Business
Nigerian Ship Owners Decry Govt’s Neglect
Nigerian ship owners
have raised alarm over government neglect of the shipping sector of the economy.
The ship owners, under the aegis of Indigenous Ship owners Association of Nigeria (ISAN), and the government’s inability to match words with action was the main reason why the huge potential of the maritime industry of the economy has not been maximised over the years.
They decried the absence of a virile indigenous maritime sector, which is capable of conserving the nation’s hard earned foreign exchange and boosting employment generation for rapid development of ship owners’ capacities and capabilities, is not high on the current national agenda.
Speaking at ISAN second quarter general meeting in Lagos, ISAN chairman, Chief Isaac Jolapamo, expressed regret that the various recommendations designed to turn the industry around remains unrealisable in view of absence of the approval by President Goodluck Jonathan.
His words, “we have made presentation to the president and the National Economic Management Team through membership of the presidential committee on harnessing the potential of the maritime sector for sustainable development where chaired the cabotage and local content sub-committee in addition to my membership of the business support group representing the maritime sector”.
“Our findings and experience in all of these interactions are mixed on one hand, we have been able to raise the issue of maritime underdevelopment to the highest national governance level. However, on the other hand we have realised that we have a huge task on our hands to ensure we achieve our objective”, the chairman said.
Chief Jolapamo stated that a situation where those who have sacrified a lot to sustain this industry are now languishing in penury while foreigners and their collaborators with none industry players continue to dictate the direction of the sector is absolutely intolerable.
He said the continuous engagement of the highest level of the government by ISAN was hinged on the belief that the association’s practical involvement would lead to policies that are beneficial to its members’ operations.
The ship owners also used the occasion of the meeting to announce a change in the name of their association from ISAN to Nigeria Shipowners Association (NISA) no reason was given for the change of name.