By Stephen Ubanna
Officials of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, appear, to have concluded arrangement ‘’to receive Kitack Lim, Secretary General, of the International Maritime Organisation, IMO, in Lagos’, the nation’s Commercial nerve centre.
Giving an insider information of the planned activities of the IMO boss, while in Nigeria for the two -day , official visit, Bashir Jamoh, the NIMASA, dIrector General, had said that Lim, would have his firsthand experience of some operational activities of the agency , which is the Nigerian government focal agency liaising with the IMO under the supervision of the ministry of Transportation.
The agency officials were said to have started making preparation to receive the IMO, Secretary General, when the visit was confirmed late October, 2022. A Statement by Osagie Edward, an Assistant Director, and the Head of the agency of Public Relations, had said that the IMO, Secretary General scheduled visit to Nigeria, was slated from Sunday, November 20, 2022, and Tuesday, November 22, 2022.
The NIMASA, Assistant Director, had said that ‘’during the IMO, Secretary General’s, visit to Nigeria, he will attend ‘’the Nigeria International Maritime Summit, NIMS, 2022, where regional policies and operational perspectives to decarbonization and its Collaboration with the Organised private sector’’, would be discussed.
Jamoh, the, NIMASA Director General, who could not hide his feelings had said that the visit by Lim, the IMO, Secretary General to Nigeria, is the first ever by any sitting of the United Nation, UN’s Maritime agency in over 15 years, which bear eloquent testimony ‘’to the renewal of confidence of the International Maritime Community in the country’’.
An elated NIMASA, Chief Executive Officer, CEO, had said that they are happy that after fifteen years, a sitting IMO, Secretary General is visiting Nigeria to see things himself. ‘’Our desire is to continue in this stead that had made him to visit the nation until we attain a status of not just the hub of maritime activities in the West and Central African sub-regions but a major player in the global scene’’, he had said.
Until, Lim, IMO Secretary General visit planned visit to Nigeria, he had met with the NIMASA, Director General, last October,in Durban, south Africa, in a World Maritime Day parallel event. The IMO, Administrative Head, may have taken advantage of the South Africa, event to further highlight on the need for decarbonizaation of shippings and inclusivity as shipping voyages to a decarbonized future in which ‘’digitization and automation will play a key role’’. The NIMS, event, is another opportunity to speak out on the IMO, decarbonization of shipping agenda.
Recall that Jamoh, the NIMASA, Director General, whohad spoken on the same platform, with Lim, at the South African event, where he was said to have called on the maritime nations ‘’to adopt the modern technology being initiated by the IMO, to reduce the gas emissions on ships in order ‘’to attain a cleaner and greener environment for shipping’’.
The NIMASA, boss, may have said at the South African maritime event, that ‘’Nigeria will contribute to the global push towards reducing emissions from shipping ’’through the use of zero low carbon technologies, fuels and infrastructure..
As part of the IMO, commitment ‘’to decarbonization of shipping, the world-over, IMO, was said to have developed a comprehensive set of concerted international action ranging from ‘’expanding existing capacity building initiatives, technology cooperation, technology transfer, training to investments into zero emission fuel production’’.
Muazu Jaji ambo, an Engineer, and minister of Transportation, may have taken advantage of the NIMS, event, to reconfirm that ‘’the Federal government is committed to ensuring that Nigeria becomes a major destination for global maritime players’’.
Emeka Akabogu, the CEO of NIMS, according the NIMASA,helmsman, is expected to provide the provide the platform for practical issues in ship operations, and regulatons, impacting on decarbonisation in shipping that would be highlighted as catalysts for igniting the Blue Economy in the West and Central African sub-regions.
As part of the efforts of the IMO, to canvass for the private and public sectors, cooperation in the global maritime sector, may have informed why the Ship Management Limited, NSML, a subsidiary of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, NLNG, among other industry operators, are partnering with the agency in the Deep Blue Project The Operational Management session off the NIMS, are scheduled to be part of the activities of the IMO, Secretary General’s visit to Nigeria.
Note that Lim had said, in 2021, that ‘’cooperation between the private and the public sectors will be the key in the journey of the decarbonisation of ships by 2050’’.An insider had informed The Value News that Jamoh led NIMASA, Management Team, decarbonisation policy is within the measures that had been initiated by the IMO, to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions from shipping put in place in June 2021.
The Magazine learnt that that the Leadership of the IMO, had made it mandatory for the member countries to adopt the mandatory comprehensive set of measures to improve and expedite action on the entire world fleet‘s energy efficiency. Lim, had repeatedly made it clear, that the member –nations of the IMO, need to accelerate decarbonization in all industrial and transport sectors, insisting that ‘’maritime has a major part to play’’.
