PORT CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT IN THE NIGERIAN MARITIME INDUSTRY

1.1 Introduction

The maritime industry requires full development of capacities such as human capacity, infrastructures, technology, integrated transport system etc. Such a valued industry deserves well developed man-powers to handle the affairs of the industry in accordance with the international standard and practices. Right now, the present state of Nigerian maritime industry in relation to human capacity affects its productivity, policies, principles, standards and practices. The human capacity development in the industry is appalling in such a way that, the industry record results such as increase in ship-turnaround time, congestion due to complexity in documentations, poor stevedoring activities, high port charges, foreign dominations, pilferages etc. These could be as a result of absent of adequate human capacity to critically organize and harmonize the process of ship calling at port and its departure. As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

Shipping is the heart of global economy and the maritime industry which is a sub-sector of the transport sector, accounts for nearly 90 percent of transport requirement of the world (Ikokide and Aro, 2000). Maritime industries include all enterprises engaged in the business of designing, constructing, manufacturing, acquiring, operating, supplying, repairing and/or maintaining vessels, or component parts thereof: of managing and/or operating shipping lines, and customs brokerage services, shipyards, dry docks, marine railways, marine repair shops, shipping and freight forwarding services and similar port side enterprises (Purba, 2015).

Developing port capacity in the Nigerian maritime industry is great important human resource to service the industry (Okeudo and Ogwude, 2012). They further opined that, the human factor is the most sensitive and volatile of all factors of input in production and therefore requires proper handling so that the other factor inputs can be properly harnessed to the utmost advantage of all in the industry.

Economists regard education as both a consumer and capital good, because it offers utility (satisfaction) to a consumer and also serves as an input to develop the human resources necessary for economic and social transformation. The focus on education as a capital good related to the concept of human capital, which emphasizes that the development of skills is an important factor in production activities (Almendarex, 2010).

The dearth of qualified indigenous seafarers should necessitate the need to improve measures and ensure stricter measures related to accreditation systems for maritime schools in Nigeria. There also existed partnerships between members of the industry associations, international shipping industry, maritime colleges and training centers to invest in education, training and scholarships for the development and sustainability of a stable pool that could meet skills competency needs of the global industry and Nigerian maritime sector in particular.

Developing human capacity in the industry is paramount to surmount the problems confronting the industry especially the work of unprofessionals and encouraging the employment of our locally trained professionals from our local institutions to take control of the industry as stipulated in the cabotage policy enacted in 2003 (Ikokide and Aro, 2000). Every economic activity in any nation is directly or indirectly linked with the activities in the maritime sector. It is widely believed that knowledge, in terms of human and social capital, is the main production factor in today’s economic environment (Almeida, et al. 2014). One of the most prominent problems facing the transport industry is the lack of adequate.

Therefore, in ENL Consortium where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Port Capacity Development in the Nigerian Maritime Industry.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that Nigerian maritime industry is the second in revenue generation to the Nigerian government after oil. The shortage in human resource, foreign dominations in manning and supplies of crew men in the Nigerian maritime industry poses a lot of challenges to the growth and development of this sector. The key issues that necessitated this study include; depletion of skilled human capital in the industry without adequate replacement, neglect of locally trained professionals, lack of competencies of our local Marine Education and Training (MET) institutions that trained these “professionals”, lack of adequate training and instructional materials for maritime cadets, unemployment of seafarers, lack of a national carrier and lack of sea-time training for the cadets.

Inadequate human capacity in the industry and the depletion of maritime professionals and operators are major threats to the maritime industry and the nation’s economy. The maritime industry worldwide represents a vital area of economic activity, which plays an overwhelming role in any nation’s economy. Apart from focusing on being a major foreign exchange earner, the maritime industry of any nation should generate substantial employment opportunities and boost national income and GDP (Rasheed, 2013).

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to evaluate the Port Capacity Development in the Nigerian Maritime Industry using ENL Consortium as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To examine the factor affecting port capacity development in the Maritime Industry.
2. To find out the effect of government protectionist policy on the growth of the maritime industry.
3. To determine the relationship between Port Capacity Development and human capital formation in Maritime industry.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Is there any significant factor affecting port capacity development in the Maritime Industry?
• What is the effect of government protectionist policy on the growth of the maritime industry?
• What is the relationship between Port Capacity Development and human capital formation in Maritime industry?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• HO: There is no statistical significant relationship between Port Capacity Development and human capital formation in Maritime industry
• H1: There is a statistical significant relationship between Port Capacity Development and human capital formation in Maritime industry

Hypothesis Two

• H0: There is no significant factor affecting port capacity development in the Maritime Industry
• H0: There is a significant factor affecting port capacity development in the Maritime Industry

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1.7 Significance of Study

The study will be of immense benefit to industry stakeholders will appreciate the beauty of maritime business and the results obtained will add value or knowledge to existing bodies in the industry such as NPA, NIMASA and equally be useful to other shipping companies, future researchers, policy makers, Regulatory Authorities in shipping and indigenous shipping companies as well.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Port Capacity Development in the Nigerian Maritime Industry using ENL Consortium as a case study.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).