Nigeria appears not appealing enough as having satisfied all requirements for the White List
In the next few months, Nigeria will head to London as part of the meeting of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) which comes up in November.
IMO is an apex world regulatory agency as far as the maritime industry is concerned. Members states are maritime nations whose level of development in seaborne trade cannot be in doubt. But beyond this, IMO sets out standards for members to be in its White List, even as council members. While Nigeria remains in the White List, its current status is shaky for obvious reasons, This Day Live reports
Having lost council membership for a long time now, remaining in the White List appears conditional. It has up till next year to fulfill certain conditions.
With massive coastal waters, impressive vessel and cargo traffic, Nigeria appears not appealing enough to the chieftains of IMO as having satisfied all requirements to have a reputable place in the global apex maritime agency.
This has in turn posed a challenge to the management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) which has since last year developed strategies to fulfill all requirements to return to IMO as a Council member and be firm on the agency’s White List.
The challenges of Nigeria’s council membership in IMO are enormous. It is the same for its being strong on the White List. In recent past, Nigeria has been ranked as one of the countries that have become notorious for cases of piracy.
International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in its recent report ranked Nigeria as almost overtaking Somalia on issues of piracy. Although, this is being contested as unfair report, that has remained the position of IMB, a security monitoring agency of the IMO.
The other issue against Nigeria include allegations that the country’s indigenous fleet expansion is nothing so much to write home about.
The probable feeling of IMO is that Nigeria’s shipping industry with all the impressive volume of trade is dominated by multinational agencies with little to talk about in terms of indigenous participation.
IMO wants Nigeria’s indigenous involvement in shipping to be substantial and probably above the involvement of foreigners. Besides, most Nigerian ships concentrate in oil and gas business. There is hardly any Nigerian vessel that is into containerized trade or bulk carriage trade.
Read more information atThis Day Live
