FG urges NIMASA to enhance maritime capacity
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has been advised by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms to improve safe, secure shipping, cleaner oceans, and maritime capability in accordance with best worldwide standards.
In addition, the BPSR reported that NIMASA had been elevated to the silver level after receiving a performance score of 74%.
According to a statement from the BPSR, Mr. Arabi Dasuki, the director general of the BPSR, presented the management of NIMASA with a summary report on the deployment of the BPSR self-assessment tool that made this announcement.
The announcement went on to say that NIMASA had also been elevated to level 2, which suggested that the agency’s performance had exceeded expectations in crucial areas of responsibility, leading to generally good overall work quality and the accomplishment of the most important organizational goals
The BPSR boss commended Dr. Bashir Jamoh, Director-General of NIMASA, for his outstanding leadership and steadfast commitment to reform and optimal performance in order to maintain NIMASA’s systems and operations..
In his words, “We are indeed impressed by the openness, professionalism and decorum the staff exhibited throughout the duration of the exercise. It is an assurance that under your watch and guidance, there are rejuvenated change agents who will help you to accomplish and break new grounds as far as your mandate is concerned. I will like to state that the award accompanying the report would help to stimulate the insatiable desire to be the best to achieve safe, secure shipping, cleaner oceans and enhanced maritime capacity in line with best global practices towards Nigeria’s economic development.”
In the report of BPSR, NIMASA’s corporate governance, which ensured the establishment of an anti-corruption policy with a well-established whistleblower mechanism for the agency, strategic planning and operational leadership, robust and accounting policies that comply with financial regulations of the Federal Government, and these are the key areas of strength, he continued
“This is in addition to a fully functional procurement process, which has keyed into the e-procurement policy of the Federal Government.”
The BPSR also cited NIMASA’s operational and service delivery procedures, human resource management, partnerships, and resource mobilization as some of the areas where the organization had excelled in comparison to some other government organizations.
The team had earlier received assurances from NIMASA DG Jamoh that the administration of the organization would see to it that all of the report’s recommendations were carried out.
“We have made much progress in the past one year. Our automation process has advanced much more within the past 12 months. NIMASA has introduced a customer experience centre, which has greatly improved our ease of doing business as an organisation. We have also acquired new vessels for both staff welfare and operational monitoring and enforcement purposes. Just as we accepted the recommendations of the International Maritime Organisation Member State Audit Scheme and worked towards closing all identified gaps, NIMASA will strive to implement recommendations contained in the report submitted to us today,” he said..
