News Stories in 1st Quarter 2007 Edition of DDH Magazine
DISCOURSE: MR J.P. EGESI
“It’s either something is wrong with me or is wrong with the government…” – Egesi.
Mr John Patrick Egesi bagged several degrees in maritime and shipping courses from several UK universities and colleges including John-Moore University, Thurrock Technical College, south West London College and Middlesex University. By the time he landed in his fatherland after gathering the golden fleece, he was ready to serve. Egesi became the first and only founding management officer of the defunct National Maritime Authority (NMA) to rise through the ranks and assume the post of director-general in the 19-year it existed as apex maritime regulatory agency in Nigeria. But he became chief executive in a trail of controversy. If we fast-forward to the end, he was also booted out of office in the usual controversy and high-wire politics that hallmarked Nigerian civil service under the jackboots of military juntas. In this first-ever interview he has granted the press on the inside workings of the system when he held the forte, he bared all. Some chief executives would find this a lot more than heady stuff. And even current workers of NAMASA would do well to acquaint themselves with his flow, which depicts the lay of the land. Because in Mr Egesi, you have a man who knows where the bodies are buried. And he was his penchant best in this exclusive interview conducted by our man, Edmund Chilaka. It makes the most fascinating reading, for example, to find out at last, other reasons why the NMA enabling statute could not pass muster with European ship owners, nor with many others at home and abroad who saw its 3% levy provision as the very equivalent of daylight robbery! On the other hand, he exposed how desperation about such rejection led to the efforts that presaged the eventual onset of Nigeria’s cabotage law. Today, Mr Egesi appears comfortable in retirement as a dealer in high-end art works, photography and ancillary trappings but once the interview tape rolled, the old cerebral shipping graduate braced to the fore and marshaled the following salvos for the convenience of those still in the active march of Nigerian maritime history. Excerpts:
DDH: When you became DG, many indigenous maritime operators thought that you were best placed to implement the national shipping policy at that time to the tune of helping them to come up in the industry due to your academic credentials in shipping. What were your ideas of realizing Nigeria’s goal as a maritime nation if you were allowed to stay your full term?
Egesi: I live with the pains of having some of our plans thwarted by short term or sometimes individual goals. So, naturally, when I came in, I knew the limitations of the statute, the Decree 10 of 1987. We also knew certain other aspects of the decree that could not be done. Our plan, which I was in fact carrying out when I was director of operations was to consolidate on the internal aspect of the shipping industry. That is, to start with the export. You must realize that at a time the export was in fact more common than goods coming in, containers coming from abroad. This was the beginning of our strategy to properly control our own ports. It has a lot of advantages…jurisdictional problems, scope of the law and all that, will not affect us, given our experience of some of the people we dispatched to the EEC countries then. Some of them were captured and our documents thrown away. So we decided to consolidate. My plan at the time was to build on this and eventually get what now became the cabotage regime, believing that if we could show that this thing is more effective here, then of course, the aspect of control and infusion of power into the shipping industry would become easier.
DDH: So one could say it was a precursor to what we now have as the cabotage law?
Egesi: Of course, it was. Cabotage was way back. Cabotage had already been in our diction, even five years before I became the DG, when we started having problems. We said, ‘look only cabotage…’, if you ask from the foundation members, although most of us are gone now, they will tell you that cabotage has been in the offing.
DDH: You spoke of the limitations of the (NMA) law, what were these limitations?
Egesi: You know the way the decree 10 was choreographed, along the 40:40:20 rule of the UNCTAD Code of Liner Conferences. The emphasis was on liner conferences and between the two, conferences was more emphasized. There was this conference shipping. Now, if you lap something to a flag and you remove the flag, what happens to the body? It’s on its own. So most of the European countries, they know that. We didn’t enact the law, we were executors of the law. And some of us who were, if you like, shipping executives ab initio from school, and from training and all that, although we didn’t voice it because if we voiced it, it would be like destroying our own trade, we knew the limitations of this law and we dared not voice it. And the idea was to work very safely within that particular law and to avoid stepping beyond it so that people don’t cut our toes.
DDH: You were saying that some of your staff you sent were caught and their papers thrown away. Can you expatiate on this?
Egesi: What is there to expatiate, it happened, when Mr (Adebisi) Akinfie was the acting DG. I was the, if you like, the quasi-director of operations, which you call the regulatory office at the time and the staff that we sent there, particularly at the UKWAL head office in Liverpool, were virtually disbanded and had their documents, you remember, the Form Cs, seized.
DDH: Who seized them?
Egesi: The director of trade in the EEC at that time.
