The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, has said Nigeria is among the largest crude oil producers globally but without a single ship to lift its oil.
He stated this in Abuja when he received an interim report by the Nigerian Fleet Implementation Committee (NFIC).
“How can we be an oil producer, I think we are the sixth largest oil producer in the world and I don’t think that position has shifted and yet we don’t have one single boat carrier,” said Sambo.
Speaking on how the project can be immediately realised, he said: “I don’t know whether, in the course of the committee’s consultations with other stakeholders, you were able to have some conversations with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd because, if NNPC, can give 100% support, this matter can be closed in two months.”
The minister also stated that “Nigeria is a maritime country and if Nigeria gets its acts together, the country will have no business looking for money from the oil sector as a contribution to the GDP of the country.”
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council and Chairman, Nigerian Fleet Implementation Committee (NFIC), Hon. Emmanuel Jime said the initiative was a response to have Nigeria tap into international cargo and curb loss of freight revenue, jobs among others.
Jime who was represented by Managing Director, Sea Transport Group and member, NFIC, Umar Aminu, said: “In the course of carrying out the mandate, lessons have been learnt and some modest achievements have been recorded. These have been captured in this interim report, which we are submitting today. The work is still ongoing and the goal of creating an enabling environment for the growth of a sustainable Nigerian fleet will be achieved in due course.”
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