Business
Maritime Guru Seeks Global Recognition of Nigeria’s Seafarers
A maritime expert, Capt Konni Duniya, says that the global recognition of seafarers in Nigeria’s Maritime sector are in the hands of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, and the NIMASA.
Capt Duniya spoke during the 2024 Lecture Series of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) Oron, titled: ‘Addressing Human and Institutional Capacity Development in Nigeria’s Maritime Sector Through Stakeholders Partnership.’
She called on the Federal Government to organise frequent
training for existing seafarers and develop capacity building programs for incoming ones with the use of emerging trends and technologies.
“Nigeria has been on the IMO STCW white list since 2019; however, Nigerian seaferers are yet to benefit from this achievement due to the inability of Nigeria to sign MOU with the most respected countries like UK, Australia and most of Europe.
Signing MOU with such countries will help strengthen our image as a serious maritime nation and open doors for employment of Nigerian seafarers globally.
‘Nigeria is the only country with unemployed seafarers in the world despite the cabotage law which seems to have been poorly implemented,” she said.
She expressed concern that the country will suffer huge shortage of adequate and competent seafarers in the coming years if the manpower Gap created as a result of war, retirement and disruptions in the sector is not urgently addressed.
Capt Duniya, an alumna of the premier maritime institution, also blame the domination of Nigeria’s Maritime sector by seafarers of foreign countries, issuance of fraudulent Certificate of Competency CoC, lack of database to validate cadet’s education, training and experience.
She also identified non-compliance with STCW Convention of International Maritime Organization as one of the major factors and limitations causing low employment opportunities for Nigerian seafarers.
“There needs to for proper housekeeping in NIMASA to combat issues of seatime and licence forgery through the use of block chain and cloud computing.
There is the need for Nigeria to market her seafarers to the global market alongside the signing of MOU like Ghana, South Africa and other countries are doing.
Nigeria seafarers are left to their fate battling poor wages , welfare and living conditions within Nigerian waters while alternatively accepting lower positions outside Nigerian waters which does not give room for consistent career growth,” she said
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Business
Traders shut down Enugu ‘s Obollo-Afor market over N25,000 haulage levy
However, Chairman of ESIRS, Emmanuel Nnamani, in a letter to the traders, said the haulage levy was not paid by traders buying or selling goods in the markets, but was applicable strictly to truck drivers plying interstate routes.
All shops and markets at Obollo-Afor, Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State were shut yesterday, as traders staged a peaceful protest against alleged selective collection of a N25,000 haulage levy in the market.
The traders, who locked their shops and took to the streets in large numbers, carried placards with various inscriptions, alleging that the Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS) had singled out Obollo-Afor Market for the collection of N25,000 haulage fee on every truckload of goods loaded or offloaded in the market.
However, Chairman of ESIRS, Emmanuel Nnamani, in a letter to the traders, said the haulage levy was not paid by traders buying or selling goods in the markets, but was applicable strictly to truck drivers plying interstate routes.
Addressing officials of the Udenu Local Government Council at the council secretariat, where the protesters marched to present their grievances, Chairman, Obollo-Afor Market Traders Association, Charles Eze, lamented that truck operators bringing foodstuffs, building materials, and other commodities to the market had stopped coming because of the levy.
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