Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside has frowned at the resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta region of the country, saying it impairs economic growth
Dr. Peterside who stated this while meeting with staff and stakeholders in Warri as part of his working visit to the Central Zone in continuation of hisfamiliarisation tour of the Agency's offices and facilities expressed deep worry about incessant militancy and youth restiveness in the region.
He also called on opinion leaders and elders in the region to call the restive youths to order so as to engender the development of the Niger Delta Region.
“We have a problem; the level of insecurity in the Niger Delta cannot be an incentive to economic growth. And so when you say everything moves to Lagos, they are reacting to the forces of demand and supply, economic factors", he acknowledged.
Dr. Peterside observed that the level of insecurity in the region has rather scared away genuine investors who think that the region is not safe to do business.
Responding to questions from stakeholders, the DG said that peace is the panacea for the development of the Niger Delta region.
While acknowledging that some of the demands of the agitators are germane, the DG noted that there are better ways of going about their demands without degrading the environment by bursting pipelines that take away the livelihoods of a lot of people in coastal communities.
He however expressed the agency's determination to strengthen its Zonal operations to become the centre of the Agency's activities.
He said there are plans to devolve more power to the Zonal offices, grant them more autonomy and authority to handle the Agency's statutory mandate withoutrecourse to the head office.
The DG assured stakeholders that the Agency has concluded plans to automate its processes to enhance efficiency in the discharge of its duties.
He noted that staff are the most valuable resource of the Agency and assured them of Management's commitment to the enhancement of their welfare to engender greater productivity at all times.
Dr. Peterside promised that NIMASA management will do all that is necessary to provide the right working tools for staff who he charged to redouble their efforts towards making the Agency a performance driven organisation that all Nigerians will be proud of.
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