DDH: They physically came there…?
Egesi: No, not the person, the department, their operatives. There was nothing we could do because let’s face it, England is not a Nigerian state, nor is Brussels. So, we can only look upon it. Then we embarked upon the business of going there to get some of the agencies, known agencies, to work hand-in-hand with them, so that we pass our form through them. This was when Akinfie and I were working on this sort of things but in the middle of it, Akinfie started having the problem they had when they discovered that somebody was forging their signatures. They reported it. Instead of dealing with the issue, this poor gentleman was suspended, though that is not the issue here now. But the NMA was like a young lamb thrown into a den of lions. And some of us were steering the shipping to make sure that…and very few people appreciated the problems that we were carrying on our shoulders. The issue of corruption was out of it, nobody was even thinking of...(it). If you earned your salary you were lucky, if you had paper to print your document you were lucky. The purpose of everybody was how to steer this ship and make it strong. Nigerian population (read shipping population), were not patient. Many of them want our jobs. Everybody wanted to kill us. First, they demolished Dr (Bassey) Ekong, who was a fantastic pioneer. Up till today, I cannot make out why anybody in his rightness of mind will remove Dr Ekong. He motivated us. Sometimes, I used to sleep in NMA. I had a small office when Dr Ekong was there, with my small television, working, designing of Form Cs, posting people to the ports. But shortly before we knew it somebody beheaded Dr Ekong and Dr Ekong was gone. Again, this sort of thing happened to my friend, Mr Akinfie.
DDH: Wouldn’t you say that this seeming lack of cooperation you are asking from the populace was as a result of a knowledge gap?
Egesi: Yes, we did a lot. We sent some journalists along when we were going for the UNCTAD, you know the UNCTAD II when the thing was being reviewed, the one that lasted and lasted and nothing came out of it. We sent some people. Recall that at a time, I was also the chairman of the technical committee of the UNCTAD, particularly of the African group. At that time, we tried to articulate some of the problems that we were having. NMA by the way was the first of its kind in Africa. You see, when Nigerian gets things right, they turn around and kill it. Here we were, we didn’t have any vessels. NNSL (Nigerian National Shipping Line) was there without any vessel.
DDH: By 1987?
Egesi: The decree was enacted in 1987. The real operation of NMA started in August 1988, when the assistant directors were assembled.
DDH: But when you say NNSL had no vessel, what about the 25 vessels government keeps talking about?
Egesi: Many of them were dead by that time. Many of them, because of what they were owing, they could not sail, that is technical debt. Those that could sail, could not sail.
DDH: So by that time, the NNSL problem had started?
Egesi: They had started. NMA was an institution started to carry a load on its bare skull. Many of the people that were recruited, some of us came professionally, they can’t do but call us in, but some came in through the usual back door. And you have to even teach the staff, even your fellow assistant directors what the whole thing is about, because it is a professional organization. It was important that even the director of administration understood the problems we were having at the operations department, you know, why we must dash off to UNCTAD and come back. And UNCTAD was really on. Now, I told you that the law itself was like a flag mounted on a mast. Now this law had its base on the conference. Supposing that a shipping line now tells you that I am not a member of the conference, does it really affect it? It can do what it likes, if it really knows (its rights). But, of course, we were using the sledgehammer of government but how far could it go? Supposing a case starts in Brussels or in Japan, they know they have to trade with Nigeria, so they don’t twist this thing too far. The root of their opposition is that they don’t want it. They don’t want trade. But we in trying to get a cut from the trade enacted a law usually by people that are not quite grounded in the niceties of this international law. What we could have done was forget about liner conferences and just make a law. That was the fault of Decree 10.
DDH: Let’s move on to your removal from the post of DG in 1999. It was done in very cloudy circumstances and has been said to be the result of high-wire politics involving the then Minister of Transport, Dr Kema Chikwe. In your own understanding, what were the issues leading up to that move that saw your exit from NMA?
Mr Egesi: Well, Dr. Kema Chikwe is somebody I respect a lot because when I saw what Kema Chikwe did at the airport, I don’t care what anybody says, I have the greatest respect for her. Before Kema Chikwe came in to man the Federal Ministry of Aviation, you could not stay 30 minutes in that airport when you land…no air-conditioning…So you must give it to her that she is not a bad manager. But when she came into shipping, she was new, both as a minister and as a government personnel at that level, so anything goes. So between her knowledge at the time and whatever happened, there must be something I do not know. I am only a chief executive of a parastatal. I didn’t know. My head must have rolled like any other head rolled. Up till this moment, I sincerely, and I am telling you as a Catholic, I don’t know what it is. I even wrote to the President. I even thought it was Mv Trainer. All of us know it’s not Mv Trainer. I didn’t purchase Mv Trainer. I didn’t even support the purchase of it. The files of Mv Trainer contain very little about John Egesi. All I did was to welcome Mv Trainer when they eventually bought it and brought it ashore. So, this is just an area I sincerely do not understand. I am sure many chief executives will give you the same answer. The politics that happen in places are often beyond us, and if they tell you to go, you go.
