THE founding father of indigenous shipping in Nigeria, Chief Isaac Jolapamo has said that even if all indigenous shipowners get the $700m Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) today, there are no jobs because all the lucrative jobs are in the hands of the foreign ship-owners.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune exclusively in Lagos, the first President of the Nigeria Shipowners Association (NISA) lamented that the foreigners have taken over most of the jobs and the Federal Government has, over the years, lacked the will power to enforce a ‘Nigerian first’ policy in the nations cabotage industry.
According to Chief Isaac Jolapamo: ‘There is nothing to celebrate in the Nigerian maritime industry after 65 years of independence. The people that conceived the industry 65 years ago and handed it over to us, it is not the way they are running theirs that we are running ours.’
When reminded that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has appointed Primary Lending Institutions (PLI’s) for the disbursement of the CVFF and that the banks have even started writing to indigenous shipowners to come and access the fund, Chief Jolapamo stated: ‘But we have been buying ships long before the advent of the Cabotage Act which birthed the CVFF.
‘The Cabotage Act was intended to give us more leverage, and that was why we fought for it. But as it is today, the Cabotage Act is not achieving the purpose for which it was enacted years ago.
‘I make bold to say that we had better access to job opportunities than what is available today, since the Cabotage regime began. Today, the foreign vessel owners are first choice when it comes to job opportunities in the Nigerian cabotage space.
‘When you look at the trend, the number of Nigerian owned ships that were in existence before the Cabotage Act was enacted has reduced. If government gives indigenous shipowners funds today, what will they use the funds for? The jobs in Nigeria’s shipping industry is still in the hands of the foreign vessel owners as at today.
‘Until the Federal Government enacts a law barring foreign vessel owners from competing with indigenous shipowners for jobs in the Cabotage industry, CVFF funds disbursement will be a waste of time.
‘Without such law, any shipowner that goes and take money from the CVFF will just run into problems.
‘Job availability is the soul of shipping globally. Every shipowner can always get funds. When I left NNPC in 1985 and Mobil asked me to do a job for them, what I did was to walk into a bank in London with the contract letter from Mobil. The name of that bank is BCCI. The bank provided funds for the job the moment they sighted the contract letter, and the job was done.
‘Once you have a job and you know how to run a ship, you will make money. So, job availability is key.’