The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has, in recent time, distinguished itself as a government agency that feels for the wellbeing of ordinary Nigerians. The nation’s apex maritime regulatory agency has been reaching out to various states of the Nigerian society in its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme.
While discharging its maritime administration and safety mandate, the agency has also been engaged in community development efforts, education support, rehabilitation of dilapidated school buildings, women empowerment, provision of relief materials/succor to IDP camps across the country.
Some of the agency’s CSR gestures that have touched the lives of Nigerians include:
Donation of relief materials to thousands of displaced persons across 20 states of the country. These are communities affected by the widespread insecurity currently ravaging the country and those who have been displaced from their homes by heavy rains, fire and other natural disasters.
As a result of these natural and man-made disasters, these communities of people were displaced from their homes and made to face unplanned and unprecedented suffering and hardship. They were forced to erect temporary shelters which expose them the more to the vagaries of weather and other inhuman conditions. Their hope for survival, therefore, inevitably rests on government, institutions, relief agencies and people with milk of human kindness.
Commendably, NIMASA took note of these people and quickly rallied to their aid by reaching out to them through its well-planned corporate social responsibility programme. Because of the quality and size of the items it doled out to these communities, the poor communities will, no doubt, remember the agency for a long time to come. These relief materials came to them at the time they needed them most. The CSR gestures also helped to restore to the people a sense of belonging, self-worth and human dignity.
The action of NIMASA was in line with the expectations of the United Nations on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which it launched in January 2016as a strategic plan to address issues challenging human existence, including poverty, climate change and disaster risks among many others.
With the SGD initiative the UN partners with governments across the world,while suing for purposeful support from private corporate organisations and individuals.
Acting in support of the UN’s noble intentions and initiative, NIMASA picked up the gauntlet when floods came sacking several communities in Nigeria in 2018, and when others were displaced as a result of insurgencies. The agency came to the aid of the sick, the old, pregnant women and children who faced untold hardship and battle for survival in shelters.
NIMASA’s CSR outreach was also in compliance with the Federal Government’s directive for all government organizations to use their powers and resources to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians affected by flood and other disasters. The agency did not hesitate to take the lead in compliance with this federal government directive, while calling on other corporate bodies to follow in this drive to bring succour to displaced Nigerians.
This is especially because helping displaced people to cope with their predicament is, of course, overwhelming for the state governments of affected areas. Hence, as a responsible corporate citizen, NIMASA came to their aid by helping to cater for the displaced persons.
The quest to bring comfort and succour to the displayed communities took the agency to different IDP camps across the nation, including Lagos, Ogun, Anambra, Delta, Edo, Kaduna, Borno, Kano, Benue, Sokoto, Taraba, Osun, Cross River, Enugu and others. These communities were reached with various food items, clothes, bedding, clean water, medical supplies etc.
IDP camps in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja were not neglected as NIMASA also reached out to them with relief materials. The agency believes that displaced persons all over the country should not be discriminated against, but should be seen as integral part of the society that must be catered for.
As noted by the director-general of the agency, “For us in NIMASA we are not just concerned about the well-being of the maritime sector, but as a corporate socially responsible Agency, we are concerned about the welfare of our displaced citizens.”
Among the communities that have felt the impact of NIMASA’s CSR Programme is the Lagos State Emergency Resettlement and Relief Camp in Igando Lagos, where the agency reached out with various relief items and also expressed commitment to working with the state government in supporting indigent and displaced persons.
Bakassi communities in Cross River State have also benefitted from the goodwill of NIMASA as the agency reached them with mattresses, blankets,fishing nets, school bags, food items including salt, rice, milk, sugar, noodles, palm/vegetable oil, detergent, amongst other items. The agency also reached out to other displaced communities in the South West, South-South and South East geopolitical zones.
Moving up north, the agency went on to replicate the same kind gestures in Kaduna State where there are over 11, 000 IDPs. The materials donated covered food items, clothes as well as bedding. Similar visits were made to Kano, Borno, Delta, Osun and other states as earlier mentioned.
