The Women in Maritime Africa, Nigeria chapter (WIMA-Nigeria) has decried the country’s multiple registration of vessels and barges.
According to NAN, Mrs Rollens Macfoy, President of WIMA Nigeria, said this at a news conference in Lagos on Thursday.
Speaking on the theme, ‘The Marine & Blue Economy Ministry-A Call for Heedfulness’, the group of maritime workers urged the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, to remove all bottlenecks to the ease of doing business in the sector.
Macfoy stressed 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.
Media Talk Africa recalls that 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.
