……….Inaugurates New Executives
The Nigeria Shipowners Association NISA has called on Federal Government of Nigeria to harness the huge potential of the Maritime sector by setting it up as an industry with full capacity to operate.
The message was passed across during the inauguration of Newly elected executives of the Association that took place in Lagos recently.
The newly elected president of the Association Otunba Sola Adewumi in his remark admonished the Federal Government to embrace the idea by making it a reality in order to access the full opportunities that abound in the sector.
The President assured the Federal Government of his executives readiness to work to harness the potential of maritime Industry whenever they are called upon.
During the inauguration event Otunba Adewumi thanked the members of the Association for the confidence reposed in the executives to pilot the affairs of the Association.
Adewumi promised that the interest of members will be protected while extending the olive branch to aggrieved members to join hands with him to build a more vibrant association.
He noted that there are bound to be some people that would be aggrieved, but pleaded to everyone to come together so as to be very strong for the benefit of all concerned.
He also used the occasion to announce that newly elected executives is set to hit ball rolling as he announced that the association will be moving to a newly fully furnished secretariat before the end of May 2023.
His words “ I am confident that we ‘ll be moving to our new fully furnished secretariat alongside all the members of staff before end of May 2023”.
“ We will work with the vision and ideas of the founding fathers of the association, I also have a young vibrant team that can deliver and I believe we can achieve a lot”
“As we all know, shipping is a trillion-naira industry, Maritime itself is an industry and shipping is a big aspect of the Maritime industry, we’ll be liaising with all the relevant agencies like the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the rest. There are so many areas that we can venture into, we are going to tap into all that shipping encompasses. We are going to work with everybody to ensure that we expand the scope”.
He noted that the major problem the sector is facing is that government don’t usually pay attention to shipping as it should, while one of the association’s objectives is to ensure that we draw the its attention to the industry to eliminate unemployment to minimal level in the country and he is very optimistic that it’s achievable .
He said that the new executives will liaise with government and make recommendations on how to leverage the many advantages of shipping because there are so many countries living solely on shipping and they are succeeding.
He disclosed that the Nigerian Maritime Expo (NIMAREX) a brainchild of the association will hold before the end of 2023 or early next year.
“We wouldn’t want to put up an haphazard event, so, if the event does not happen in 2023, it will take place in early 2024. We’ll institute a strong committee that will drive this project. As we all know, this event is fashioned after the OTC, we’ll come together to fashion how best to showcase the Nigerian maritime industry to the world
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Chief Isaac Jolapamo on his part , disclosed that there is so much work to be done while expressing confidence in the ability of the new executive to hit the ground running now that the baton of leadership has been handed to them.
He expressed optimism that the new administration will be fairer to the new executives.
“Let us see some changes, we’ve been in this fight for so long without getting anywhere, your administration will bring about the realization of the reasons why the association was created in the first place, he enthused.
