Nigerian Maritime Resources Development VOL 1&2

The primary objective of National Shipping Policy Act (NSPA), 1987 was to assist the development of indigenous shipping capacity. Under a bouquet of preferential provisions, a twin strategy of cargo sufficiency and financial support was deviced to ensure the development of indigenous tonnage.
The same piece of legislation established the National Maritime Authority (NMA) to act as the catalyst for the evolution of Nigeria's maritime environment. For this purpose, NMA was given both regulatory and promotional powers. In the exercise of these powers, it introduced two instruments - Cargo Allocation and Ship Acquisition and Ship Building Fund - as measures to assist the indigenous shipping companies.
Not long after, these measures became counter-productive to the point that neither did the economy receive boost from shipping nor the generality of stakeholders empowered. Rather, it was treated as another form of patronage. As a result of the general disaffection with the practice, government in 1995 scrapped the SASBF and followed it with the suspension of cargo allocation in 2000.
Deprived of its key instruments, the function and usefulness of NMA to the industry became debatable. Indeed, the Hon. Minister of Transport captured the need for NMA to refocus and brace up when he challenged the newly inaugurated Board of NMA in November 2000 to choose to either "serve as physicians or undertakers"
The response to that challenge was the commissioning of a consortium of maritime experts. It was mandated to conduct studies in five broad areas with a view to making suggestions to chart the new path for NMA. Eleven experts were engaged to work collaboratively with management and staff of NMA. This approach was deliberately introduced to build a synergy between the experts and NMA. On the side of the Authority, the involvement of staff was, inter alia, designed to generate sufficient inputs, interest and familiarity with recommendations for purpose of implementation.
This publication is, no doubt, a compendium of basic concerns of a nation anxious to take full advantage of its abundant maritime potentials. It is broad and deep, rich in experience and should be of interest to policy makers, maritime operators, investors, academics, students and the general public.