By Wilson Adekumola
A group of maritime workers under the aegis of the Women in Maritime Africa, Nigeria chapter, has lamented the country’s multiple registration of vessels and barges.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the President of WIMA Nigeria, Mrs Rollens Macfoy, disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Lagos on Thursday.
The group, while speaking on the theme, ‘The Marine & Blue Economy Ministry-A Call for Heedfulness’, called on the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, to remove all bottlenecks to the ease of doing business in the sector.
Macfoy explained that multiple registration of vessels and barges is seriously killing the country’s maritime industry.
“It is so difficult to register barges, and up till the last time I checked, barge owners registered with shippers council, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA).
“All these things are money, and it makes the cost of doing business to be high.
“Why can’t we register with one agency and then avail all the other agencies copies to give them a soft landing because the end users take it all, the cost goes to them,” she said.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inaugurated the former governor of Osun State as the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, aiming to harness the sector’s potential.
