The President, National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Lucky Amiwero has taken a swipe at the Director General of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside, describing his two years spent so far at the agency as a failure.
Amiwero said the agency under Peterside has woefully failed to fulfill its mandates of building indigenous capacity, growing and supporting Nigerian-owned and flagged vessels, and ensuring marine safety in line with acceptable global standards as enshrined in its enabling laws.
According to the NCMDLCA president, the achievement of collecting huge monies for government is not bad, but should not be seen as a major feat because “NIMASA is not a revenue collecting agency.
“Dakuku Peterside has failed in the core function of NIMASA’s responsibility. He should read, acquaint himself with and diligently apply Section 42 of the Cabotage Act 2003; Sections 16, 17 and 18 of the NIMASA Act 2007.
“These pieces of legislation, when married with the Nigeria Content Law 2010 will boost the economy by building the capacity of Nigerians through real empowerment like releasing monies meant for the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF).
“According to the law, 25 per cent of NIMASA fund is supposed to be used for capacity building. Placing such money in any account, be it Treasury Single Account or any other purpose is unlawful.
“Deploying the money to any other purpose is also a violation of Section 22(k) of the NIMASA law, which directs that it be used to build shipping infrastructure. He has failed to comply with this.
“Any other purpose for which such monies are being deployed is an illegality as it is unlawful diversion. I urgently call on the National Assembly to intensify its oversight on NIMASA to prevent such diversion.
“The very expensive seminars and costly travels he engages in are not enough to hold on to as achievements in the last two years. He should learn from the United States re-modified Jones Act which incorporates a fleet expansion programme.
“He is empowered by our laws to impact on our economy, and this should be his focus. I advise him to resist the temptation of diverting maritime and cabotage funds for any reason other than what they are meant for.
“These monies are not NIMASA’s; they should not be idling away in any other account other than being disbursed to the indigenous investors and practitioners who will create more wealth and grow the economy.
“He should be guided to avoid being a subject of probe when a new government takes charge after his tenure. I expect him to learn from his predecessor’s mistakes”.
Amiwero also advised the NIMASA DG to stay focused on the job as hope was not lost on Nigeria if urgent steps are taken to grow the economy.