As we draw the curtains on year 2023 tomorrow, we decided to take a look back at the top 20 most read maritime stories, as selected by SHIPS & PORTS’ Online Editor.
Happy reading.
Tinubu sacks Jime, appoints new CEOs for Shippers’ Council, NIWA
The sack of the Executive Secretary/CEO of Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Mr. Emmanuel Jime, by President Bola Tinubu on October 25, 2023 was the most read story on our website in 2023.
President Tinubu also approved the appointment of two new Chief Executive Officers for the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA).
A statement by the President’s spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, stated that in line with the recommendations of the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Tinubu approved the appointment of Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji as the Managing Director/CEO of NIWA and the appointment of Akutah Pius Ukeyima as the Executive Secretary/CEO, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC).
Read more here.
Customs begs FG to allow vehicle importation through Seme border
An appeal by the Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service to the Federal Government to allow importation of vehicles through the land border also gained traction in the outgoing year.
Recall that the Federal Government banned the importation of vehicles through the land borders with effect from January 1, 2017. However, smuggling of vehicles and other contraband items through the land borders has persisted despite the ban.
Speaking on Wednesday June 21, 2023 at a meeting between the officials of Nigeria and Benin Republic, the then Customs Area Controller of Seme Border Command, Dera Nnadi, lamented that the service had seen significant reduction in revenue generated through the command since the ban on importation of vehicles through the land borders came into effect.
Read more here.
EXCLUSIVE: NPA’s Ugo Madubuike, two NIMASA Directors face retirement over new public service rules
We reported on August 7, 2023 that following the Federal Government’s reintroduction of the tenure policy in the public service, the General Manager, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mrs. Ugo Madubuike and two Directors at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), who have spent more than eight years on Grade Level 17, were expected to retire from service.
Findings by SHIPS & PORTS revealed that Madubuike had been a General Manager in the authority for 14 years. She was the longest serving General Manager in NPA.
In NIMASA, Warredi Enisuoh and Felix Bob Nabena were also expected to retire from the agency having served as Directors for 10 years and 8.5 years respectively. Enisuoh had been on suspension for more than seven years because he was being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside former NIMASA Director-General Patrick Akpobolokemi and others. Enisuoh has since picked up another job with a private security firm named Tantita Security, though his name still remains on the nominal role of NIMASA.
Read more here.
NIMASA Executive Director critically ill, seeks treatment abroad
On August 1, 2023, SHIPS & PORTS reported exclusively that the Executive Director Operations of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Shehu Ahmed was critically ill and had been away from the office for many months.
Ahmed, a retired Deputy Director at the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), was recalled from retirement in March 2020 and appointed as NIMASA Executive Director Operation at the same Bashir Jamoh was appointed the Director General of the agency by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ahmed’s appointment was influenced by late Abba Kyari, who until his death on April 17, 2020, was Buhari’s Chief of Staff.
Usually reliable sources at NIMASA informed SHIPS & PORTS that Ahmed had to travel abroad for treatment.
“The man should be in his late 60s or early 70s. He has not been in the office for a very long time. I don’t remember seeing him in the past six months. You don’t see him even at NIMASA public events,” one of the sources told SHIPS & PORTS.
Read more here.
Oyetola condemns physical examination of cargoes by Customs
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola has condemned the high rate of physical examination of cargoes at the port by the Nigeria Customs Service, as reported by SHIPS & PORTS on September 7.
Speaking during his maiden visit to the head office of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) in Apapa, Lagos, the Minister said, “The issue of Customs inspecting cargoes physically is archaic. It is something that we need to engage the Customs more. I witnessed the physical examination of a cargo yesterday and I wonder how much it would take to inspect the lots of cargoes piling around.”
The Minister also complained about the high number of cargoes uncleared longstanding cargoes at the port.
Read more here.
Jamoh’s SA Ubong Essien quits NIMASA
The resignation of Ubong Essien, Special Assistant on Communications and Strategy to the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, which was first reported by SHIPS & PORTS, caught the attention of many readers.
Essien was appointed into the position in August 2020, about five months after Jamoh was appointed Director-General of NIMASA.
Read more here.
Egina spills oil in Nigerian waters
SHIPS & PORTS reported on November 22 that a major oil spill had been confirmed at the Egina approximately 150km off the coast of Nigeria in Gulf of Guinea.
Egina is the third deepwater offshore development of Total in Nigeria. Located approximately 20km away from Akpo field, Egina field lies within the oil mining lease block (OML) 130 and covers an area of around 500 square miles. The field achieved its first oil in December 2018, and it produces about 200,000 barrels of oil a day at a peak production rate.
Read more here.
Tinubu appoints Wale Adeniyi Ag. Customs CG, Hadiza Bala Usman SA
The news of the appointment of DCG Bashir Adewale Adeniyi as the Ag. Comptroller General of Customs and former Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, as Special Adviser, Policy Coordination to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, also gained traction on our website in 2023.
The duo were appointed alongside new service chiefs, a new Inspector General of Police and other aides to the President on June 19.
Read more here.
Hadiza Bala Usman’s book of 99 errors
Dr. Bolaji Akinola’s review of Hadiza Bala Usman’s book titled “STEPPING ON TOES: My Odyssey at the Nigerian Ports Authority” also gained traction on the SHIPS & PORTS website.
