Speaks On Rector, AfCFTA and other issues

By Kelvin Kagbare

Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola (left) exchanging pleasantries with the Chairman/CEO Genesis Worldwide Shipping Company, Captain Iheanacho while SA-DG NIMASA, Administration and Operations, Olatunji Ahmed, looks on during the commemoration of the 2024 World Maritime Day in Lagos.

Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho is the Executive Chairman, Integrated Oil and Gas Ltd and Genesis Shipping Worldwide. The Shipping and business mogul bestrides the Nigerian economy on account of his vast interests, humanitarian efforts and contributions to economic development in diverse areas. As a former minister of Interior, Captain Iheanacho is also a Distinguished Maritime Personality, DMP, a title conferred on him by Maritime Nigeria based on his contributions to job/wealth creation in Nigeria. In this chanced interview, the Maritime guru speaks on some raging issues affecting shipping in Nigeria; excerpts:

Nigeria at the moment  aspiring to be elected into category C of the IMO Council. What does this mean for Nigeria?

L-R: Executive Director Operations NIMASA, Engr. Fatai Adeyemi; Executive Director Finance and Administration of NIMASA; Mr. Chudi Offodile, the Director General of NIMASA Dr. Dayo Mobereola; Former Minister of Interior/CEO Integrated Oil and Gas Capt. Emmanuel Iheanacho; and Executive Director Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services Mr. Jibril Abba. During the Maiden Interactive Session of maritime stakeholders with DG/CEO NIMASA in Lagos.

Well, you have to understand what the IMO is. The IMO is the highest technical body for setting standards and regulations for shipping and maritime development worldwide. So if you are a member of the board,  it really opens up a vista for you to be able to influence development of policies that affect the global maritime industry.

It is also a very prestigious thing to say that a country is a member of the IMO Council. So Nigeria is really right to be angling to become a member. Bear in mind that Nigeria has been there before, and it may well have been at certain expectations that people had of Nigeria in terms of the size of its fleet.

Capt Emmanuel Iheanacho
Executive Chairman, Integrated Oil and Gas Ltd

Does it have a fleet that can be brought out? Yes, it has a fleet that can be brought out and pointed to. Maybe deficits in some areas is part of  reasons why the country stopped being a member of Category C. But certainly, it is something that any nation that claims to have maritime aspirations  should strive to achieve. Countries with huge fleets, all those very important maritime nations, Liberia and others are members. So it is a place that Nigeria really ought to be.

Let us  look at The African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA. Nigeria has signed up but it is yet to take off fully. What should we be doing,  what are the opportunities and options for Nigeria?

There are a lot of potentials in developing the AfCFTA pact if we can get Africans to be trading amongst themselves, it’s really an aberration when you see an African country trading with the UK and other countries outside Africa. So if Nigeria, for instance, wants to buy things that are made in East Africa, then you often would have to go to London to get it.

Africans would really like to be trading amongst themselves. It will create a greater prosperity for the people in the Continent. It will create jobs. But it’s not just talking about it. It has to be planned. What do you have on that side that we required on this side? What do we have on this side that might be in great demand on the other side? How are we able to move those volumes? What kind of shipping services would we required? Even as we speak, I can imagine that it could be a liner ship; but it would be a service where there would be a continuity of operation.

So you start from the one end, let’s say, Dakar, Senegal, and you start coming south. And you have a number of ports where you have to call and you pre-advertise the availability of the space on that ship. So people are ready for you. So you come to Lagos, they put Lagos goods on board, and you take it all the way to Southwest Africa. Then you go to Namibia, you discharge and you pick up cargo again and sail to other ports. You go to South Africa, you do the same thing. Then you turn and head north eastwards to Mozambique. So all of these things have to be planned,  otherwise we will have a situation where goods will be piling up, while ships pass by if there is no planning. There is need to plan and prepare if we want to succeed.

As we speak, Nigeria has very few if any vessels, does it bother you?

It does, there is no reason why we shouldn’t have vessels.  We had money in the beginning. But since the nearly 64 years when we discovered oil and we commercialized the exploitation of that oil by producing,  lifting it and selling it and making some substantial income;  in the late 1960s we built a number of vessels so if we were talking about having skills in how to run and operate ships we have had enough time and exposure to that  way of doing things so if we had been making progress we would have actually had an indigenous fleet made up of container ships, tanker vessels, oil service vessels, vessels of all kind because we are a blessed country.

Let’s face it; we have a long coastline, we have money from selling oil and we have a very educated population so there’s no reason why we could not combine some of those things to produce the service which is required for owning and operating ships.

You are aware of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund CVFF. From 2003 to date, disbursement of the Fund has been a subject of debate and controversies, Are you concerned?

Yes, I am concerned. I think that we should actually be able to fine-tune the modalities for lending that money. After all, it’s not like building an atomic bomb or something like that. All we have to do is lend money to people who make proposals as to how they would run shipping under the Nigerian flag. And just watch those things. We support them and watch those things grow and multiply.

The DG NIMASA is your friend;

He is our mutual friend…

What is your assessment so far of his performance?

Well, to be honest with you; he is  a man that I have known for a very long time. I think I know him more than quite a lot of people know him. He is very meticulous, he is very well educated and he is absolutely very well prepared for the job. There are lots of people who have gotten to that job who were not prepared. For him, there is so much he is bringing to the table and I know him as someone who doesn’t rush off on anything; he takes his time to look at and have a clear understanding before taking decisions to avoid been called tomorrow to come and explain certain things. I think stakeholders should be patient as he steadily unfolds his plans and agenda for the industry.

The Rector Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Cdre Duja Emmanuel Effedua (rtd) recently resigned his appointment, what do you think led to his resignation?

I am very surprised to hear this because i met him at a public function few weeks ago and he didn’t show signs of pressure, threats or intimidation. There is a general consensus that he really did well at the Academy by insisting on standards and  compliance to global regulations; he worked really hard to restructure and reposition that Institution.  I do not know what could have led to his resignation but i want to believe he took that decision after due consultation with his family and close associates. We must respect his decision and pray for him to succeed in his future endeavours.