… explains NIMASA’s rejection of NSIB as a holistic transport accident investigator
Transport Analyst, Dr. Segun Musa, has expressed strong reservations about the proposed plan to transform the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) to the National Transport Commission (NTC).
Musa, who is also the Deputy National President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), in an exclusive interview with JustNet News described the idea as “nonsensical”, and warned that doing this would create a conflict of interest, as the NSC is meant to protect shippers’ interests, while the Transport Commission would regulate the entire transport sector.
The federal government had in 2018 announced that the NSC will transmute to the National Transport Commission. The proposed conversion of the NCS into NTC is still ongoing at the National Assembly, with the process aiming for passage within the year.
However, Musa argued that each of the agencies should be a stand alone for efficiency in the Transport Sector..
“How can one body perform both functions without compromising either?” He questioned. “Shippers Council is to promote and encourage shippers to have a level playing field and to protect their interests within the transport sector. That’s the role of the Shippers Council. It’s a council organised for shippers”, he explained.
Musa emphasised that merging the two bodies would defeat the purpose of both organisations. “Are they going to be defending the shippers or defending the transport system?” He asked. “The essence will be defeated. There’s no way you can integrate them”, he stressed further.
Continuing, he stressed the need for clarity in laws and regulations governing transport agencies, citing the National Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) as examples where the law needs to be specified as regards the NSIB handling maritime incidents investigation.
“Because we are not organised and there’s conflict in the Acts that set up most of these agencies, it has not been repealed and amended, so you continue having the same conflict of interest,” he explained.
He criticised the trend of consultants influencing policy decisions over technocrats with practical experience.
“We’ve not only read widely or studied widely, but we have a wide pool of practical experience,” Dr. Musa said, highlighting the importance of technocrats in policy-making. “You must have post-working experience as well as post-qualification experience for you to be an authority to understand or comprehend policy drive and the impact of policies in every sector.”
Musa, who is also the Managing Director/CEO, Widescope Group, a transport and logistics company, explained: “You see, what we have in Nigeria and it’s very, very sad; we have what you call a group of consultants. Being a consultant simply means that you’ve read widely in a particular system, or you’ve understood a particular system theoretically.
“But when you are talking about technocrats, you’ve not only read widely or studied widely, but you have a wide pool of practical experience. So for you to be a technocrat, you must have post-working experience as well as post-qualification experience for you to be an authority to understand or to comprehend policy drive and the impact of policies in every sector.
“The people we showcase more often are people that are consultants. A majority of them have been saddled with superintending over most of these sensitive departments and sectors. About four or five years ago, in the wisdom of the government, they decided to migrate to NISB, before the agency was called Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) initially because they were limited to aviation.
“But in the wisdom of the government, they decided to say, look, we don’t want to cover aviation alone again. We want you to cover the holistic transport accidents; the railway, the ocean, the air, and the motorways, name it. They are saddled with a wider responsibility but because we are not organised and there are conflicts in the Acts that set up most of these agencies, it has not been repealed and amended, so you continue having the same conflict of interest.
“As we speak today, NAFDAC and SON organisations are still having conflicts, because it has not been streamlined.”
As a support to Musa’s view, the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, in a recent chat with the LEADERSHIP Newspaper disclosed that the agency was studying the law that created the NSIB for the investigation of Marine accidents on the nation’s coastal water.
He said the agency has its own accident investigators that report to the minister of Marine and Blue Economy after a Marine incident on the nation’s coastal water.
According to him, the agency cannot categorically say where the NSIB relationship will be, but disclosed that the NSIB will hear from the agency soon.
He said: “We are studying the law that created NSIB because NIMASA has accident investigators. We have intelligence and investigation units. They carry out investigations on vessels if there is an accident and report to the Minister of marine and Blue Economy and also give a report to the Shipowners.
“The units will indict whoever is negligent and until we are sure of what we are doing, we cannot say categorically where the NSIB relationship will be, but we are in discussion with them and they will hear from us soon”.