“Hadiza’s book, I must point out, is replete with errors including faulty sentence structures, sentence fragment, wrong nomenclatures, improper use of punctuation marks, poorly integrated quotations, unnecessary capitalization, wrong use of apostrophe, tautology as well as repetition of sentences and paragraphs. I documented 99 errors in the main body of the book. The errors can be tracked from page 25 to 142,” Akinola wrote.
Read more here.
NPA sold vessel for N48,000; port items for N1 each — Reps
A report that an ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives investigating the sales of Federal Government property had queried the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for selling off a vessel at the paltry sum of N48,000 and some government assets at the Lagos Port Complex Apapa for N1 each, could not but have made it to the top 20 stories of the year.
The committee said NPA sold a total of 16 vessels for a measly N156.24 million in 2019. Among the vessels were PC Shelleng sold for N48,000; SPB 3 sold for N54,000; ML Pategi sold for N3.2 million; ML Misau sold for N1.06 million and PB Kabba sold for N5.4 million.
Read more here.
Terminal operators have justification to raise charges — Farinto
Former Acting National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr. Kayode Farinto’s interview with SHIPS & PORTS’ Abolanle Oluwatola, also drew substantial traffic to our website. It is the first interview to make the top 20.
In the interview, Farino said the rising cost of diesel, declining value of the naira and high rate of inflation, among other factors, justify the need for upward review of terminal operators’ charges.
Read more here
Tinubu suspends Import Tax Adjustment levy on vehicles, others
The signing of four Executive Orders by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in line with his promise to put Nigerians at the centre of government policies and address business unfriendly fiscal policy measures and multiplicity of taxes, appeared to resonate with our readers.
In one of the Executive Orders, the President ordered the suspension of Import Tax Adjustment levy on certain vehicles.
Read more here.
Customs dismisses officers found bearing arms inside port
On September 20, SHIPS & PORTS reported that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) had dismissed some officers found to be with arms and ammunitions inside the nation’s seaports.
Customs National Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Maiwada, who disclosed this when he featured on a television programme, said the dismissal of the officers showed that the present leadership of the NCS will reward hard work but punish recalcitrant officers.
Read more here.
Bello Koko declares zero tolerance for underperformance in NPA
The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello Koko, on Sunday 17th December, said that there would be zero tolerance for underperformance in the agency “going forward”.
Speaking at a management retreat of the agency in Lagos, Koko said NPA’s performance would be adjudged though the ministerial bond he signed recently with the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola.
Read more here.
Three Chinese warships arrive Nigeria with soldiers
On July 3, we reported that three Chinese warships arrived Lagos with nearly a battalion of soldiers with the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria saying the visit was to ensure the improvement of diplomatic relations between Nigeria and China.
The naval fleet of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) led by the destroyer Nanning arrived Nigeria for a rare visit by the Chinese military to Africa’s Atlantic coast.
Read more here.
NPA defeats Customs, wins Maritime Cup 2023
The Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA’s successful defence of their title as champions of the Ships & Ports Maritime Cup did not go unnoticed.
On November 10, NPA won the prestigious Maritime Cup for the third time after defeating Nigeria Customs Service in the final match of the 2023 edition of the tournament.
NPA, which was a goal down by the end of the first half of the highly tensed final match, equalized in the second half. The score remained 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes of play, and had to be decided by penalty kicks which ended 4-3 in favour of NPA.
Read more here.
Meet new chairmen of maritime related House of Reps committees
Our special compilation of the new Chairmen of maritime related committees of the 10th House of Representatives is bound to be a winner any day.
Of the 134 committees of the green chamber, SHIPS & PORTS identified seven that were directly related to the maritime industry.
Read more here.
Shipowners Forum Chairman Margaret Orakwusi is dead
The shocking news of the death of former Chairman, Nigerian Fishing Trawlers Owners Association (NIFTOA), Barrister Margaret Onyema-Orakwusi, caught the maritime industry by surprise.
Family sources said Onyema-Orakwusi, who served as Chairman, Nigeria Maritime Exhibition and Conference (NIMAREX), Board Member, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and Chairman, Shipowners Forum, died on Friday April 28 in Lagos after a brief illness.
Read more here.
Ex-NIMASA Director, Aisha Jumai Musa is dead
SHIPS & PORTS’ exclusive report of the death of former Director of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Hajia Aisha Jumai Musa, drew tears from the eyes of many maritime stakeholders.
The former NIMASA Director, popularly called A.J. Musa died in Kaduna on Saturday 4th November.
Read more here.
Sanwo-Olu, Oyetola, others receive Grimaldi’s largest container-RORO ship, MV Great Lagos
It is not very often that you see a State Governor attend an event on the deck of a commercial ship. It is therefore not surprising that the story of the grand reception for Grimaldi’s MV GREAT LAGOS, which was attended by many dignitaries, gained traction on the SHIPS & PORTS website even though it happened barely four weeks ago.
MV GREAT LAGOS is the largest container-RORO ship to visit Nigeria and the West African sub-region.
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by his Deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola; Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr. Mohammed Bello Koko and the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh were on all hand to celebrate the ship’s maiden call.
Read more here.
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