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Dr Peter side told maritime journalists at a parley in Lagos that his administration’s main focus would be to restructure, reform and reposition the agency in line with current requirements of the global maritime industry.

He explained that the achievement of his transformation agenda  for the sustainable growth and development of the maritime agency is built on five pillars including Survey, Inspection and Certification Transformation programme; Environment, Security and Search and Rescue Transformation programme; as well as Capacity Building and Promotional Initiatives which entails growing indigenous tonnage, ship building and human capacity.   Others are Digital Transformation Strategy, and Structural and Cultural reforms including changes to work ethic and attitude of staff as well as processes and procedures.

 The DG who maintained that NIMASA is committed to the actualisation of this mandate also said the Agency has competent and resourceful personnel who require visionary and committed leadership to achieve this vision. “The times are quite challenging given the dwindling global economy, decline in crude oil price as well as foreign exchange and fiscal policies which have impacted the revenue of the Agency. This requires ingenious leadership to actualise our policy direction and we are committed to providing that leadership” the DG said. According to him, one of the ways to shoreup the Agency’s income to actualise this strategic goal is to block revenue leakages through the full automation of systems and processes to eliminate human contact and increase efficiency The NiMASA boss explained that the new initiative would also help ensure that Nigeria’s territorial waters are safe and secure for vessels that are sea worthy and also that those who man these vessels are qualified to do so in line with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) requirements.
On digitalization, Dr. Peterside said it will help reduce corruption as all management processes would be automated to enhance transparency, reduce corruption and human manipulation, for instance, “if you want to register a vessel you don’t need to come to NIMASA office to do that, you can simply download all the necessary documents online and do your registration from the comfort of your office or home.”
“By the end of three years we plan to have ocean going vessels that are flagged Nigeria. Why is it that not one ocean going vessel is currently flagged Nigeria? We plan to change that. The Federal Ministry of Transport is keen on setting up a national carrier and we believe that this is in the right direction.” He said.
Dr. Peterside further noted that the 5-point transformation agenda would be implemented within the framework of the Maritime Medium Term Growth Plan, while also promising to ensure the full implementation the Cabotage law during his tenure as NIMASA Director General.