‘Dependence on foreign vessels robs Nigeria of N793tr revenue annually’

The dependence on foreign ship owners for the shipment of import and export goods has robbed Nigeria of the sum of N793.3 trillion ($1 trillion) in revenue annually.

Engr Greg Ogbeifun, a member of the former Presidential Committee of Fleet Expansion and Chief Executive Officer of Starz Marine and Engineering Ltd made this known at a one-day event themed “Ships, Ports, and the Challenges of Infrastructure, Skills Sets and Tools.”

Ogbeifun, who was the Chairman of the occasion lamented that the revenue loss keeps rising exponentially as the estimated loss was pegged at $500 million as of 2011.

While commending President Bola Tinubu for the steps taken so far such as the establishment of the Marine and Blue Economy, he however charged the President to go further to ensure that Nigeria acquires ships through the private sector to halt the revenue loss.

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He stated: “If I am to just hazard a guess, this country is losing close to a trillion dollars in the entire shipping sector both infrastructure, human capacity, cargo carriage.”

He maintained that creating private platforms will help to refloat the sector and ensure its continuity.

He noted: “If we get established platforms for the policies of the new Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, that ministry can get ahead of others and that is what has called me back into active Maritime activities.

“These are the areas the government must come in and address and there will be proliferation of different fleets and carrying different cargoes.’’

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