Jamoh’s Three-Year Management At NIMASA: A Scorecard By Osagie Edward

Jamoh’s Three-Year Management At NIMASA: A Scorecard By Osagie Edward

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) as a safety administration and regulation organisation, implements the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from ships (MARPOL), Safety of Lives at Sea (SOLAS) and the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), among others have been some of the strides of NIMASA under its Director-General, Dr. Bashir Jamoh.

When Jamoh was appointed to lead the management team of the agency in March 2020, the vision was clearly stated in the triple-S agenda of Maritime Safety, Maritime Security and Shipping Development.
This in practical terms was the navigable path to achieving the agency’s mandate as set out in the NIMASA Act, the Merchant Shipping Act, the Cabotage Act and the Suppression of Piracy and other related maritime crimes offences Act. To achieve these, Jamoh and his executive management team identified the need to have the agency’s workforce to be in sync.
It is a common saying that a well-motivated workforce is a foundation for any productive organisation. The Jamoh-led administration at NIMASA has been able to motivate staff for optimal productivity. Within the last three years 1, 300 staff members have been promoted from one grade level to another.

Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh (3rd left); Admiral Superintendent of the Naval Dockyard Limited, Rear Admiral Kohath Levi (3rd right); Rear Admiral H. Ibrahim (2nd left); Head, Deep Blue Project Otonye Obom (2nd right); Head, Shipping Development, NIMASA, Mr. Inuwa Kurahson and Special Assistant, Media & Strategy to the DG NIMASA, Ubong Essien during a working visit by the NIMASA DG to the Naval Dockyard Limited in Victoria Island, Lagos

For instance, no fewer than 595 employees were promoted in 2020, 302 in 2021 and 472 in 2022. The Jamoh-led management inherited a staff condition of service which was last reviewed in 2010 for which he (Jamoh) and his team secured a review considering the realities on the ground.
NIMASA Management has shown commitment to human capacity development as over 100 staff members have benefited from long-term training at the World Maritime University (WMU) and other institutions offering training relevant to the industry, while other forms of capacity development for staff are ongoing.
It is obvious that the Agency needs various types of vessels to be effective.  Having inherited a regime of Hiring vessels from the private sector at a daily cost to function, NIMASA has refurbished seven vessels mainly for Pollution Control and Prevention, Search and Rescue within the past three years of Cabotage enforcement services. While the refurbishing of the vessels was done in conjunction with the Nigerian Navy at the Naval Dockyard in Lagos, NIMASA has gone further to acquire new vessels to enhance its services.

In terms of the safety of navigation in Nigerian territorial waters, the current management at MIMASA embarked on a project never done before wreck removal. As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins in a day Jamoh has shown the way that wreck removal is actually a possibility with the first phase of removals going on the course. This was done in conjunction with the Hydrographic Department of the Nigerian Navy in identifying the wrecks. Jamoh and his team also developed an environmental sensitivity index map of the Nigerian Coastline. This charting makes it easy to identify and tackle environmental issues in the maritime sector.

Shipping development also witnessed major milestone achievement by the Jamoh-led administration. The disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund has been a challenge previous administrations found challenging to implement due to its complex nature.
It is noteworthy that NIMASA under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Transportation is on the verge of disbursing the funds. Presidential approvals have been received, Primary lending Institutions have been appointed and terms of accessing the funds are now been finalized for disbursement to commence next month.

When NIMASA is under the watch of the current administration midwife a forum for the agency to constantly engage international stakeholders such as BIMCO, INTERTANKO, INTERCARGO, OCIMF, ICS, and international oil companies under the auspices of the industry maritime security work group NIWG which latter transformed into the SHADE Gulf of Guinea, some persons may have underrated the potentials of such international collaboration. The results are evident for all to see.

The improved international collaboration coupled with the enhanced partnership with the Nigerian Navy, security in Nigerian waters and by extension the Gulf of Guinea has greatly improved. It is on record that since the last quarter of 2021, the issue of piracy has become a thing of the past in Nigeria waters. The statistics on piracy and kidnapping in Nigerian waters speak for themselves.