Apart from providing relief materials, medicaments and empowerment equipment to displaced people, NIMASA has been supporting states in education, especially states in the northern part of the country. Recently, the agency donated teaching and learning materials to pupils in basic schools in Taraba State in a bid to assist in the improvement of education in the state.
Director General of the agency, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, while presenting the items toschool children in Jalingo stressed that the gesture was part of the agency’s efforts to support the education of children in the state.
Apart from education materials, the agency also procured medical equipmentfor the state in order to help it boost its primary health care services to the people. Jamoh, while handing over the medical equipment, advised benefiting clinics to make judicious use of the equipment to enhance health care services to indigent people.
According to Dr. Jamoh, “This is part of the Agency’s ongoing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative across the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT. If we succeed in helping to ensure that some students improve academically, we would have made a difference,” and appealed that the materials donated be used judiciously to give the children the best.
NIMASA’s abiding support for education of Nigerian children is also being felt in Kaduna State where the agency has been a strong pillar of support to the state. This is attested to by the Governor of the state, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai. While receiving NIMASA’s management team led by the Director-General, Bashir Jamoh, who were in the state to present some relief and empowerment materials from NIMASA to assist internally displaced persons to ease their resettlement process into society, el-Rufai noted that NIMASA’s investment in the educational sector through its CSR initiative was an investment in the future of Kaduna State.
The governor stated, “We in Kaduna State are very glad for this intervention by NIMASA and your continuous effort to support us particularly in the educational sector. We recognize your role in assisting our administration to deliver quality Governance to Kaduna State. We, in Kaduna have a worthy ambassador. Dr Jamoh has shown real commitment to the growth of Kaduna State and Nigeria at large. He is an asset to the Nigerian nation.”
Governors of the 36 states of the federation have all commended the CSR programme of NIMASA with which it has been touching the lives of the less-privileged Nigerians. NIMASA has also done a lot in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic under its Corporate Social Responsibility programme. The agency has donated Covid-19 Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and other Rapid Testing Kits worth millions of naira to states, especially to IDPs in Borno, Yobe and Gombe states.
RECOGNITION
Many Nigerians, institutions and organizations have commended the agency’ efforts. Recognising the selflessness of NIMASA in providing support for displaced persons in temporary shelters and camps, the Rotary International, District 9119, last May, honoured the agency for its corporate social responsibility.
Presenting the award, District Governor, Rotary 9110, Rotary International, Mr. Kola Sodipo, said: “The Agency deserves the award given to it because of the CSR activities it has been carrying out across the federation, which have really touched the lives of Nigerians at the point they need help the most.”
However, while a great majority of Nigerians have been hailing the agency’s CSR gestures, there are some critics who maintain that NIMASA has no business with such responsibilities. They claim that NIMASA should concentrate on her core mandate of maritime administration and safety and development of shipping in Nigeria. Such critics, who are mostly maritime stakeholders even go to the extent of arguing that if NIMASA must engage in such social responsibilities, it should concentrate only on the littoral states and host maritime communities, and not spread the agency’s resources across the country.
But even a cursory look at these criticisms shows that they are borne out of ignorance of what NIMASA stands for and the fact that all Nigerians have equal stake in the government maritime agency. The critics fail to realize that shipping as a business and the activities of NIMASA affect all citizens of the country, geographical location, notwithstanding.
For instance, every Nigerian citizen irrespective of location indirectly pays the 3% freight levy statutorily imposed on shipping companies that sail into Nigeria with imported goods. These shipping companies pay the levy and eventually transfer it to Nigerian importers who, in turn, transfer it to the final consumer. By buying imported goods, every Nigerian pays the levy.
Aside that, NIMASA is an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria, and, therefore, belongs to all. Its activities are also not limited to any particular region or the maritime environment. As a corporate entity of the federal government every citizen is affected by its activities, and should equally benefit from its social responsibility largesse.
These are facts that need to be made clear to uninformed critics. Instead of unfair criticisms, NIMASA’s corporate social responsibility efforts should be commended in order for the agency to do more, especially as the agency’s focus is on less-privileged Nigerians.
