The Minister of Transport, Ibrahim Isa Bio, has tasked the new management of the Nigeria Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA), to ensure that the 70 per cent participation reserved for Nigerians in cabotage administration by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is adhered to.

Bio stated this when he played host to Mr. Richard Rees, IMO Auditor, in his office in Abuja, recently. Rees was in the country to audit Nigeria in preparation for the IMO audit for member states later in the year.

In his speech, Bio stressed that Nigeria is ready to fully develop the maritime sector in order to take her rightful place in the region, and disclosed that NIMASA has been charged to put all hands on deck to achieve this target. He assured that Nigeria will work in line with the domestication of IMO legislations and conventions, adding that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved all the conventions he took there for ratification and domestication.

Speaking further Bio stated that NIMASA has also been charged to make the registration process of ships more convenient to practitioners in order to increase Nigeria's tonnage for the nation to take her rightful place in West Africa especially in the area of search and rescue.