I am in total support of the appointment of Jamoh as DG of NIMASA. I believe he is an advocate of development of indigenous shipping capacity. Hence, we expect him to support local capacity building which will translate into employment for our seafarers and maritime activities in general.
It is a good development in the maritime sector because the new DG is a maritime practitioner who is familiar with the maritime terrain unlike all the political appointment of past DG’s. This year 2020, is going to be the beginning of good things that is going to happen to the maritime sector especially through NIMASA by the appointment of Bashir. I know he is going to change the industry for good. I must commend the President for the appointment.
I am glad that an insider has been considered for the office of the DG because the industry has been pushing for a long time that an industry person should be considered for the office of the DG, which is highly sensitive in the areas of maritime administration and policy rather than only politicians. Dr. Jamoh has over 30 years experience in the industry and he has served at various capacities, all this put him in a good speed to be able to administer NIMASA and I am sure he will get all the necessary support of the industry. I believe Jamoh’s appointment will help grow the industry to make it relevant not only in Nigeria but also globally.
The most important thing is that we must look at it objectively, we must look at the personality and exclude other issues that becloud people’s mind of who is being appointed and what is the person’s pedigree. Now, what we have had in the past is that someone will come into the post trying to study the terrain. But now, we have somebody who has been in the system and who has been actively involved in recent times in the industry and also holds the post at the top operational level in the administration. Yes his appointment is seen positively, I believe he is bringing in some political and operational relevance. This is something we have not seen in recent times rather we have seen someone come in political and limited operational relevance. We expect the new Director General to hit the ground running since he has been part of the recent executives management, therefore he should be able to provide some continuity in the areas that will bring positive development to the industry. Also, he needs to look at the issue of Ship Registry, Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) again in a way that will add value to indigenous maritime operation to create jobs. It should not be seen as creating jobs for foreign ship building companies but in developing the Nigerian ship building and ship purchasing.
Dr. Bashir Jamoh’s appointment is a good development for the industry because of his understanding of the maritime sector. The presidency has put a round peg in a round hole and it is very different from bringing an outsider that is someone who will start learning the industry from the scratch. I know his presence in the management team of Dakuku Peterside means he will continue from where the immediate past administration stopped. I wish him all the best, as we all know, he is an insider and he is also a veteran in transport administration because he is the President of Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIoTA). So it is a better day ahead for the maritime industry. I therefore urge everyone in the industry to support him as his tenure begins.