The Federal Government is set to empower indigenous ship owners through a bailout package to enable them to undertake international operations.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Maritime Services, Mr. Olugbenga Oyewole, who gave the hint in an interview in Abuja on Saturday, said the aim was to assist the ship owners to develop capacity to ply international harbours.
Although he did not disclose the amount being packaged for the shippers and the conditions, he said indigenous vessels that would benefit from the intervention would be required to carry Nigerian flag during their operations.
He said with the size of cargo coming in and going out of the country, it was painful that Nigerian shippers were not involved in high volume of international shipping business.
Oyewole said, “I cannot think of any country that has the kind of cargo that we have and yet, our national vessels are not carrying it. Every other country in the world keeps to their cargo. They carry it by themselves and they are coming to scramble for the ones we have here also.
“We may not have the capacity but the capacity may not come without government support. What we are trying to do as a government is to create the enabling environment so that they will be able to acquire good vessels. These vessels will fly Nigeria’s flag and will be used as training platforms for our people.”
He lamented that all the crude oil leaving the country with other exportable products were being carried on foreign vessels.
Oyewole explained the implication of that to the national economy, saying, “You pay freight on these vessels; your insurance is paid to some other countries and it runs into billions of dollars.”
He, however, said immediately Nigerians were empowered to have their own ships, freight would be retained within the economy.
The senior special assistant also said that the government’s action would provide job opportunities for several professionals in the industry, which would boost the economy.
“We will retain the insurance within the Nigerian economy; we would also have provided training platform for our cadets for their sea time; we also would have provided jobs for lawyers, brokers, ship yards, engineers and all that,” he said.
Oyewole also spoke on the 24-hour clearance as part of measures to decongest the Lagos ports, create some aesthetics around them and increase the value of property around the area.
According to him, the Federal Government is working with the Lagos State Government to fix the road leading in and out of the port to free traffic around the area.
He said government would “connect the rails to the port so that we can evacuate goods leaving the port.”