Following the alarm raised by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) over 13 expected vessels that had earlier called at high risk COVID-19 countries, stakeholders in the nation’s maritime sector has called for feedback on how the vessels are received on arrival in Nigerian waters, stating that raising alarm on the impending visit of the vessels is not enough in the fight against the deadly corona virus pandemic.
Recall that NIMASA had raised the red-flag on 13 vessels expected to berth at different ports in the country following their call at Covid-19 high risk countries.
Speaking to the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, a senior lecturer with the Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology in Lagos, Captain Fola Ojutalayo lauded NIMASA’s whistle-blowing act on the impending visit of the 13 vessels.
According to Captain Ojutalayo, “NIMASA should be lauded for taking the bold initiative to go public with the names and last port of call of these 13 vessels expected at Nigerian ports, even though it is not their direct responsibility to do that.
“Now the focus should be on what happens next after NIMASA raised the alarm. How responsible agencies of government act when these vessels arrive should be the next focus and Nigerians deserve to know how the ships were handled when they arrived.
“NIMASA has blown the whistle, and raised the alarm, what happens next is what should concern us as a nation. Don’t forget that organisations that have nothing to do with health had in time past, exploited shipping lines at our ports. Will some agencies of government latch on to what NIMASA has done to extort shipping lines? Will some of the listed vessels among the 13 ships that were mentioned by NIMASA get preferential treatment on arrival at our ports? I think that is what should concern us as a nation. Nigerians deserve to know how these ships were handled when they arrive.”
Also speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, a senior lecturer at the Lagos Business School, Dr. Frank Ojadi cautioned against vindictive action on the 13 expected ships. In his words, “What NIMASA has done is what should be viewed as a whistleblower action, and should be praised. Now, Nigerians are aware that 13 vessels are coming into our ports from high risk COVID -19 countries.
“However, we have to be very careful so that this whisleblowing act of NIMASA is not used by some other agencies vindictively or as a means of extorting money from shipping lines. That tendency is always there in our ports, and we need to be very careful so that other people don’t misuse NIMASA’s good motive.”
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Ifedayo O. Ogunyemi
Senior Reporter,
Nigerian Tribune
ogunyemiifedayo@gmail.com
