Shipowner Aminu Umar Exposes Nigeria’s Shipping Data Gap, Urges Quick Fix by NIMASA
Aminu Umar
By DAPO OLAWUNI
The founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sea Transport Services Nigeria Limited, Aminu Umar, has called on the next generation of players in the maritime industry to invest in data management, describing it as one of the critical gaps the sector has failed to address over the years.
Umar, who is also President of the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping (NCS), made the call at the unveiling of the NIMASA Blue Economy Accelerator Programme (BEAP) and National Innovation Hackathon on Wednesday.
He said the maritime industry has consistently missed out on harnessing the power of data, stressing the need for stakeholders to pay closer attention to it going forward.
“The next generation needs to invest and look into data management, in our industry, our of the things we missed is the use of data, there is need for us to look into it,” he said.
Umar recalled that his company, many years ago, pioneered the production of tanker berthing position reports at a time when there was no reliable source in Nigeria for tracking the location and activities of vessels, including which ships were on queue and their arrival times.
“Many years ago, our company use to produce what is called tanker berthing positions, back then, our principals then always request for data, there was nowhere in Nigeria that you can get which ship is where, what is it doing, which ships are line up, when did it arrive and so on, so we invested time and resources to create this document and it became a document that international oil companies seat with in order to hold their meetings every morning, if by 9am they dont have it, they would start making calls and requesting for the tanker Berthing. But today, a lot of people are now doing it,” he said.
He noted that having reliable sector data remains essential for informed decision-making, as it allows stakeholders to track trends and take actions based on verifiable information, a gap he said has persisted till date despite being left for younger players in the industry to address.
“For decision making, you need to have data that can guide you on what is happening in the sector, and look at the trend, and based on that you can take informed decisions, this is not there up till today, and many of us have left it for the next generation,” he said.
Umar urged that the NIMASA Hackathon should incorporate this aspect of data management, assuring that stakeholders like himself would not hesitate to invest in it.
“So the NIMASA Hackathon should be able to cover this aspect, and we don’t mind to invest in it,” he said.
He also highlighted decarbonisation as another critical area requiring the sector’s full attention, noting that it is a global conversation that Nigeria’s maritime industry cannot afford to be left out of.
“Another one is decabonization, everywhere in the world it is being talked about, and we need to become fully part of it,” he said.
