By Obiabin Onukwugha
President Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, approved the appointment of Dr. Dayo Mobereola as the new Director General of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)
His appointment followed the exit of the former DG, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, whose tenure expired on Sunday March 10.
The appointment was made known in a Statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngalale.
According to the Statement, Mobereola holds a Ph.D, and an M.Sc in Transport Economics from the University of Wales, United Kingdom and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport, England, and a fellow of the same institute in Nigeria.
He was the Managing Director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) from 2003 to 2015 and was also the Commissioner for Transportation in Lagos State from 2015 to 2016.
The statement further noted that the new DG NIMASA was Deputy Managing Director and Project Development Director at AFM Consulting Plc, London. He was also Senior Economist at British Petroleum Shipping Limited, London.
“The President expects the new Director-General to bring his vast experience to bear in his new role and to achieve the mandate of NIMASA in providing world-leading standards of maritime safety administration, maritime labour regulation, marine pollution prevention and control, search and rescue, cabotage enforcement, shipping development and ship registration, in accordance with the policies and programmes of the Renewed Hope Agenda for the sector as ably guided by the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, H.E. Adegboyega Oyetola,” the statement read in part.
As noted by the presidency, the exit of Jamoh no doubt, has left a big shoe for which Mobereola must employ his wealth of experience to fit in.
During his tenure, Jamoh brought change and development to Nigeria’s Maritime Administration, making it one of the best in Africa.
Some of the achievements by Jamoh included; the Actualization of Nigeria’s Deep Blue project know as National Integrated National security and waterways protection infrastructure, which contributed significantly to a drastic reduction in piracy in the Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea, establishment of the new frame work for tackling maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea known as GOG-MCF/SHADE GOG with Nigeria (Nigerian Navy and NIMASA) and the inter Regional Coordinating centre in Yaounde, and support structure for the realization of the maritime industry’s environment sensitivity mapping index (ESI).
Other achievements by the ex-NIMASA boss included making NIMASA as the sole Agency for the promotion of the Blue Economy Agenda in Nigeria, establishment of the littoral state cooperation (LISCON) that galvanized all the Governor’s of the littoral state into a signatory-base MOU, working cooperation for the advantage of Blue Growth in Nigeria and the establishment of NIMASA maritime stakeholders experiment contact centre, amongst others. These achievements placed Nigeria on the global map within the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
As Monereola takes over leadership of NIMASA, he is therefore faced with the task of not just consolidating on the giant strides made by Jamoh, but to continue strategising on further developing Nigeria’s maritime industry.
He will also ensure that the agency partners with the Maritime and Blue Economy Ministry to harnesses the full gains of the sector.
During the handover ceremony at NIMASA Towers in Victoria Island, Jamoh expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for giving him the opportunity to serve.
“I wish to express gratitude to Almighty Allah and the Federal Government for the privilege given me to serve Nigeria in this capacity, as I count myself a privileged Nigerian to have occupied this position, while also contributing my quota to the Nigerian maritime sector.
Let me also use this opportunity to assure the staff of the Agency that wherever I am, I will still remain a part of this family; a place I have spent the active 30 years of my life,” Jamoh said.
While calling on the staff of the agency to maintain the good work, he tasked the new leadership of the agency to consolidate on the gains of the past four years.