DDH: Relatedly also, your assumption of office as DG was circumstantially a fall-out of a disagreement between former Transport Minister, Rear Admiral Festus Porbeni and erstwhile NMA DG, Engr Buba Galadima. In fact, he alleged this in the petition he submitted to the Christopher Kolade panel set up by the Obasanjo administration in 1999 to review the retrenchments done by the outgoing Abdulsalam regime in 1999. According to sources, it was because Porbeni had an understanding with you that the contracts that Galadima was reluctant to fast track would receive a better treatment from you that he appointed you DG at the time. Is there truth to this notion?
Egesi: I don’t know your experience in government. I was a director. And if you know me, and I am sure you do, I am not a politician. I am the most unpolitical character you would ever meet in the public service. I had never seen Porbeni until the day I was called to come and take over. Never. I had never ever seen Porbeni until the day I was to called to come. I am not saying they didn’t quarrel or they quarreled. I didn’t even know whether he had a petition, I did not. So, anything I tell you about that will just be speculative, like any other person. So, that should answer your question, whether I promised or… What can you promise? What really can a chief executive promise a minister? Promise a minister what? That you are going to buy a ship or you are going to do what? What are the promises? Many of the things that were said, even up to as I am speaking to you, have not been done by NMA. So what are we talking about? I read something in a magazine (names withheld), that I gave out a contract worth billions. All the money NMA earned up till today cannot give out those contracts. You see, I am not a politician. All I was told was, come to the Ministry and I came and before I knew it, the Minister said, ‘congratulations’. I said what for sir? He said ‘well, you are now the acting DG of NMA. Please make sure you do your job very well’. Within 3 minutes or so, I was back. I was carried in another vehicle with some other people that led me back to NMA. And that was it. It’s like somebody saying that the DG bought a ship. You and I know that even a Minister cannot buy a ship. So the issue of that is neither here nor there. It’s just not possible. Okay, where would I meet Porbeni anyway? I am not a military person. It was when I entered I knew he was from Bayelsa. I just shook him and said how are you. He was looking at me curiously and I was looking at him curiously. We had not met before. The version I heard was that it was the President (then Head of State, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar). So, I thought ‘so I was now being talked in the Presidential Villa and all that’. It was all load of nonsense.
DDH: Again, we gather that when you assumed office as DG you kicked against the manner of retrenchments carried out at NMA at that time and wrote to the Federal Ministry of Transport to reverse the cases of some of the affected workers. Is this a fair account of your view of things at the time?
Egesi: It was not what the federal government wanted that I was against but the manner in which it was done. I was a head of department before becoming a DG. I was the director of technical services for four and half years. I was the director of administration that changed many of the things in NMA. I was also before then the director of operations, the very hub of the shipping policy decree. So when I was suddenly having a list when I became DG… and I never knew of this list and some of my staff were on that list. I became very suspicious that this is one of those cases where ‘ I don’t like your face, you must go’. And I said that is not how to do things, there must be criteria. I am sure, even though I did not see the letter that came from the Ministry, they must have said people who have done this or people who have done that. And you started seeing names of respectable and hardworking staff whose names were thrown in. I was later to add that at a higher level, that was much later, that my name was somewhere in the line. I just didn’t know it. Some of the people that we fought for I don’t even like them. So, it’s not a case of not liking you. You can ask even today in NMA that Egesi will shake your hand and still sack you. What I am trying to say is that it had nothing to do with my personal affection but let things follow a process. Let us know why you are removing this person and bringing this person. I couldn’t quite understand why they were removing people in retrenchment and employing people. I have a very simple logic to things because when you get into the labyrinth of the complications of Nigerian way of doing things you yourself will begin to get bad. So when I looked at that list, I wrote back to the Minister that I don’t know the basis of this lineup. And you now see that in most of the cases it was lopsided to certain sections of the country. But that was not my problem. If certain sections of the country are armed robbers, by all means, remove all of them. But show me the papers why they are armed robbers. So, the issue was that I felt there wasn’t a proper system to this particular retrenchment exercise. So, I wrote back and thank God when I left they called everybody back.
