Bureau of Public Service Reforms rates NIMASA high on corporate governance

Bureau of Public Service Reforms rates NIMASA high on corporate governance

The Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has declared the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), a “Silver Level” Organisation classified as Level 2, with a performance level of 74 per cent.

It explained that the rating implies that the agency’s performance meets expectations in essential areas of responsibility, resulting in overall quality of work considered generally good, with most critical organisational goals met.

This was contained in the summary report on the deployment of the BPSR Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) presented to the management of NIMASA by the Director- General of BPSR, Mr Arabi Ibrahim Dasuki, who commended Jamoh for what he described as “his exemplary leadership and strong desire for optimal performance and reform to ensure that NIMASA’s systems and operations remain strong.”
In his words: “We are indeed impressed by the openness, professionalism and decorum the staff exhibited throughout the exercise. It is an assurance that under your watch and guidance, there are rejuvenated change agents, who will help you to accomplish and break new grounds as far as your mandate is concerned.

“I will like to state that the award accompanying the report would help to stimulate the insatiable desire to be the best to achieve safe, secure shipping, cleaner oceans and enhanced maritime capacity in line with best global practices towards Nigeria’s Economic Development”.
The key areas of strength for NIMASA as contained in the BPSR Report include Corporate Governance; which ensured the establishment of an anti-corruption policy with an entrenched whistleblower mechanism for the agency; strategic planning and operational leadership; robust and accounting policies that comply with Federal Government’s financial regulations.

This is in addition to a fully functional procurement process, which has keyed into the e-Procurement policy of the Federal Government.
The BPSR also listed NIMASA’s operational and service delivery processes, human resources management, partnership and resource mobilisation, as key performance management and results, as some of the specific areas in which the agency has excelled when compared with some other agencies of government.  While appreciating the BPSR for diligently assessing the agency, Jamoh assured that the management would ensure the implementation of all recommendations in the report, adding that much progress had been made since 2022, when the SAT was deployed.
He said: “We have made much progress in the past year. Our automation process has advanced much more within the past 12 months. NIMASA has introduced a customer experience centre, which has greatly improved our ease of doing business as an organisation.

“We have also acquired new vessels for both staff welfare and operational monitoring and enforcement purposes. Just as we accepted the recommendations of IMO Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS) and worked towards closing all identified gaps, NIMASA will strive to implement recommendations contained in the report submitted to us today.”
As the lead agency and ‘Engine Room’ for integrated reform initiatives, implementation, coordination and harmonisation established in 2004, the BPSR introduced the institutional Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) as a practical approach to supporting the Federal Government in its vision to transform the Nigerian Public Service into a virile, better performing, professional and customer-oriented institution.
It would be recalled that following President Muhammadu Buhari’s marching order for the Bureau to deploy the SAT in all Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), NIMASA was one of the few destinations that readily accepted to undergo the assessment.