The Chairman of the Na
tional Seafarers Welfare Board, Chief Kunle Folarin, has said building human capacity was necessary for Coastal and Inland Shipping Act (Cabotage regime) to work effectively.
Folarin said this in an interview with The Tide source in Lagos.
“We have seafarers but it depends on the type of seafarers they need.
“Even within the junior cadre, you have the need for electricians; the need for greasers; for box wheel and other category; even for catering staff and able seafarer.
“The capacity must be in all these cadre of junior seafarers.
“ When you look at officers, you must look at marine engineers; you must look at master mariners, captains, chief mates.
“You must look at the radio man; you are looking at those who have the competence to be officers.
“Those are the issues we have to look at. How do we develop capacity in all these areas so that the demand to man for that particular provision in the Cabotage law can be satisfied.
‘ And besides that, you look at the trade itself, how much internal trade are we generating?
“Do we have transshipment facility in Nigeria to transship cargo from Lagos to Port Harcourt.
“From Warri to Port-Harcourt; Port Harcourt to Lagos itself.
“We must ensure that the capacity and the availability of transshipment cargo is there so as to generate a kind of traffic that can be sustained.”
He said that the nation lacked enough junior and senior cadres of seafarers to meet the demands of the Cabotage trade.
Folarin, who is the Chairman, Port Consultative Council (PCC), said practitioners should also consider the rate of internal trade (transshipment cargo) being generated.
He said that the country also lacked required technical know-how to build all ships meant for Cabotage trade.
He, however, acknowledged that there were efforts to raise more seafarers in the junior category.
“You go to joints, you go to the cinema, you go to different places, everybody, it’s just complain.
“Let everybody get involved, Nigeria is our own country.
“Everybody has the right to choose which political party or which candidate to support; it’s every Nigerian’s right.
“And that’s one of the dangerous things about Nigeria, if you support the person that this other one does not support, automatically they will curse you, but it’s not supposed to be so.
“Let your candidate defend himself, let my candidate defend himself. Whoever talks better or performs better than the other, it’s still one Nigeria.
“If two people are contesting and one wins, either way they are contesting to help Nigeria .
“ So the loser should be able to now come and work together with the winner and criticise constructively.
“Not the kind of criticisms that amount to outright condemnation, even if the person does good.’’
Cue out audio.
2Face told NAN that he would actively participate in the elections and encouraged other Nigerians, especially the youth not to be violent during the exercise.
He said that he would continue to be non-partisan in his engagements with Nigerians.