Dispute resolution in marine cargo claims

Nigeria is the most populous black race in the world with a population of 160 Million and a natural and unfettered access to the sea which makes it imperative for transactions involving carriage of goods by sea an indispensable aspect of trade and inter-continental commercial transactions; Nigeria’s trade volume is huge, notwithstanding, not much has been done in terms of proper legislation to commensurate the large import / export trade, nay, legal research and publication on Maritime issues in Nigeria are scanty. As such, the primary motivation for this study is to fill the existing gap and bring to the fore, the anomalies on shipping matters with special reference to marine cargo claims - a crucial issue to all cargo owners; this study amongst other things, aims to highlight the almost insurmountable legal obstacles which cargo owners face and by so doing, proffer suggestions to aid the success of cargo claims and expunge from our laws, unfair provisions in our statute books