Indigenous shipowners dismiss Amaechi’s claim on suspension of approval for CVFF disbursement

Indigenous shipowners under the aegis of the Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA) have dismissed claims by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, that approval for the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) has been suspended.

Amaechi, had last month said that President Muhammadu Buhari has withdrawn an earlier approval granted by the Federal Government for the disbursement of the fund over issues of distrust and lack of unity among shipowners.

The shipowners who spoke at a press briefing in Lagos on Tuesday to announce its decision to work together to engage the government on its shipping policies, said a presidential approval cannot be suspended without a formal circular to that effect.

While insisting that eligible local operators must benefit from the fund, which they said does not belong to government but to indigenous operators, the shipowners lament government’s neglect of indigenous shipping over the years with the major share of Nigeria’s coastal trade in the hands of foreigners.

Founding President of NISA, Chief Isaac Jolapamo, said the sector despite being capital intensive hasn’t enjoyed any government’s intervention nor incentives.

Jolapamo said while every other sector of the economy has enjoyed government incentives in the past and even after the COVID-19 pandemic none has come to the shipping sector.

‘No intervention or assistance for players in the industry from the government. Only in Nigeria do we see that maritime is not important, that is a sector that can fund Nigeria’s budget deficit yearly if properly harnessed.

‘Funds were made available to other sectors of the economy especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic but, none was made available to us. So many offshore vessels belonging to foreigners are working unabated with few Nigerians working onboard the vessels. Also, those working are low-level officers so Nigeria is losing out in capacity building as well,’ he said.

Speaking on the disbursement of the CVFF, a member of NISA’s steering Committee, Capt. Taiwo Akinpelumi, said preliminary investigation by the group had shown that President Muhammadu Buhari has not withdrawn his approval for the disbursement of the fund.

He said the shipowners will engage the government and seek the National Assembly’s interpretation of the Act establishing the fund to know whether it belongs to shipowners or government.

 “We have consulted widely and they say that there is nothing like suspension of the fund. We knew the internal politics that are involved in this. Some people want the fund moved from the Central Bank to a commercial bank but some people were not disposed to it that is why you start hearing about contradictory pronouncements. We have consulted and those who are supposed to be in the know told us that there was nothing like withdrawal of presidential approval. The President has given approval and he did not come publicly to denounce that approval so as far as we are concerned there is nothing like withdrawal of CVFF.

“The fund must be ploughed back into the sector to increase the capacity of indigenous operators. Whichever angle we look at it, it is meant for shipowners and for us to move ahead we must engage the government and ensure that we tackle them to do the needful. We must sustain our advocacy and engage the government to say this fund must be ploughed back to the sector.

On the allegation of lack of unity among shipowners, Capt Akimpelumi, said the association has risen from the crisis that rocked it for so many years and they are ready to fight and take possession of what belongs to them in the sector.

He, however, noted that the factionalization of shipowners shouldn’t be the preoccupation of the minister as the constitution allows for freedom of association.

“The most important thing is that the constitution allows for freedom of association. So, factionalization shouldn’t be the preoccupation of the Minister. We are fully back as one united family and we should not be over-emphasizing the fact that we are factionalized. Even the political parties that present the national leaders have internal division. That does not mean they don’t have a common objective,” he said.

A former Secretary General of NISA, Tunji Brown, who said shipowners supported the enactment of the Cabotage Act thinking they would be better-off said poor implementation has made the indigenous shipowners worse than ever before.

‘Many of us have been in the shipping sector before cabotage, we fought for the implementation of cabotage with the hope we will be better off but that has not been possible,’ he said.

Brown disclosed that the factions in the group have all agreed to forge a common front so as to be able to tackle the challenges facing the nation’s shipping sector and maximise the potentials inherent in it.