The National Maritime Authority (NMA), predecessor of NIMASA, was established by the Shipping Policy Decree of 11 May 1987, and was supervised by the Federal Ministry of Transport.

[3] The oil platforms off the Niger Delta are vulnerable, and the decree recognized the role of maritime cargo carriage in defense.

[4] The decree establishing the NMA applied the 40-40-20 principal defined by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

[6] However, members of the American-West African Shipping Conference said they had been arbitrarily denied shipments by the NMA, an issue raised several times by the United States government.

[7] In 1988, the NMA announced that it would be setting up freight booking offices in Liverpool, London, Hamburg, Paris, Tokyo, New York and Brazil.

Dr. Bassey U. Ekong, Director General of the NMA, said the centers would record all inbound Nigerian cargos and would ensure "full implementations of UNCTAD's 40-40-20 principle".

One particularly harsh characterization was that the NMA was "a dead dog, but a dangerous one, because it sucks blood by collecting money in hard currency for services not rendered".

[15] Writing in 2004, Ayodeji Olukoju said "In effect, both the indigenous entrepreneurs and the National Maritime Authority merely play the role of rent collectors.

The latter's earnings (in hard currency) rather than serve in any meaningful way to develop the industry have simply made it a veritable honey-pot plundered by successive governments and their agents".

In December 2009 the agency said it was setting up a fund which would cover 40% of the cost of a nautical education, with the student being responsible for the remainder.

However, NIMASA and the United Nations were concerned that MASECA could be in conflict with the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, which does not allow merchant ships to be armed.

[29] In 2009, President Umaru Musa Yaradua appointed Senator Baba Tela as the Board Chairman of NIMASA.

[34] As of June 2011 the Chairman of the board was Alhaji Adamu Mu'Azu, and the Director General and Chief Executive Officer was Zaikede Patrick Akpobolokemi.

Dr. Dakuku Adolphus Peterside assumed duty as the Director General/CEO of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on Tuesday March 15, 2016.

[39] On March 4, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the appointment of Bashir Y Jamoh as the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

[40] Bashir Y. Jamoh was the Executive Director Finance and Administration before he succeeded Dakuku Peterside whose tenure as NIMASA DG ended on March 10, 2020.

On 12 March 2024, President Tinubu appointed Dr. Dayo Mobereola, a former commissioner for transportation in Lagos state as the agency's new D.G., on the expiration of the tenure of the outgoing D.G.