For years, Nigeria’s Mission to Seafarers Center has been in ruins, with reptiles and rodents taking over most part of the edifice, making the country to become a laughing stock for visiting seafarers. Now, the center is wearing a new look, and with a new lease of life, writes TOLA ADENUBI.
THE Mission To Seafarers (MTS) centre is located in all countries of the world and is a temporary place of relaxation for visiting seafarers after berthing of ships at port terminals. The serenity and comfortability that any country’s MTS center affords visiting seafarers is sometimes used as parameters during rating of seaports globally.
The Nigerian MTS center, located at Marine Road in Apapa, Lagos suffered abandonment and neglect over the years, with the edifice becoming home to reptiles and rodents and its swimming pool taken over by algae and other marine living organisms, amongst others.
With Nigeria lacking a befitting MTS, many foreign seafarers who have brought ships to the nation’s ports have had to stay onboard their vessels for weeks while their vessel is still at anchorage or is being discharged.
Speaking during a tour of the abandoned facility earlier in the year, the chairman of the MTS in Nigeria, Chief Adebayo Sarunmi, explained that facilities like this are used during rating of port facilities globally.
“It is a shame that this facility was abandoned for years by relevant agencies of government. We appreciate the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for coming to our rescue.
“Foreign seafarers, when they bring ships to Nigeria, are supposed to cool off here, but because of its state of decay, the foreign seafarers stay onboard their vessels for weeks, thus giving Nigeria a bad hospitality image when indices like this are used to rate seaports globally,” Chief Adebayo Sarunmi stated.
New breath of life
Checks by the Nigerian Tribune this week revealed that renovation work on the once-dilapidated facility, which now boasts of a state-of-the-art swimming pool, well-furnished bedrooms. and an indoor games centre, among others, is almost completed.
Excited at the transformation of the facility within a few months, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director, Mohammed Bello-Koko, noted that a few months ago, his attention was called to the decayed state of the headquarters of the seafarers’ association.
According to the NPA Managing Director/CEO, “The state of the facility was an embarrassment a few months ago.
“The essence of this place is that when seafarers, captains. and others come into the country, like in every other country, they should have somewhere to rest, spend a little time on land, and so forth.
“We discovered that it was not in a good state and we promised to do something about it. We just came to inspect the state of work, and I am really impressed with what I am seeing.
“I am sure that we would be very proud to host any captain from any part of the world here—play games, eat, and rest.”
On the importance of the facility to the country, Bello-Koko explained: “This is one of the indexes for port rating in the world, and I can say that the rating of the Nigerian Ports Authority and Nigeria will actually improve because of this facility, which I heard is one of the best in Africa.”
He commended the former MD of the NPA, Chief Adebayo Sarunmi, who, as chairman of the Mission To Seafarers (MTS), called his attention to the decaying facility.
On his part, Sarunmi marvelled at the transformation, stating that, “I never knew this place would take this shape. I was dumbfounded because I wasn’t sure where we would see helpers until we summoned the courage and went to the MD to trouble him
“Knowing the amount of issues he has on his shoulders, we didn’t think he would have time to come to a place like this.
“It was like a Dracula house, but he turned it into a place that Nigeria, indeed, Africa should be proud of among the various seafarers’ centres all over the world.”
On the importance of the index rating, Chief Sarunmi said, “It was the reason we decided that if nobody was going to listen to us, the MD would listen to us.
“We know that he understands that not only the port infrastructure inside the port but also ancillary services like this can serve some important stakeholders in the port industry, like seafarers.
“We just started. It is going to be among the best in the world. We can raise our heads high, and we can compete with South Africa, our regional center, and we are hopeful that very soon, even the international headquarters will say, ‘Let it go to Lagos.”
What has changed
The swimming pool, which was once filled with algae, is now looking state-of-the-art and ready to host visitors from all over the world. The bedrooms, which had tattered, and worn-out beds and interior can now compete with standard rooms of any four-star hotel.
The indoor games center which will house spaces for Table-Tennis, Snooker and other indoor sports are almost completed and waiting for the installation of cooling systems in most of them.
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