The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside has stated that the Nigerian maritime sector has the capacity to catalyze economic growth and also gave the assurance that the Agency will not rest on its oars until it realizes its dream of building a robust maritime sector that will substantially contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nation’s economy.

The DG who gave this assurance in Lagos when the City People Media Group bestowed on him, the “Award of Excellent Leadership in Public Service”, at its 21st award ceremony noted that the award is an indication that the efforts of the Agency in actualizing its mandates of repositioning the sector has not gone unnoticed.

In his words, “This award means a whole lot because it shows that Nigerians acknowledge the efforts that we are making to ensure a cleaner ocean for safe and secure shipping. Also, this will spur us to keep doing our best so as to have a robust maritime sector capable of catalyzing and impacting the growth and development of the economy”.

Speaking further, the DG disclosed that in the past two years, the Agency for the first time has been able to put over 250 cadets onboard ocean going vessel to do sea time training, making our graduates employable and have also been able to make substantial contribution to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF)even as a regulatory Agency. He also added that NIMASA also went a step further to release the maritime industry forecast, which will serve as a compass to investors for the year 2018 and 2019. “Today, the whole country appreciates the fact that we are making a difference In the Maritime space, we are not only contributing to the economic development of the country, we are not only creating employment for our people we are giving people opportunities they will remember for a life time”. Dr. Peterside said.

While expressing gratitude to Stakeholders in the industry for their continuous collaboration and support to the Agency, which has helped the Agency achieve this feat, he called on them for more support and assured them of better days ahead.

The NIMASA DG also applauded the leadership role that the Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi has provided for the sector, noting that this has put the Agency on its toes in order to meet up with international best practices thereby putting Nigeria on the pedestal of global competitiveness with its counterparts.

A statement issued by Head, Corporate Communications, NIMASA, Isichei Osamgbi explained that some of the recipients of the Award include the Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, Senator Shehu Sani, The Oloni of Eti-Oni, Osun State, Oba Dokun Thompson amongst others