The 2017 budget of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is tailored towards strategic growth and other developmental initiatives of the maritime sector, Director General, Dr. Dakuku Peterside has said.
The DG who stated this during the 2017 budget defence session at the National Assembly in Abuja before the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Chaired by Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima explained that the Agency is committed to actualizing its core mandates and to grow the maritime sector for the benefit of indigenous operators and the entire nation.
Dr. Peterside observed that the Agency targets strategic growth in five critical areas in the year 2017 namely; maintaining maritime safety and security to bring piracy to its lowest level, maintenance of a clean maritime environment and enhanced port state control, human and infrastructural capacity as well as sanitizing the maritime environment to eliminate sharp practices, while increasing revenue generation for economic growth.
While assuring the Committee members that revenue leakages will be plugged through the Agency’s digitalization processes, he noted that NIMASA will also embark on an aggressive debt recovery programme, all geared towards enhancing the efficiency of the maritime sector.
A statement issued by the head of corporate communication, Isichei Osamgbi quoted the DG as saying:“It is expected that the dollar rate will drop drastically through Federal Government’s intervention policies and in turn allow room for more investors. Let me also assure Nigerians’ that the present Management of NIMASA is committed to ensuring transparency in all its processes, accountability and probity in the discharge of its mandate towards making Nigeria a hub of maritime activities in Africa”.
The statement added: “It may be recalled that the NIMASA in the last one year has embarked on several Stakeholder engagements and campaigns towards the actualization of its mandate in growing the shipping industry in Nigeria and to make it rank high among the comity of maritime nations, and suitable for both foreign and local investors.
