Ify Akerele steps down as Nigerian Chamber of Shipping DG

Mrs. Ify Anazonwu-Akerele yesterday announced that she was stepping down as Director General of the Nigerian Chambers of Shipping (NCS).

The pioneer NCS DG said she decided to bow out of the shipping chamber to contest election into the Federal House of Representatives on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State.

Anazonwu-Akerele, who has spent over 10 years at the chamber, is seeking election to represent Onitsha North and South Federal constituency in the lower legislative chamber.

“I am going to the House of Representatives to represent my constituency so this meeting was to consolidate on what I have done over the years and how to move forward and hopefully when I get into the National Assembly, I will be able to push the maritime sector ideals forward.

“This meeting is to look at the way forward based on where we are coming from so I gave them a report but it was so detailed that another committee have been set up to look into it,” Anazonwu-Akerele told journalists shortly after a meeting of the NCS Governing Council chaired by Chief Adebayo Sarumi at Best Western Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos yesterday.

“The aim (of the Governing Council meeting) is to take up our proper role. What the President, Chief Adebayo Sarunmi is saying is that the Nigerian Chamber Shipping should take its formal position as the rallying point for all shipping trade bodies and organisations.

“The Chamber of Shipping is to take care of all maritime activities, we are to advocate. Any area that needs promotion, we will promote the activities and interaction,” she added.

NCS Vice President, Andy Isichei said Anazonwu-Akerele had discharged her role creditably well over the years. He said a credible process would be initiated to appoint a competent successor.

“We are not here to nominate anyone. We will advertise, interview and find the proper person to fill the big shoe she left.

“What will determine her successor will be someone that have the shipping industry knowledge, matured and someone who has what it takes to lead us to the next stage especially giving the competence and enormous accomplishments of the former DG.

“At the Governing Council meeting, she gave us a report of her activities and by all standard she has done well, she took us from obscurity to limelight. She is our pioneer DG and she made us a brand name. We are now a harmonising body of key actors in the industry. She has done well and with her hard work, we are now members of quite a number of committees set up by government. So we are now a recognised body in the industry through her hard work,” Isichie said.



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