Inside NIMASA’s Turnaround

Within 16 months of being under a new administration, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has witnessed a remarkable turnaround that has catapulted Nigeria into maritime heaven. It has also become the darling of the federal government, which has hailed it for its huge contribution to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, writes Solomon Elusoji

After a recessionary period triggered by declining oil prices, Africa’s biggest economy has chosen an aggressive diversification route, to sustain its buoying economy. There have been huge speeches and policies devoted to reviving agriculture and local industry, as parts of efforts to diversify government revenue.

However, key to the country’s diversification strategy is the maritime industry, where opportunities for growth are huge and diverse. As at 2016, the Nigerian Maritime Industry was estimated to exceed $153 billion, representing about 30 per cent of the country’s GDP. And with a vast coastline of over 850 kilometres, the possibilities are truly endless.

The country’s Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who was at this year’s Nor-Shipping, a bi-annual event that brings together stakeholders in the maritime sector from various continents, held in Lillstrome (Norway), knows this and the inherent potential in the sector. “Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with about 183 million people and by extension, with the cumulative population of two landlocked countries of Chad Republic which is 14.9m people and Niger Republic with 21.3m people creates a huge consuming market and comparable cheap labour,” he said in Norway, while adding that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration “is committed to ensuring that Nigeria becomes a maritime hub for the West and Central Africa sub region.”

Interestingly, the man in charge of the nation’s leading maritime agency, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside is Amaechi’s political ally, a factor which, undoubtedly, is an ingredient for excellent policy chemistry.

Peterside was appointed as NIMASA’s Director General in March 2016, and within 17 months of assuming office, he has somehow repaid the trust endowed on him by the Buhari administration, owing partly to the ‘excellent policy chemistry’, but more to the qualities that make the man himself.
Within one year and one month, the agency has contributed N9.975 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF). The agency also paid over $38 million to the CRF.

The agency, on June 1 last year paid N5 billion into the CRF. On June 2, 2016, it paid N4.975b. It paid $7 million on November 22, 2016. By April 19, 2017, NIMASA paid $15 million to the CRF.
On July 18, 2017, it paid $16.272.121.12 million to the CRF.

In 2015, NIMASA’s contributions to the CRF was just N2 billion and $15m. There was also the payment of $24,025,017.90 described as “direct debit by CBN on NIMASA accounts”. Close to half of 2015 was under the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration.

President Buhari appointed Dr. Peterside as director-general on March 10, 2016.
Minister of Finance Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, earlier this month, at a workshop in Abuja said the management of NIMASA was able to generate more money in six months than it did in the two preceding years.

“Unlike NIMASA and the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB), some Agencies and Departments are operating in such a manner that returned minimal funds to government. To this effect, a circular has been issued restricting allowable expenses in line with reforms occurring across government businesses, as compliance checks would be undertaken regularly to ensure that all Agencies and Departments adhere to the new requirements,” she said.

The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Ahmed Idris, also said: “It was also the first time in recent years that NIMASA will remit huge revenue into government coffers.”
In June, at the inaugural TELL Awards for Excellence held in Lagos, NIMASA was awarded the Public Organisation of the Year for its outstanding achievements in 2016. And its Director General, Dr. Peterside, was on hand to receive the honour.

The TELL Award, organised by one of the strongest journalism voices in the country, is a strong testimony to the remarkable work Peterside has done at NIMASA, since he was appointed as its Director General in March 2016.
Taking into consideration the importance of hi-tech, the Peterside administration instituted a medium term strategy through digital transformation to hasten processes at NIMASA. The process allows stakeholders to register their vessels and conduct transactions digitally with a click of a button on their laptop. Also, the swift automation of processes and devolution of power, with the creation of zone offices at NIMASA, is also reducing time spent and removing middlemen from chain of transactions. Within 10 months, NIMASA had reduced the rate of sea accidents by 51 per cent – a record that prompted countries like the United States to send envoys to the reinvigorated agency for partnership.

Also, the agency is undergoing a rebranding, in order to align it with other foremost Maritime Administrations in the world.

The Chairman of the TELL Awards Committee, Mr. Babs Alasa, noted that the award was an honour well deserved, pointing out that Peterside has repositioned NIMASA for greater recognition within and outside Nigeria in a short period. “NIMASA has done very well under Peterside and even President Muhammadu Buhari recognised this and congratulated him when he was unanimously elected as the chairman of the highest Maritime body in Africa.”

This – the unanimous election – recognition of Peterside’s leadership genius occurred in April this year when NIMASA, in conjunction with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), hosted the 3rd Conference of the Association of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA) at Abuja. There, establishing Nigeria’s leadership status in the continent’s maritime industry, Peterside was elected as the AAMA Chairman.