DDH: Now when you said you don’t believe in retrenching people and employing people at the same time. Was this being done?
Egesi: Yes, some people were being brought in, and to me it didn’t quite add up. If you want to reduce let it be logical that you are reducing. You cannot be quenching a spark and you are lighting fire. So, if you look at it from that logic, it didn’t meet. If you look at from the logic of due process, it didn’t meet. That is why civil servants are perpetually under tension. It may even lead to the root of corruption because they don’t know what they should do and what they shouldn’t do to be doing their jobs. Most people are trained, they want to do their jobs but unless they go and prostrate, and leave their jobs to just beg they wont be allowed to stay to do their jobs. And it’s not good for the country.
DDH: NMA has become NAMASA as you well know, including the additional roles of maritime labour administration that used to be done by JOMALIC. If this was done during your time, what would you make your priorities, all things considered?
Egesi: First, let me take the name NAMASA, I don’t think there’s need for that. I have always had something against the ‘National Maritime Authority’. It’s not really a name. It should have been the Nigerian National Maritime Authority. Many times you go to international fora and say National Maritime Authority, they ask of which country? Which nation? But NAMASA is a little bit like describing the work. It should be a Nigerian National Maritime Authority, inculcating the safety aspect and the labour aspect. So you don’t need all those change of names. Yes the idea is a very good one because it’s all part of authorization. The point is, what is the focus?
DDH: Can you therefore critique the present NAMASA bill making its way through the National Assembly?
Egesi: I don’t have the bill but I know the purpose of the bill but the major objective of the bill is in order. What I do not like is the name. They should jettison the name NAMASA and still call it Nigerian National Maritime Authority.
DDH: You studied shipping at school and worked as an executor of maritime policy. Why do you think Nigerian shipping lines are failing, in the sense of longevity of operation and incapacity to compete well against their foreign counterparts?
Egesi: It’s partly to do with our perception of profit and dedication. The shipping industry is a long term returns industry. For as long as our people do not see it that way, they will have problems. I remember a certain shipping company in this country that was carrying very low quality cargo but having its ships completely filled, and when it fills it doesn’t make profit. I don’t want to name names. Also, they asphyxiated the cargo reservation policy in this country, it was, meant to help. But our people, immediately the shipping policy was put in place, started selling their ships, the few that they had. And latched on the process of collecting the cargo allocations, they had already gotten themselves ‘national carriers’ (status). What they did was to collect the cargo allocations and sell it to the foreigners. You and I looking at it now say ‘ah our shipping trade is falling’. Of course, it is falling because a businessman is doing business without cost. Why should he have a ship when somebody will give him commission? Are they really shipping people? You didn’t ask me why did I turn my back to shipping and now doing this (art business)? It is out of frustration. Because of the mentality of our people. They didn’t see shipping for what it is.
DDH: So that explains your veering into art?
Egesi: I have always loved art a lot. But it’s also to cool my mind from a kind of obfuscation or a road that leads nowhere. When I was removed, I thought that the government will be looking for me. (General laughter). Here was I being removed. I said what is happening? It’s either something is wrong with me or is wrong with the government. So that all of us do not go mental (mad), I decided to go into simple things of life. As an emphasis, they should allow DGs of NMA to do their jobs. And by all means, if you are giving CFR to other people, give CFR to them. It’s not an easy job. Look at the one there now, she is the one I am sure contributed to writing the cabotage law. The time span is almost like the one of the presidency. You must allow people to put foundation, study the places that are leaking…. Look if you play politics with the future of shipping, you are playing politics with the future of Nigeria.
DDH: Tell us a little of what you are doing in art, your movement to Awolowo Road (Ikoyi) and things like that?
Egesi: Our business was getting a bit constrained. Like that machine, (pointing to a longish machine lying on one side of the room) it’s one of the first digital printers in this country. It’s a colour span; it prints digital expansion, transparencies and things like that. So the place was becoming a little constrained for us. We have done the first six and half years. We came back to re-strategise and reformulate where we are going. We are into photography, frames, special dry-mounting. We have changed the face of dry-mounting. Dry-mounting of photographs is instead of putting glass, there is a special seal that we put on our special boards so that it remains for 300 years. The ones that you see in your houses the faces disappear after 5 or 7 years because the wood acid will just eat into it. So we want to change the face of photography. In my retirement, I want to help in the shipping industry, to be a supporting hand. I have been invited by the Nigerian Institute of Shipping which I think is the best place to be. I felt that we could contribute a lot to the shipping industry.
