Small Business Philippines

In January 2010 a public hearing took place concerning the Maritime Security Agency Bill 2009. At first glance this bill can be seen as a step in the right direction. Piracy and coastal militancy are definitely on the rise and it is crucial that something is done about it as quickly as possible. However, if this bill is passed then it may well be the Nigerian customer who is going to suffer, instead of those who are committing these crimes. If the new bill is passed by the National Assembly, then ship owners in the area are going to be hit with a very large level of tax.

A part of this would be two percent of the gross tonnage from vessels (in bound or out bound) using any of the ports in Nigeria. There are, quite understandably, a lot of very concerned ship owners at the moment. Something like this could have a major impact on Nigeria’s trade and on the livelihood of many of its workers. Everyone in the shipping industry wants a better level of maritime security, but not at such a crippling cost.

Maritime security is currently provided by Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). If this new bill goes through successfully, then it would effectively change the Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Safety and Security (PICOMSS) into a different agency. Originally, PICOMSS was created to bring Nigeria up to the level of maritime security dictated by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). The IMO is actually another part of the United Nations and this all came about after the sobering events of September 11th.

The whole idea of the new bill can be seen as more of an ‘empire building’ exercise rather than a way of improving maritime security. The epidemic of crime in Nigeria’s waters has to be tackled in a realistic way and workers in the area must be made to feel far less vulnerable; both physically and financially. If the bill is passed then it will turn Nigeria’s ports into some of the world’s costliest ones. There would be a mass of multiple taxes for ship owners and a duplication of levies. But those who are trying to get this bill to go through appear to be oblivious to all this. The ports in neighbouring African States would quickly attract far more vessels whilst Nigeria’s trade would suffer because of such a sharp rise in taxation.

There is absolutely no argument whatsoever about the importance of maritime security in the area, but this is not the best way of proving it. Over the last year alone, it is reported that PICOMSS collected around N3 billion from the Nigerian Ports Authority. That is without the N1.8 billion it collected from NIMASA and the $200 from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. It would appear that there is a large enough sum of money floating around to put something into place that would be far more beneficial to Nigeria and its trade.

By : Thomas Powell