The federal government incurs an annual loss of N793.3 trillion due to its reliance on foreign ships
Dependence on foreign ship owners for the transportation of import and export goods is causing the Federal Government (FG) an annual loss of approximately N793.3 trillion ($1 trillion).
During a one-day event themed "Ships, Ports, and the Challenges of Infrastructure, Skills Sets, and Tools," Greg Ogbeifun, a member of the former Presidential Committee of Fleet Expansion and Chief Executive Officer of Starz Marine and Engineering Ltd, revealed that the Federal Government (FG) is facing an annual revenue loss of about N793.3 trillion ($1 trillion) due to its reliance on foreign ship owners for import and export transportation. Ogbeifun, who chaired the occasion, highlighted that the estimated loss in 2011 was approximately $500 million.
While acknowledging President Bola Tinubu's efforts in establishing the Marine and Blue Economy, Ogbeifun urged the President to take further steps to ensure that Nigeria acquires ships through the private sector, thereby putting an end to the ongoing revenue loss.
Expressing his concern, he stated, "If I am to just assert the guess, this country is losing close to a trillion dollars in the entire shipping sector, including infrastructure, human capacity, and cargo carriage."
Ogbeifun emphasized the importance of creating private platforms to revitalize the sector and secure its sustainability. He highlighted, "If we establish 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 address, and there will be a proliferation of different fleets carrying different cargoes."
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