Maritime lawyer, Mrs Jean Chiazor Anishere (SAN) has urged the House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration to amend the Acts of major maritime agencies including the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerians Shippers Council (NSC), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and the Maritime Academy of Nigeria Oron, to reflect that they are now under the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy rather than the Ministry of Transportation.
Recall that before the creation of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy by the current administration in August 2023, all the agencies were under the Federal Ministry of Transportation.
Delivering a paper titled “Legal Requirement for Nigeria’s Blue Economy” during a capacity building workshop tagged “Harnessing the Nation’s Blue Economy: A Legislative Approach” organised for members of the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration in Lagos last Friday, the top maritime lawyer existing laws creating the agencies must be amended to reflect present realities.
She said, “NIMASA, NPA, NSC, and NIWA need their Acts to be reviewed because they are all now under the new Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy but their Acts still says that they are still under the Ministry of Transportation.
“If an issue arises that questions the operations of these agencies, there will be a conflict of laws because the Acts of these agencies are saying something else while the current realities on ground are saying another thing. The Acts of these agencies are no longer in tandem with what is on ground. These maritime agencies are currently operating from the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, so this needs to be reflected in their Acts.
“Also, there is a draft of the Shipping and Transportation Law called the Transportation Policy which has passed both readings at the upper and lower chambers of the National Assembly and is waiting for Presidential assent. There is a need for the quick withdrawal of that Bill before Mr President accents to it. We need to ensure the Bill conforms with the current realities on ground in the Marine and Blue Economy Ministry.”
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