President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday approved the appointment of Dr. Warisenibo Dakuku Adolphus Peterside as the Director General/CEO of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Dakuku Peterside, as he is popularly known, replaces Mr. Haruna Baba Jauro who until Thursday March 10, 2016 superintended the agency in acting capacity.
Jauro became acting DG after Buhari sacked Patrick Akpobolokemi as NIMASA boss in July 2015.
Peterside is an ally of former Rivers State Governor and serving Minister of Transport, Chibuike Amaechi.
He was the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Rivers State in the April 2015 general elections.
His anointing as Amaechi’s successor was nullified by the victory of Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the pools.
Following his defeat at the polling station, Peterside sought to become governor through a court pronouncement.
He was given a ray of hope on October 24 when the Rivers State Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja annulled Wike’s election and ordered that fresh poll be conducted in the state.
That judgment was upheld by the Court of Appeal had on December 16.
The Supreme Court, however, quashed the ruling of the two lower courts on February 12, ending Dakuku’s dream of getting to the Government House before 2019.
With Amaechi the supervising minister for NIMASA, very few will be surprised that his anointed candidate has been appointed DG.
Peterside holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Management Sciences (Organisational Behaviour) from the University of Port Harcourt with an MBA in Business Administration and Bachelor Degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences (B.MLS) in Haematology both from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology.
He has also attended high level management trainings at prestigious institutions including the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, Kellog School of Management Chicago, J. Mark Robinson College of Business Atlanta-Georgia all in the United States as well as the Galilee College in Israel amongst others.
He was at various times the Chairman, Opobo-Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Rivers State on Works, Executive Director of Development and Leadership Institute (DLI) and Commissioner of Works in Rivers State.
In 2011, Peterside was elected to represent Andoni/Opobo-Nkoro Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives where he chaired the House of Representatives Committee on the Petroleum Resources (Downstream).
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of Nigeria (IMCN) and also holds membership of the Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM) as well as Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN)
Born on December 31, 1970, the new NIMASA DG is a native of Opobo Kingdom from Opobo-Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State. He is married to Elima Peterside, a Lawyer and they have three children.
