By Stephen Ubaana
Bashir Jamoh, a maritime ICON, and Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, appears to have given maritime stakeholders a sense of belonging. He was said to have taken advantage of the agency Customer Week’s Celebration to gladden the heart of the industry stakeholders when he decaled that they would continue ‘’to occupy premium position in the life of the Maritime Regulator agency’’, stressing that ‘’it is the stakeholders who had kept the agency and maritime business afloat in Nigeria’’.
Jamoh, the NIMASA Director General, may have won the heart of the staff and external stakeholders when he stated that ‘’investment in material assets by the agency would be meaningless without adequate patronage by them’’. He was emphatic that ‘’for every, investment in materials assets, to have the desired impact, ‘’there was need for a corresponding availability of stakeholders to make such investment significant’’.
He may have alluded to the N50 billion naira floating dock that that is currently being domiciled at the Nigerian Ports Authority Authority NPA, dockyard, Apapa, based on the deal, between past and present Management of the Authority. The Modular, floating dock, if Muazu, Jaji Sambo, the minister of Transportation recent pronouncement is anything to break the jinx, it means that the dry docking facility will be to use soon and Jamoh, demand patronage of the past by the stakeholders.
At present, Nigeria loses over $500million annually to foreign shipyards as a result of vessels which constantly leave the country to look for dry docking facilities in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Senegal, Central African country, of Cameroon, CAC, Zambia and South Africa.
Although, Jamoh, the NIMASA, Director General had said that the agency must invest in maritime assets acquisition, but he noted that ‘’in spite of the level of investment in both tangible and intangible assets he still emphasized that ‘’without stakeholders to patronise it, such investments will be meaningless’’. The message was very clear to the stakeholders to patronize the modular Floating dock whenever it is put to use to dry dock their vessels insteaad of going outside the country to do so.
An elated NIMASA, Chief Executive Officer, CEO, who could not hide his feelings had told the industry Stakeholders, at the agency operational base at Apapa, that Monday, September 10, 2022, that was set aside by ‘’the agency to Celebrate its existence’’, had incidentally fallen on a public Holiday , that had been declared by the Federal government, to Celebrate ‘’the Eid Malud’’, the birth of Muhammed. This is because the Eid Malud festival, could not be Celebrated on Saturday, Sptember 8, 2022, because it falls on a weekend.
Many believe that it would have been a double Celebration for the Staff and the industry stakeholders as Jamoh, the NIMASA, CEO, was among the 449 Nigerians and friends of friends who were to be conferred national honours by the Katsina state born Nigeria President, but postponed to Tuesday, September, 12, 2022, because the nitial date, Monday, September 10, 2022, had been declared public holidayfor the Muslim festival, Eid Malud. The NIMASA, helmsman was conferred with the Officer of the Federal Republic Award.OFR.
Eward Osagie , the agency Assistant Director overseeing the Media, Adverts and Brands , in the Public Relations Department, had said that he had told the industry stakeholders that the agency is celebrating its existence because without you, the stakeholders, ‘’there will be no NIMASA’’.
He was said to have used the agency Customer Week Celebrations to welcome Nnenna Akajemeli, CEO, of SERVICOM, to the Agency off Complex , who had visited celebrate with the staff , noting that ‘’adherence to the Mmaritime regulatory agency core values was necessary ‘’to guarantee satisfaction of both internal and external stakeholders of the agency’’.
He had made staff and industry stakeholders to understnd that Customer Service Week, is an international celebration that had called for attention for customer service and the people who provide it’’. It was said said to have been celebrated in the first week of October of every year with the Theme of this year’s year’s celebration being ‘’Celebrate Service’’, stressing that ‘’the goals of Customer Service Week is elicit team bonding, boost morale, reward employees for the significant work they do and raise awreness of the value of Customer organization successes’’.
He stressed his believe ‘’in the founding principles of SERVICOM’’, reiterating that ‘’public officers were the shopping floors for government businesses’’. The NIMASA Director General, opined that ‘’there was need to always leave whoever goes to the floor for shopping with high level of satisfaction’’.
In his apparent response to the remarks of the NIMASA , CEO,, Olajemeli, the SERVICOM Coordinator, had given kudos to Jamoh and his Management Team Team, for all the achievements of the agency over the last two years which had been recognised both within and outside the country, particular, ‘’ in the areas of stakeholders support and compliant handling system’’.
She was said to have also applauded the NIMASA’s Maritime stakeholders’ Experience Contact centre, MECCC, describing’’ it as a world-class facility’’. An appreciative Olajemeli, had said that they are ‘’thrilled by what they are seeing in NIMASA , today’’, which confirms what Sambo, minister of Transportation had said that the image of NIMASA today, was much better than what it was ten years ago’’.
The SERVICOM , CEO, had cited ‘’the conducive working environment, level of Professionalism exhibited by the staff, Customer-centric orientation and attitude, as well as the synergies that have been noticed and experienced are all worthy of emulation’’.
Given what she had seen on ground at NIMASA, may have informed why she had urged CEOs of other government agencies and Parastatals, ‘’to visit NIMASA, Leadership and learn from the’. ‘’Your operations and individualized attention to some of my colleagues, who acted as mystery shopper was amazing’’, he had said.
She may have gladdened the heart of Jamoh, the Management and Staff, when he declared: We must confess our happiness and we are proud to be part of these Customer Week celebrations. High points of the celebration, according to Osagie, the agency spokesperson, were’’ surprise awards for some support staff and staff of the agency with different gift items’’.
