By RICHARD ADENIYI
A stakeholder in the Nigerian Maritime Industry has expressed his dissatisfaction with the appointment of Dakuku Peterside as the substantive Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and safety Agency (NIMASA).
Captain Niyi Labinjo, President of Nigerian Ships Owners Association (NISA), said the appointment of Peterside may spell doom for the sector because the new D.G has to requisite experience to steer the industry from its near comatose state to which it has sunk due to years of misrule.
Citing sections 11 and 6 of the NIMASA Act, Captain Labinjo said the Act disqualifies Peterside to administer such technical agency. “You cannot ask a Carpenter to conduct an open heart surgery and expect the patient to survive. Peterside will “kill” the Nigerian shipping companies that survived the onslaught of Akpobolokemi”, Labinjo warned.
He further juxtaposed the qualifications of Peterside who holds a Doctorate Degree in Management Science, MBA in Business Administration and a Bachelor Degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences (B. MLs) with the required qualifications prescribed in the NIMASA Act.
“The NIMASA Act Sections 11 & 6 do not avail him. This is what it says at Section 11-(1):
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“The President on the recommendation of the Minister shall appoint a Director-General for the Agency in accordance with the provision of Sections 6 & 7 of this Act.”
“Then Section 6- (1) says: The President on recommendation of the Minister shall appoint to the Board only persons with relevant experience and capacity applicable to maritime administration, recognized expert knowledge, qualification and experience in one or more of the following fields- Maritime Safety, Maritime Security, Maritime pollution, Nautical Sciences and Hydrography, Maritime Engineering, Finance, Marine laws, Transport logistics, Administration, and Marine Labour.
He said going by the NIMASA Act, Peterside is certainly unqualified going by the 4 requirements in the NIMASA Act.
“We need someone who is well grounded in “maritime administration” if Nigeria wants to benefit from the huge potentials in maritime”, Labinjo concluded.
Dakuku Perterside, the governorship candidate of All Progressive Congress (APC) in 2015 elections in Rivers States, was on March 10th, 2016, appointed as a substantive helmsman of the money-sinning agency to replace AlhajiJairo who acted in an acting capacity after the sack of Akpobolokemi last year.