The agency’s Director-General, Dr Bashir Jamoh, disclosed
this during a Ministerial retreat organised by the Federal Ministry of
Transportation (FMOT) in Lagos.
Dr. Jamoh also said arrangements had been concluded for the
recycling of wrecks and derelicts recovered from the waters in partnership with
Bayelsa State Government and the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), which
already has a foundry in Lagos for wrecks recycling, with the ultimate aim of
creating wealth from waste while providing jobs for Nigerians.
Speaking at the opening of the retreat, Minister of
Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, said the two-day event was organised
to assess the performance of the Agencies under the Ministry in order to
enhance efficiency of service delivery to Nigerians.
Amaechi stated, “We are here to assess the progress made so
far in the maritime sector in order to enhance efficiency in our operations.
“This administration has achieved a lot in areas, such as rail transportation, port operations, maritime safety, and security, among others, and our goal is to do more to enhance productivity.”
The NIMASA DG appreciated the Minister for approving the
creation of the Maritime Intelligence Unit and the NIMASA Maritime Stakeholders
Experience Contact Centre (MSECC), which are both initiatives to improve
intelligence gathering and enhance stakeholders’ communication to ensure
sustainable growth of the country’s maritime industry.
He also disclosed that the automation drive in the Agency
had led to the integrated use of technology in the Certificate of Competency
(CoC) verification process, which has seen a fall in manual verification
practice.
Jamoh said, “In 2020, the number of manual verification of
CoCs dropped from 4,112 in 2019 to 2,750, representing 33 per cent drop in
manual certificate verification. There was a total online verification of 9,723
in 2020.”
On disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund
(CVFF), Jamoh said NIMASA was working with the Ministry to resolve all grey
areas and ensure seamless distribution of the Fund.
According to the DG, “The CVFF is in the Treasury Single
Account and there are guidelines for the disbursement, one of which is the use
of Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs).