The new leadership of the Shippers Association of Lagos State (SALS), led by Princess Fehintola Mulikat, has pledged to forge strategic partnerships with key stakeholders in Nigeria’s maritime sector to address the myriad problems facing shippers.
Speaking during a press briefing in Lagos on Monday, Mulikat expressed her dissatisfaction with the numerous challenges that have plagued the shipping and port business, exacerbated by the association’s recent leadership crisis.
“We have faced many problems, and some agencies are exploiting shippers,” Mulikat said. “It is high time to begin collaborations to address these shipping issues. How do we create the employment expected in the Marine and Blue Economy in an environment that doesn’t support shipping?”
The SALS President highlighted plans to collaborate with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), terminal operators, and professional groups like the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration (CIOTA) Nigeria. “As a former President of CIOTA Nigeria, I have been privileged to have access to vital information about core areas of seaport and transportation. There is a need for training for various stakeholders to be on the same page for national interest and the growth of shipping,” she added.
Meanwhile, the group issued a press statement clarifying that its recent change in leadership had nothing to do with the Board of Trustees (BOT) of SALS, the Cargo Defence Fund, or the Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC), as speculated by the media.
“There is no crisis in SALS as the reconciliation team has completed their job and handed over to the 2022 Executive team to direct the affairs of SALS as agreed in the AGM of 07/12/23,” the statement read. “The claim by Evangelist Leo Ogamba that he was impeached because he signed an out-of-court settlement document on behalf of SALS as a sitting President is baseless because signing the out-of-court settlement agreement does not confer any special right on him as an individual to appropriate any money to himself.”
The group emphasized that Ogamba’s impeachment was decided by a unanimous vote of no confidence during a general meeting of SALS, which was duly published on the association’s WhatsApp platform, where Ogamba is an active participant.
“The Nigeria Shippers Council has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of SALS as a registered association,” said Mr. Ike Nwagbo, Public Relations Officer of SALS. “Therefore, the statement by Evangelist Ogamba that SALS should have waited for the intervention of NSC holds no water.”
Additionally, the group accused Ogamba of failing to provide necessary shipping documents when he had the opportunity to contest for the position of Secretary General of the National Shippers Association of Nigeria (NASAN). “He thereafter came back to contest for the office of President of SALS with only one Bill of Lading carrying one used Toyota Sienna,” the statement claimed.
The Public Relations Officer of SALS, Mr. Ike Nwagbo, explained that the meeting where the impeachment by unanimous Vote of No Confidence of Evangelist Ogamba took place was a general meeting of SALS, duly published, in the usual channel, the Association’s Whatsapp Platform, where Ogamba is an active participant.
The allegedly removed President of the association, Mr Leonard Ogamba had refuted claims of his removal from office, asserting that the purported ouster is unconstitutional.