Peterside: One Year After
How time flies. It is one year since Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside was appointed the Director General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). To say the least, the appointment of the former gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State during the 2015 general election was with mixed feelings.
While some accepted the former member of the House of Representatives, others kicked against it. There is no doubt that Peterside’s appointment raised dust in some quarters as some stakeholders in the maritime saw him as an outsider who knows little or nothing about the shipping sector of the economy. Those opposed to his appointment cited the provisions of the NIMASA Act 2007 which made clear on who qualifies to be appointed as the helmsman of the multi-billion naira regulatory agency. However, those in support of his appointment cited his pedigree. They argued that since it is a political appointment, the president is at liberty to appoint whoever he chooses to be the helmsman of the agency. Apart from his credentials, they enumerated the enormous experience and exposure Peterside has acquired as a member of the Rivers State Executive Council and the House of Representatives.
One year after, has Peterside performed? Has he delivered on the mandate given to him as the Director General of NIMASA? What has he done so far to curb piracy and other illegalities in Nigeria territorial waters? These and many more questions popped up as Peterside clocked one year in office. In a score card he presented at a world press conference to mark his one year in office in Lagos early this week, Peterside stated that he has put in a place a completely new work ethic and energy in the agency.
According to him, he had the mandate from President Mohammadu Buhari to go and reform NIMASA. This we have initiated by first of all knowing that NIMASA cannot work under the defunct structures of JOMALIC and NMA. We also noticed that NIMASA had resourceful members of staff but needed motivation and this we have started by the reorientation of the staff. We have introduced a professional and leadership series to grow capacity of staff, thus developing a new work ethics in the agency. We are by this process reforming the work ethics of the staff for better service delivery.
He explained that the medium term strategic growth plan he initiated when he was appointed was built around his core mission at NIMASA which is to reform, restructure and reposition the agency for sustainable growth and development of the maritime industry.
“The strategy document is built on five pillars including survey, inspection and certification transformation programme; environment, security and search and rescue transformation programme; as well as capacity building and promotional initiatives which entail growing indigenous tonnage, ship building and human capacity. Others are digital transformation strategy; and structural and cultural reforms including changes to work ethic and attitude of staff as well as processes and procedures”, he said.
Among other things, Peterside has been accredited with a number of strides since he took the mantle of leadership. These include the devolution of powers to the zonal offices of the agency; subjecting the agency to regular International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS); and the promotion of over 300 staff whose promotion has been pending for years.
He is also credited with the rebranding of the agency, securing the approval to build new zonal offices in the Eastern and Central parts of the country, full automation of NIMASA operational and payment processes, as well as the excellent implementation of the ISPS Code which led to the commendation of the United States of America (USA) Coast Guard.