Merging NIMASA, Customs, FIRS will destroy shipping sector – Ex-DG

A former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Ade Dosunmu, has said the proposed merger of the agency with the Nigeria Customs Service and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is a serious misconception and dangerous for the future of shipping/ maritime industry in Nigeria. 

Recall that the Presidential Policy Advisory group had classified NIMASA as a revenue-generating agency, thereby proposing a merger of NIMASA, Customs and FIRS.

But reacting to the proposal, Dr Dosunmu explained that NIMASA which was created in 2007 following the merger of National Maritime Authority (NMA) and Joint Maritime Labour Industrial Council (JOMALIC) derives its powers from Merchant Shipping Act, 2007, NIMASA Act, 2007 and Coastal and Inland shipping (cabotage) Act, 2003.

Dr Dosunmu in a statement said the agency is a maritime safety administration responsible for regulating shipping activities in Nigeria with a view to achieving safer shipping and cleaner oceans as mandated by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) through its various conventions and protocol. 

The former DG also  described the activities of Floating Production, Storage and Offload (FPSO) and Floating Storage Offloading (FSO) like Agbami, Bonga, Egina, Akpo engaging in crude oil exploration and production offshore Nigerian waters, as all potential polluters of the country’s waters.

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