigerdock, and encourage the development of required infrastructure and technical know-how in the inland waterways, transport and haulage systems".
A corresponding measure is the proposal by the National Maritime Authority (NMA) to establish a maritime bank. The bank will initially be capitalised to the tune of $500m and will fund indigenous shipping companies in building up a fleet of vessels for coastal trading.
The introduction of a cabotage law is seen in Nigeria as the only way for the development of a national fleet. In the US it has long been accepted that the US-flag Jones Act fleet that operates under US maritime cabotage laws is the foundation upon which US maritime power and the national maritime infrastructure rest. The general view in Nigeria is that what is good protectionist policy for the US must be good for Nigeria, a developing country whose local companies are forced to compete against formidable foreign opposition.
One vital point worth noting is that the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission Act, 1995, which allows a non-Nigerian to invest and participate in the operation of any enterprise in Nigeria, will have to be amended to prohibit foreigners from operating vessels between ports in Nigeria.
Ports reform
Nigerian ports are generally regarded as far below international standards and commercially unfriendly, charging high tariffs and delivering poor service. The problems are myriad and include an inadequate supply of craft and plants, a cumbersome documentation system, dilapidated port infrastructure, low labour productivity and volatile dock labour, corruption, vandalism, criminal damage, multiplicity of government and security agencies.
It is interesting to highlight one of the identified problems - the multiple statutory agencies at the ports. These agencies include the Nigerian Ports Authority Federal Environmental Protection Agency, National Maritime Authority, Nigerian Shippers Council, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Nigerian Customs Service, Nigerian Police Force, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Joint Dock Labour Industrial Council, Nigerian Navy, State Security Service, Directorate of Military Intelligence, and the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control.
Ironically, despite the presence of these multifarious security and regulatory agencies, Nigerian ports are generally regarded as unsafe. The new minister of transport, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, has declared war against corruption in Nigerian ports, setting up a Transparency Monitoring Unit and firing several highly placed government officials to show his resolve. In turn, the NPA is determined to reform the ports to achieve the 48-hour turnaround for vessels stipulated by IMO. Measures that the NPA intend to carry out include:
- 24 hour port operations
- Provision of modern cargo handling equipment
- Restoration of train services at ports
- Efficient and secure handling of cargo
- Rapid and easy clearance of cargo
- Efficient pilotage, towage, dredging and allied port services
- Reduced tariffs
- Computerisation of port operations
While these goals are laudable, the question remains whether these objectives can be achieved. Many believe that, for as long as government retains management of the ports, it is unlikely that much will improve. Consequently, industry experts advocate privatisation or, at the very least, concessioning of port facilities in order to improve port performance. Presently, the NPA is slated for commercialisation under the Public Enterprises (Privatisation and Commercialisation) Act, 1999.
National maritime policy
Current Nigerian maritime policy, set out in the National Shipping Policy Act, 1987, is widely described as faulty and inadequate. Confirming the view that a new maritime policy needs to be articulated, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Mr Mathyns Yellowe, recently declared that a review of the fourteen-year-old policy will begin soon.
Key issues for consideration include review of the role of the National Maritime Authority, safety at sea, marine pollution and control, cabotage and cargo reservation law and the establishment of a new Ship Acquisition and Ship Building Fund. The process of policy review will, it is hoped, be a significant tool in finding lasting solutions to the Nigerian maritime industry's many problems.