By Tina Amanda
The Admiralty Lawyers Society of Nigeria has urged the federal government to urgently revamp the maritime industry through significant and substantial investments.
In response to the recent nationwide “End Bad Governance” hunger protest, the President of the Admiralty Lawyers Society of Nigeria, Angus Chukwuka, emphasized the necessity for the government to prioritize and redirect its prospective and projected investments from the oil and gas sector to the maritime sector for greater efficiency and productivity.
Chukwuka stated that such a redirection would create job opportunities for the youth, leading to a corresponding decrease in crime rates across the country.
“The removal of oil subsidies, and therefore inflation in the price of petroleum products and essential commodities were at the center of the predicaments which befell the nation since the take-off of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led administration.
“While the Admiralty Lawyers Society of Nigeria supports the citizen’s hunger protests as backed up by the law, we are of the view that the protests should have been tailored towards an overhaul in the maritime sector, and a much deepened heightened investment in that sector.
“Invariably there is a need for Nigeria to prioritize its investments. In so doing prospective and projected investments for the oil and gas sector should be re-channeled to the Maritime sector for greater efficiency and productivity. This investment redirection would create jobs for the teeming youth with a corresponding decrease in crime rates across the country.
“Nations of the world like Singapore Belgium and London with less maritime endowments than Nigeria have better job creation and national income index than Nigeria due to a more creative and enduring maritime investment.
Meanwhile, Nigeria continues to lie economically comatose owing to underinvestment in the maritime sector and relative over-investments in oil and gas.
“Nigeria’s oil which has become the subject of political frivolities is now a curse to the masses and progenitor of endless economic crises.
“The solution to. hunger and poor employment in Nigeria no doubt lies in Nigeria retracing its steps, and revamping of our maritime industry through significant and heavy investments more than any other sector”.
The Admiralty President also called for the revamping of Eastern ports which has received no strong political will.
“The revamp for the eastern ports started long ago with no strong political will shown by the government to solve the problem. But a revamped eastern port is sure to guarantee Nigeria at least 12 million good jobs for the youths with perhaps 100 million US dollars earned per annum.
“Businesses around the ports will experience steady boom and violent crimes in the southeast south-south axis will diminish greatly”.
He further called for the digitalization of maritime services, platforms, and operations.
“There is also an urgent need for Nigeria to digitalize all maritime platforms and systems. The operations, programs, and activities of the Nigerian Ports Authority, ( NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency ( NIMASA), Nigeria’s Shippers Council ( NSC), and Nigeria Inland Waterways Agency ( NIWA) should be optimally digitalized for greater efficiency and efficacy.
“A more digital maritime sector will lead to more prudent management of our resources, save transaction time and therefore man-hours as well as the conservation of energy”.
Chukwuka however suggested training and retraining of maritime personnel to keep up with the innovations going on around the maritime world.
“The place of capacity building in the maritime sector cannot be overemphasized. Administrative, operations, and management staff of maritime establishments must have training and retraining programs on the tenets of maritime practice and industry regularly.
“Lawyers and other professionals involved in the day-to-day interface in the industry require continual updates on knowledge. The knowledge and experience acquired if properly streamlined will guarantee adequate utilization of investments made in the industry and in the digitalization thereof.
“On the whole, there is no better time for Nigeria to declare a state of emergency in the maritime sector than now. such a move will yield better income harvests, improve employment opportunities, and ensure better living standards for the masses”.
