Anti-corruption network lauds NIMASA reforms, backs body cameras for enforcement

The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network has commended the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency for reforms it said had improved transparency and the business environment in Nigeria’s maritime sector.

The Chief Executive Officer of MACN, Cecelia Torbrand, gave the commendation when she led a delegation of the network on a courtesy visit to NIMASA’s headquarters in Lagos, where both organisations discussed ways to deepen collaboration on transparency, accountability and integrity in the maritime industry.

Torbrand said tackling corruption in the maritime sector required collective action involving government agencies, industry stakeholders, civil society organisations and other relevant actors. She identified capability building, collective action, and collaboration and a culture of integrity as the three pillars underpinning MACN’s work.

She urged NIMASA to sustain the reforms and document the progress being recorded, noting that effective tools, training, compliance resources and partnerships were critical to addressing the root causes of corruption in the maritime industry.

Also, a MACN member and Chief Executive Officer of the Convention on Business Integrity, Olusoji Apampa, said the reforms in Nigeria’s maritime sector deserved greater visibility, noting that they had attracted interest from other countries in the sub-region.

Apampa said Ghana and Senegal were developing mechanisms inspired by the Nigerian experience, describing the development as the “Nigerian Miracle” and attributing the progress to collaboration between government and industry stakeholders.

Responding, the NIMASA Director-General, Dr Dayo Mobereola, represented by the Executive Director, Operations, Fatai Taiye Adeyemi, expressed the agency’s readiness to strengthen its partnership with MACN to build a more transparent, predictable and efficient maritime sector.

Mobereola stressed the importance of data in measuring the impact of the reforms and disclosed plans to introduce body cameras for NIMASA enforcement officers who board vessels. He said the initiative would promote transparency in interactions between enforcement personnel and operators while improving accountability in enforcement operations.

The NIMASA boss attributed the progress in the sector to the support of the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy under the leadership of Minister Adegboyega Oyetola, and called for the replication of successful reforms across maritime administrations in the region to boost trade, investment and regional competitiveness.