Multiple Agencies and the Management of Maritime Industry in Nigeria.

Abstract

Maritime industry management environment has witnessed the proliferation of agencies without clear delineation of responsibilities. While multiple agencies are intended to strengthen the sector by bringing expertise and specialized support, their overlapping functions, poor coordination, and competition for relevance have generated certain inefficiencies that impede the efficient operation and development goals in the maritime industry. This study explores the implications of multiple agencies in the management of the maritime industry in Nigeria. Three objectives and three research questions and two hypotheses were proposed, answered and tested respectively in this study. Data was generated from 295 respondents, comprising of regulatory and government agencies, port administrators and terminal operators, port users and cargo owners, security and enforcement bodies using researchers’ developed questionnaire titled ‘Multiple Agencies and Management of Maritime Industry Questionnaire’ (MAMMIQ). Using descriptive statistics with qualitative insights from case studies, the researchers found out that there are overlaps and duplication of responsibilities amongst agencies involved the regulations and management of the maritime sector. Again, findings revealed that inter-agency rivalries lead to increased operational costs, double taxation, delay in cargo delivery and conflicting directives. Result also revealed that multi-agency involvement drives up financial burdens. Based on the findings of this study, the researchers concluded that Nigeria’s maritime governance structure encourages overlapping mandates among regulatory agencies which creates administrative bottleneck and operational inefficiency. Consequently, the researcher recommended the need for a maritime governance reforms that will urgently eliminate duplicated efforts, enhance coordination, and improve operation efficiency within the maritime domain.