Stakeholders disagree with FG over idle N100b CVFF

Stakeholders the maritime sector have expressed their disagreement over the decision of the Federal Government to continue to withhold the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF).

They said that the spiral effects of the death of indigenous shipping is traceable to lack of funds and unfavourable government policies.

The stakeholders queried the Federal Government’s wisdom in warehousing over N100 billion in the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF) while its purpose suffers.

Speaking on Tuesday in Lagos at a breakfast meeting organized by the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria (SCAN) the Public Relations Officer of the Association on Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr. Kayode Farinto, said the problem was due to lack of patriotism on the part of those entrusted in with the responsibility of midwifing the fund

He said: “Our indigenous ships will continue to die because of the fact that we are not saying the truth.

“Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund takes care of assisting our indigenous ship owners with funds. The CVFF holds nothing less than N70 billion in an escrow account. What happens to that fund?”

Also, the Special Adviser on Seafarers Affairs to the PresidentGeneral of the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Henry Odey, said that Nigeria was only able to rescue citizens trapped in Liberia during its civil war because the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL) was still operational.

Agreeing that cadets from the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, are halfbaked, the retired sailor recalled that the NNSL “had a training ship made for cadets, which carried cargo and cadets to give them sea-time.”