Pomp, Glamour, Thrills As MIMA Awards Honor Twenty Five Maritime Industry Stakeholders At Award Night

—Adenubi Clinches N1million Best Reporter Prize

By DAPO OLAWUNI

The 27th edition of the Maritime Industry Merit Award (MIMA) was nothing short of pomp, glamour and thrills as Maritime Media Limited honored twenty five personalities who have distinguished themselves in their areas of practice within and outside the maritime landscape with an award of merit.

The award night held at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos, was spiced up with musical performances by Asu Ekiye, dishing out some of his Niger Delta vibes.

The personalities honored at the award night included; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State who won the Most Outstanding Governor on Maritime Infrastructure Development, and his Bayelsa State counterpart, Gov Duoye Diri, who won the Best Maritime friendly Governor.

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola won the Pace Setter Award, while his lieutenants including the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers Council, Pius Akutah bagged Maritime Man of the year, while the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Abubakar Dantsoho won the Most Promising Maritime CEO 2024.
The award ceremony also saw Terminal operators, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) officials, Customs Brokers amongst many others winning awards in different categories.

Other notable awardees include; the West African Container Terminal (WACT); Sifax Group; Assistant Comptroller General of Customs, Dera Nnadi; Customs Area Controller for Apapa Command, Babatunde Olomu; Vice President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olusegun Oduntan; Lagos Area Manager of NIWA, Engineer Sarat Braimah; General Manager of LASWA, Damilola Emmanuel; and frontline tourism expert, Frank Meke.

Others are; immediate past President General of Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, the incumbent MWUN President General, Comrade Francis Bunu, former Tin Can Port Manager, Sylvester Egede among others.

The icing on the cake was the N1m Pius Akutah Prize for Maritime Reporter Award which was given to Mr Tola Adenubi,
Nigerian Tribune Maritime Reporter.

Presenting the award to Adenubi, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Dr. Pius Akutah who was represented by the Director of Special Duties, Mr. Moses Abere, explained that the award was in recognition of impactful maritime journalism.

Earlier his welcome address, the Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee of MIMA 2025, Prince Olayiwola Shittu stated that MIMA is more than just recognition.

“It is about celebrating resilience, innovation, and the undeniable impact the distinguished maritime stakeholders have made, which takes the nation closer to actualizing the much-anticipated transformation of the Marine and Blue economy

“Tonight is about celebrating how far we’ve come as individuals, organisations, unions, and associations. As we celebrate and reward excellence, we are also looking ahead to stimulate more innovative, accountable, and patriotic leadership traits for a sustainable maritime sector.

“This year’s event, themed: “Rewards of Excellence”, is an acknowledgment and a celebration of exceptional performance, achievements and contributions of diverse stakeholders in the nation’s maritime sector. It is our belief that these awards will be an extra motivation to awardees and other industry players to strive for even greater achievements.

“However, this event also avails a unique opportunity to build stronger networks as the industry’s core operators like; shipping companies and terminal operators; port users like freight forwarders and logistics services providers; all categories of regulators, seafarers, maritime lawyers, emerging maritime tourism operators among others can be found among the guests in this beautiful ball room” he said

Maritime Media Limited, Publishers of popular maritime magazine, Shipping World is owned by Elder Asu Beks, a frontline maritime journalist.