THE ROLE OF MARITIME ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NIGERIA'S ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Background to the Study: The legislative device known as cabotage is used to restrict access to or reserve marine or aviation trade within the territorial jurisdiction of a country for the capacity of the local companies. Following calls by prominent maritime specialists and operators on the need for government to make concerned effort towards harnessing the indigenous maritime capacity and utilizing the abundant opportunities in the sector for the benefit of the Nigerian people in order to reverse the trend where it still has its maritime trade both territorially and extra territorially dominated by foreign operator, the Nigerian Government came up with the idea to create the Nigerian Maritime and Cabotage. This was done in order to bring about a change in the status quo, where it still has its maritime trade both (Ferdinand 2021).

In the face of suffocating external competition and dominance, the government's goal in establishing the cabotage regime was to support the expansion of the maritime sector through the implementation of an interventionist program with the goal of fostering faster, more sustainable economic development on the local level (Fraund, & William 2021).

A contemporary economic approach that justifies intervention of this nature to induce some determined result (as opposed to the classical economic approach of free market forces), as an acceptable tool to achieving some set economic goals, particularly where competition is unfair and dominance is prevalent is called cabotage. This practice has been around for more than 60 years (Falokun, 2021). It has been observed that this practice is widespread in both the maritime and aviation industries, and that it was brought about by a variety of factors. One of these factors was the practice of reserving all or part of the national market opportunity to national flag ships or aircrafts for either political, economic, or security reasons. The cultivation of indigenous people's human and financial resources is another objective of the protective strategy that is widely implemented all over the world. These are some of the most important goals that the Nigerian marine cabotage hopes to achieve (Fraund, & William 2021).

And as for the scope of the cabotage Act, the Coastal and Inland Shipping (cabotage) Act, 2003 covers the carriage of goods and passengers by vessels and any other mode of transportation, mineral, and other natural resources, and any marine transportation or activity of commercial nature within Nigeria's territorial waters as prescribed by the Exclusive Economic Zone Act CAP 116, laws of the Federation Republic of Nigeria, 1990. Additionally, the cabotage Act applies to any marine transportation or activity of commercial nature within Nigeria's territorial waters. The Act intends to place limitations on the participation of foreign boats in domestic coastal trade and, as a result, to encourage the growth of indigenous tonnage (Ferdinand 2021).

It has been two and a half years since the cabotage policy was enacted, and it has been one and a half years since it has been put into effect. The people of Nigeria have not yet noticed any substantial changes (Fraund, & William 2021). Foreigners continue to hold a significant advantage in the cabotage sector. To what degree has cabotage fulfilled its promised opportunities? This is the issue that needs to be answered from the point of view of the target group, which is comprised of Nigerian Shipping Companies. Considering that only ten of the 320 or more private members' bills that were introduced in the House of Representatives between 1999 and 2003 became laws, one must ask why the same forces have not been successful in ensuring that the cabotage policy is implemented in a manner that is both robust and determined. What aspects of the software have contributed to the extremely sluggish start-up process? What exactly are the issues? Are they related with the very nature of the politics of shipping development, the method, or the policy, or is it a mix of all of these elements that are at play? What are the repercussions of the cabotage legislation, and how does Nigeria's business community stand to gain from the cabotage system? During the process of writing the dissertation, the researcher will be expected to consider a wide range of subjects, some of which are included here.

Statement of Problem

A maritime cabotage law is a legislation empowering navigation and trading within a country’s coasts or from port to port within a nation to be reserved exclusively for and carried on by its national flagships and nationals. It is purely for the regulation of domestic shipping. In this regard, it includes navigation and trading in the nation’s inland waterways. The maritime cabotage law may be in a single shipping legislation, or in a combination of two or more shipping legislation of a country.

There is another type of maritime cabotage which is often referred to as short sea shipping or regional shipping which is concerned with the transportation of goods and or passengers between ports of a given group of countries within a specific economic groupings (eg Mercosur, and the EU) by way of coastal ships, ferry services and/or port services such as tugs, dredges, maintenance and repair of craft, pilotage launches, bunkering and supply of vessels etc. Cabotage policies are applied in such regions or sub-regions, instead of an individual country, and as a result of inter-governmental agreements in order to favour local or regional employment and to control regional and /or sub-regional coastal trade (Maritime Resources Development Issues and Challenges; 2003, P.70).

This dissertation is aimed at having a comprehensive report which critically examines the issues concerning cabotage services, as regards to its impact on the Nigerian entrepreneurial opportunities for growth. Are there any benefits accruable to the Nigerian economy from the Nigerian Maritime cabotage? What are those benefits and how do they help in boosting the Nigerian entrepreneurs? These findings and more will be revealed and recommendations thereto, made, in order to enhance the formulation of sound scientific and economic solutions to issues and policies in these areas. The research work is expected to assist the NMA, the entrepreneurs, and other governmental agencies and other stakeholders in carrying out their statutory functions including its promotional and regulatory roles and measures, designed to facilitate the development stance and the growth of the nation’s maritime industry.