AAMA is charged with the responsibility of assisting and enhancing the capacity of Maritime Administrations in Africa in the adherence and implementation of IMO instruments, and Peterside has already swung into action, with the force of a bullet. In July, Peterside, met with representatives of African countries at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), under the auspices of African Maritime Advisory Group (AMAAG) at the IMO Headquarters in London, where he charged them to work together to ensure Africa takes its rightful place in the global maritime community.
“Africa is a major stakeholder in maritime so we must take our rightful place and that can only happen if we work together, and these cooperation issues would be brought to the front burner during the meeting of the executive committee of AAMA coming up in September in Egypt,” Peterside said.

At this year’s Nor Shipping, Peterside also positioned Africa as a continent ready to engage on equal terms with the rest of the world in the area of maritime businesses.

“What we are trying to do is to change the terms of engagement for the rest of the world in terms of maritime businesses. We want to operate on equal terms not lopsided terms against our own interest, thereby creating room for a mutually beneficial relationship,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Maritime Industry now has a vigorous international presence due to Peterside’s strides. This July, as the Chairman of the AAMA, Peterside led a delegation of AAMA Executive Committee members to the International Maritime Organisation’s headquarters in London, where they met with IMO’s Secretary General, Mr. Kitack Lim, to seek increased representation of the continent on the IMO council.

“You will agree with me that the number of African Nations at the council of the IMO is disproportionate to the size of the continent’s representation at the global maritime body, therefore to drive Africa’s maritime sector development agenda, there is need for a proportionate and effective representation of the continent in council and at the secretariat,” Peterside said.

While commending the IMO for the technical support so far extended to members on the African continent, Peterside also solicited for a Memorandum of Understanding between the IMO and AAMA to have an integrated position, adding that this would aid a lot of African countries needing technical support. In his response, the IMO Secretary General, Mr. Kitack Lim promised to liaise with the technical staff of IMO and get back to AAMA on the various requests made impact.

Also, under Peterside, Nigeria is set to benefit from deep sea mining through effective harnessing of the opportunities stemming from working with the International Seabed Authority (ISBA).
The ISBA, which is an autonomous international organisation established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 1994 Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, will help the country in the area of capacity building to survey deep sea and establish a database of mineral resources available for the benefit of all mankind.

At the moment, the Nigerian Navy Hydrographic office is undertaking hydrographic survey and charting of the country’s maritime area, while NIMASA cooperates with the Navy to effectively enforce the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea and other relevant international maritime instruments.

Under Peterside, Nigeria will soon take delivery of the fifth largest floating dock in Africa, which is expected to be delivered by the last quarter of the year. In addition, as part of the efforts to ease doing business in Nigeria, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) have stepped up efforts to fast track investment entry into the country, among which is the commencement of a 24-hour ports operations.

“Nigeria has not only put the right infrastructure in place, but has put the right regulatory regime and also a set of incentives to make us a hub,” Peterside said. “So, talk about stability, you can say Nigeria has it, and the government is also working on intermodal transport system to facilitate the ease of doing business and of course good regulatory regime.”

Peterside’s excellent stewardship of NIMASA is a brilliant reminder of his impressive leadership roots. Born to a middle-class family in Biriye Polo, Opobo, he grew up in Abia, Kaduna and Rivers states. In the 1980s, he attended Okrika Grammar School, one of the pre-eminent public schools in Rivers State, where he served as a school prefect, a role acquired through his impeccable conduct, leadership qualities and academic standing.

He took the same character to the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUT), where he earned his first degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences, before acquiring a Post Graduate Diploma and Masters Degree in Business Administration. Proceeding from RSUT, where he was an outstanding student union leader who fought for hope, he also attended the University of Port Harcourt, Georgia State University, Atlanta and Harvard University. He is equally a member of the Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM), a fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of Nigeria (IMCN) and a member of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences of Nigeria.

His sojourn into state politics crystallised when he was elected as the Local Government Chairman of Opobo-Nkoro in 2002, where he was declared the most outstanding chairman by the Rivers state government. He then held several executive portfolios, serving at a time as Rivers State Commissioner of Works and the Executive Director of a development and leadership institute.

Peterside was elected to represent Andoni/Opobo-Nkoro Area in the House of Representatives in 2011-2015. While in the lower chamber he served as Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), where he had the oversight responsibility on strategic national oil and gas establishments such as Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC).

He also served in the House Committees on Anti-corruption, National Ethics and Values, Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes; Co-operation and Integration in Africa, Electoral Matters; Industry; Communications and Works – a multifaceted work experience that prepared him for his present role at NIMASA. It is not hard to see, then, why he has succeeded in putting Nigeria’s maritime industry on the right course towards excellence.