Stakeholders in the nation’s maritime industry are seeking a social contract with the Presidential candidates of major political parties contesting the 2023 general election in other to harness the N91trillion potentias in the maritime sector.
This social contract is being canvassed by Prime Maritime Project (PMP), interfacing with all the political parties and presidential candidates in the forthcoming 2023 elections.
Speaking at a press conference in Lagos yesterday, convener of the PMP, Asu Beks, stated that the maritime industry holds a whooping N91trillion worth of resources and investments with about 15million votes in the sector alone.
He, therefore, said that any political party that wants to clinch the presidential seat must reach an agreement with operators on their plan for the maritime sector which has been abandoned over the years by successive administration.
To this end, the NNPP Presidential flag bearer, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, alongside his running mate, Bishop Isaac Idahosa, and other party stalwarts will storm Lagos on Tuesday, August 23, 2022 to explain their maritime agenda for the sector players.
Also speaking at the pre-event press conference in Apapa, founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, stressed the need for maritime operators to make NNPP their own, considering the fact that the party is a baby of NAGAFF.
Aniebonam who also doubles as the founder of the NNPP, stated that there is a system breakdown in the country while adding that the new Nigeria desired by Nigerians can be given to them through the NNPP.
He described the presidential candidate of the NNPP as a special breed who can help resolve challenges confronting the maritime sector and the country at large if given the support.
According to him “NNPP is a child of necessity, arriving from what we saw, we decided then while forming this party in 2001, that it is better to fight from inside. So, we have been working for the past 21 years and what you see now is a result of years of sacrifice.
“Politicians tell all sorts of lies and nobody is holding them responsible maybe because of the poverty in the land, there is system breakdown and Nigeria has never been divided like this
“Look at it, Apapa is completely down. The hotels are shutting down because there are no roads, but when the going get tough, the tough get going
“We believe God has come to look at Nigeria as an entity. NNPP is a child of circumstance arising from what we saw and we believe it’s better to fight from the inside (maritime industry) because when you have access to the sea you have access to the world.
“Every Nigerian is looking for a new Nigeria and that’s why I believe that God is working with us because our party is NNPP.
“Kwakwanso is a special breed and I believe he will perform wonderfully well” he stated.
On his part, spokesman for PMP, Mr Kingsley Anaroke assured that a lot of maritime operators including terminal operators, shipping companies, truck drivers, freight forwarders among others, have been reached and that the town hall meeting would be one of a kind.
According to him, operators can attend the meeting, irrespective of the political party they belong to.
Anaroke lamented that many of the ports in Nigeria are old and are due for rehabilitation.
He also informed that despite the huge resources and the contribution of the maritime sector to the economy the Nigeria Bureau of statistics (NBS) has not deemed it fit to recognize the sector while stating that the sector should be given the attention it deserves.
“We are saying let’s play this politics with them, if they can offer us what we want we will give them over 15 million votes in the maritime sector” he added.
