President Mohammed Buhari yesterday in Abuja called for collaborative measures among African countries in tackling Africa's maritime challenges including piracy and sea robbery, even as he reiterates governments’ commitment to tackle the issue of insecurity in the Niger Delta region.
The president stated this at the opening ceremony of the 3rd Conference of Association of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA).
President Buhari also launched the new Nigerian Maritime Administration & Safety Agency (NIMASA) logo.
Represented by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Buhari stated that efforts have been put in place to tackle the issue of insecurity in the Niger Delta region.
He admonished maritime administrators across the continent to continually work together in building strong maritime economies.
The Nigerian President bemoaned what he called the pillaging of African waters which has affected fishing activities with incidences of marine pollution
According to him, “We have set up engagement to resolve and address the misunderstanding and contentious issues in the Niger Delta which of cause is part of the Gulf of Guinea. We recently approved a new maritime security architecture and infrastructure to be jointly coordinated by NIMASA, office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Federal Ministry of Transport (FMOT).
“We have given required support to the Navy so that they can work with others within our sub region to effectively police our waters for trade. This arrangement will also contribute to resolving and eliminating piracy and sea robbery in our maritime domain. The result are encouraging and piracy have dropped dramatically especially in the last six months”
“We are also making substantive investment to improve human capacity by taking advantage of international trade in the shipping and maritime industry.
“We have paid significant attention to make it easy in doing business and one of our immediate priorities in this regard is the entry and exit of goods especially in our seaports. The measures we are putting in place is to increase efficiency of our port and to enable quick turnaround time of vessels. Technology is also being introduced to make our port operation effective to support economic growth. NIMASA as regulatory agency is being reformed to play effective role as a facilitator of economic prosperity.”
Also speaking at the event, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi stated that Nigeria, through the hosting of the event wishes to reinstate its commitment to continually contribute to the growth of the maritime sector on the continent of Africa and globally.
In his words, “The conference is not merely to praise the maritime sector of Africa but to tackle the maritime problems being encountered in the continent. It is regrettable that despite Africa's enormous maritime endowment, we remain susceptible to raft of challenges .
“These include insignificant share of cargo, low tonnage, piracy, sea robbery, undeclared and unregulated fishing, and environmental degradation; worse still there is no African flagged vessels taking cargoes and our waterways still wallow in servitude.
“The African human capacity is greatly underdeveloped, leaving us to rely on foreigners to drive our industry. There is also near total absence of trained coast-guard to monitor our maritime domain.”
In his welcome speech, the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside called for concerted, cooperative and collaborative efforts at tackling Africa’s maritime administration challenges.
According to him, Nigeria has waited with bated breath for this day and year to host this all important gathering.
“We are particularly delighted that this conference, the third in the series after the first in Mombasa, Kenya and the second in Sandton, South Africa is holding on our shores.
“Nigeria’s place in the maritime world is not only deserved, it is common knowledge.
“It (Nigeria) is special in the maritime community in Africa for a number of reasons,’’ the director-general said.
He said that Nigeria accounted for over 60 per cent of the total sea-borne traffic in volume and value in West and Central African region.
“As the sixth largest OPEC exporting country, we contribute significantly to the global energy supply and wet cargo traffic.“My country’s signature adorns all continental maritime initiatives and charters that seek to promote the development of Africa,’’ Peterside said.
Peterside told the conference participants that Nigeria was geo-strategically located as a major littoral state in the Gulf of Guinea.The director general added that by all estimations, Nigeria had become a leader high on the crest of maritime nations and determined to advance African maritime prosperity.
He added that only recently to further reinforce the critical role maritime could play in the development of Africa, the African Union (AU) Special Summit of Heads of Government on Maritime Security, Safety and Development in Lome, Togo on Oct. 15, 2016 aligned with Nigeria.
Mr Kitack Lim, the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), said AAMA should not relent in its determination to increase Africa’s share of global investments in the maritime sector.
Lim, who was represented by an official of the IMO, Mr William Azu, said that the maritime sector provided raw materials, foods, employment and transportation of 80 per cent of global trade.
According to him, many industries rely entirely on access to ocean resources, services and trade; and all these come into what one could call the “blue economy’’.
Discussion about this post