Editor, Politics/Features, EMEKA ALEX DURU, x-rays the issues of consideration in appointing substantive Director-General of NIMASA.
With the Federal Government yet to make a definite statement on the substantive Director-General/Chief Executive of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the issues surrounding the headship of the agency remain largely unsettled.
Baba Haruna Jauro, Executive Director, Finance and Administration, is currently supervising the affairs of the organisation, in acting capacity.
He is among the three most senior officers in the agency.
The other two Executive Directors are: Ezekiel Bala Agaba, a Master Mariner, who was appointed Executive Director, Maritime Safety and Shipping Development; and Callistus Nwabueze Obi, a lawyer who was appointed Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services. They were appointed at the same time in 2012 by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
To be or not to be?
With each of the three seen to be qualified to head the agency and the government yet to take a clear position on the matter, speculations have been rife on the true state of affairs in NIMASA. The hazy appointment of Jauro in acting capacity has also not helped matters.
Following the sack of the former Director-General, Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi, in July, Obi was announced as the acting CEO. The appointment was however reversed barely 72 hours later, when the government replaced him with Jauro in what stakeholders say had trappings of political considerations.
There have subsequently been insinuations of the government intending to appoint an outsider as the substantive DG, in apparent furtherance of the intrigues in the agency. Stakeholders however warn against the move, stressing that the idea would reverse the gains recorded by NIMASA leadership all the while.
The argument by those opposed to making the appointment on political consideration is that it would take an outsider more than six months to get acquainted with the sensitive terrain and workings of the agency.
“By that time, a great deal of man hour and, perhaps, resources would have been lost in getting the chief executive master the workings of the organisation,” a staff of the agency, who pleaded anonymity, volunteered.
Workers of the firm also complain that imposing an outsider on them works against their career progression.
Maritime analyst and member of the Presidential Committee on Port Reforms, Lucky Amiwero, also argued in this regard. He said: “It is imperative that any NIMASA boss must have the requisite maritime qualifications, as spelt out in the NIMASA Act. In addition, he/she must also have cognate industry experience because the task of repositioning the agency is daunting.”
Issues in contention
On the surface, the existing three executive directors in the agency fit into the consideration. Analysts however look into other factors that they consider germane in picking the substantive chief executive officer of the organisation. Among these is the Federal Character principle, which they note has been tilted in favour of the North in the transport ministry.
TheNiche gathered, for instance, that out of eight parastatals in the ministry, five are currently occupied by officers from the North. They are: the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), Zaria, Kaduna State; NIMASA, Lagos; the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) Lagos; and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Lokoja, Kogi State. The three remaining agencies headed by the South are the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Lagos; the Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarders (CRFFN), Abuja; and the Maritime Academy of Nigerian (MAN), Oron Akwa Ibom State. None is headed by an officer from the South East that, incidentally, constitutes the bulk of importers and freight forwarders in the shipping business.
It was against the backdrop of this lopsidedness in the sector that industry watchers welcomed the appointment of Obi as the acting NIMASA DG with enthusiasm. The appointment, they had noted, met the Federal Character rules, aside his sterling qualification to head the agency. In fact, Obi was seen as a square peg in a square hole by stakeholders. But with the current state of affairs in the agency, there has been a huge lull in the ululation that initially greeted his appointment.
Obi’s supporters still believe that his chances of being appointed substantive DG remain bright, given the principled stance of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration on issues of fairplay and the fact that his initial appointment was on the strength of the recommendations of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry.
EDs on parade
Jauro
Jauro, the current Acting Director General of NIMASA, was, until his appointment, the Executive Director, Finance and Administration, in the agency. Born on May 6, 1956, he is an accountant by profession with a HND Accounting from Kaduna Polytechnic, PGD in Finance and Material Management and an MBA, both from the University of Maiduguri.
He was at various times Chief Accountant with the Federal Ministry of Power and Steel Abuja and the Administrative Assistant at the World Health Organisation (WHO), Borno State office.
He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM). He had, on occasions, superintended over the affairs of NIMASA when Akpobolokemi was not on seat.
Agaba
Agaba, who hails from Benue State, is a Master Mariner with Class 1 Certificate of Competency (Foreign Going Unlimited) from John Moore University, Liverpool, in 1986. He also holds an M.Sc in Transport Planning.
He commenced his working career with the defunct Nigeria National Shipping Line (NNSL) in 1975 as 3rd officer from where he rose to become Chief Officer/Captain.
Until his appointment with NIMASA, Agaba was the Manager, Fuel Operations, ExxonMobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited. He is on leave of absence from the oil company.
Obi
Obi, who was born on May 1, 1964, is a graduate of Law from the University of Nigeria Nsukka. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1991. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria.
He started his career as Legal Officer in the Federal Ministry of Justice in 1991, but later left to join politics, becoming the elected chairman of his native Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State from 2003 to 2006. He also engaged in legal practice as Managing Partner of Nwabueze Obi & Associates.
Apart from his membership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Obi is also a member of the International Bar Association (IBA) and the Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (CISAN). He has been the Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services since 2012. In the last three years, he has represented NIMASA management in various international conferences and other maritime programmes. He spearheaded the domestication of the 2006 Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), which protects the interests of seafarers and stakeholders in general. He also represents NIMASA in public functions, where he always articulates issues about the agency.