The founder and first president of the Nigerian Shipping Chambers of Commerce, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, understands the Nigerian maritime sector intimately. In this interview with ZAINAB ONI, the maritime and commercial lawyer blamed the Federal Government for the stunted growth of the sector, as he proffers solutions. Excerpts:
How would assess the President Muhammadu Buhari administration on ease of doing business in Nigeria?
The government was slow to take actions on the ease of doing businesses in Nigeria from the beginning, but now, I think I can say that the inauguration of the Presidential Committee on Enactment on ease of doing business will go a long way to aid ease of doing business by business owners. We are beginning to see some of the basic results coming out in the three executive orders. These should have been done 20 to 30 years ago.
Do you think this present administration is different from previous government in terms of policy inconsistencies?
I think it is too early to judge this administration on policy inconsistency because it has been only two years since it came on board, but I think in terms of key policy considerations, it has been fair. Though I am not happy with the government because it is pathetic that the national budget has not been passed for 2017 and we are in June already. I wonder how the government has been running for the last six months, so that is a very major negative for the government because without the budget, we cannot turn around a country. No successful nation operates without its budget.
How would you assess the maritime sector in Nigeria, any improvement so far?
I would affirmatively say that the Nigerian maritime sector has been very poor, there has not been any improvement at all.
How?
Just take a look at the roads at Apapa, seeing that alone would tell you that the government has failed in the maritime sector and has failed to address how the sector can contribute to the national economy. The maritime sector is potentially the largest after the oil and gas sector that can create jobs, contribute to economic development but there is the low critical policy programme along the arms of government that can look at nothing rather than how to increase our ship tonnage. We talked about port development because without the port, we will not be able to compete with counterparts and cargo traffic in our ports, and it is making many ships to divert to other countries, which have better ports running effectively. That is a major problem because our ports are so inefficient to address this issue; so there is really nothing spectacular about the maritime sector policy.
What is the implication of the poor rating of the maritime sector on the economy?
The implication of the poor state of the maritime sector on the Nigerian economy is that it is slowing down growth, it is slowing down turnaround and it is not so good that government does not understand how the maritime sector is very effective to help the economy grow, so those are the policy implications.
What is the update of the effect of the Treasury Single Account on the maritime sector?
The Treasury Single Account has caused everything. Though the TSA is a good idea, just that with the way it is working, it has slowed everything down. Some of the key national maritime institutions like the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Nigeria Shippers Council, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, are not functioning at optimum level because they are not getting their funds as quickly as before, and this TSA is not just slowing down the maritime sector alone, but it is slowing down the entire economy. So the TSA has not impacted well, not because the idea is not a good one but because the way it works is too slow.
How can the maritime sector generate more revenue for the Nigerian economy?
First of all, the government must understand how the sector works and for the sector to work effectively, it must also have a minister for maritime affairs because looking at the aviation sector, which is a very small sector in transportation, it has a minister.So, if that sector can have a minister, why can’t the maritime sector that is seven times larger than the aviation sector have as well?Also, the government has not been able to generate interest in the maritime policy.
What about the continuous injection of funds by the Central Bank of Nigeria into the forex market?
The funds will definitely have short-term benefit because in the end, I don’t see how the CBN can sustain it. It cannot sustain that kind of money every day. So, the important thing they can do is for the CBN to completely deregulate the forex market because of supply and demand clear out. There must be initial devaluation for the forex to be steady because I don’t think the CBN can sustain such intervention.
Do you still believe that this administration is people-focused?
I don’t think so because I don’t see what it is doing for the average poor person. The social investment programmes that it introduced to tackle poverty and employment have not been effective. I have not seen any impact yet. Even the school children’s feeding that was promised, I have not seen anything. You see, the government talks a lot but does little. In a nutshell, the government has been slow in moving us forward.