From 82 cases of piracy in Nigerian waters in 2018, 61 in 2019, 81 in 2020, down to 34 in 2021 and now to nil in 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. It is obvious that members of the team managing maritime security in Nigerian waters are doing something right and are headed in the right direction. This has gone a long way to restoring international confidence in the Nigerian maritime industry.  Just like you have in the political arena where endorsements are a show of confidence in a candidate, several countries in the international community have been endorsing the Nigerian maritime industry for interested investors.

First was the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) which delisted Nigeria from the countries regarded as piracy-prone regions in March 2022. Just recently in 2023, the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) also removed Nigeria from the list of countries designated as risk maritime nations. This is a confirmation of the improved global ratings of Security in the Nigerian maritime domain as a result of sustained collaborative efforts of NIMASA, the Nigerian Navy and international stakeholders. The International Bargaining Forum (IBF) is a body that brings together the International Transport Federation (ITF) and the international maritime employers that make up the Joint Negotiating Group (JNG).

After this endorsement came the visit of the IMO Secretary General, His Excellency Kitack Lim to Nigeria. This visit was the first in over a decade and a half that the world’s number one maritime citizen will step foot on Nigerian soil. For three days running the global maritime attention was on Nigeria. He commended NIMASA under the Jamoh leadership for effectively collaborating with the Nigerian Navy to rid Nigerian waters of piracy and other maritime crimes to the barest level. The Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) is another inherited project that has been improved upon by the current leadership at NIMASA.  Over 2,000 young Nigerians have benefited from this project to develop Marine Engineering, Nautical Science and Naval Architecture, of which many are now gainfully employed and sailing on both coastal and international vessels. The challenge with the inherited project was sea time. Within three years, all beneficiaries in the first and second phases have all undergone sea time and the new beneficiaries under phase two actually have sea time embedded in their own package.

Under the new improved NSDP package, NIMASA has sponsored over 400 young Nigerians to seek careers at sea as seafarers while noting the fact that over 800 out of the 2,000 who commenced the first phase are now gainfully employed by multinationals and some onboard vessels. One can project that within a decade from now the next crop of seafarers from West Africa will be predominantly Nigerians.

The Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) in Oron, Akwa Ibom State have also benefited immensely from the current leadership at NIMASA. With the agency investing 5 per cent of its revenue annually in the institution, MAN Oron can now boast of state-of-the-art equipment including simulators to train cadets and extend the same to other institutions in Nigeria. In terms of security in the maritime domain, one can readily point to the successful launch of the Deep Blue Project by President Muhammadu Buhari in June 2021, the use of the SPOMO Act to successfully prosecute criminals and pirates and the steady removal of Nigeria from the IMB Red List of Piracy-prone countries in March 2022, among others. When Jamoh and his team assumed office in 2020, the Integrated National Maritime Surveillance and Security Infrastructure project, otherwise known as the Deep Blue project was still in its infancy, as there were challenges deterring the assets from arriving in the country for use. Today, NIMASA has taken delivery of all assets under the project. Two special mission vessels, three special mission helicopters, 17 Armoured vehicles, two special mission aircraft, 17 interceptor boats, and four unmanned aerial vehicles are now in the country and fully deployed.

NIMASA under the watch of the current management also created the Maritime Intelligence Unit (MIU) in 2020. This unit has played an active role in intelligence gathering and information sharing leading to major success in fighting crimes. At this stage and with the clear achievements under Dr Bashir Jamoh, it is clear that NIMASA is in safe hands, headed in the right direction. As such it behoves all Nigerians to trust the process as achieving the Seafarers Identity Document (SID), deployment of the Modular Floating Dock, stemming of capital flight, human capacity retention, the national fleet issue, and the imminent removal of Nigeria from the list of countries paying war risk insurance premium to remain in focus for the next twelve months under the watch of Jamoh and the management team of NIMASA.

Osagie is Assistant Director and Head, Public Relations of NIMASA