A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Norrison Quakers has taken a swipe at the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Navy, describing it as unnecessary.
Quakers who was Chairman at the recent ‘African day of the Oceans and Seas’ organised by NIMASA in Lagos said that what the agency really needs is a Coast Guard in order to effectively carry out its statutory security functions.
The senior advocate also noted that the NIMASA Act was amended in 2007 just to favour certain individual interests.
Speaking further, he said "The NIMASA Act was amended to favour some individuals, you cannot collaborate with the Navy, the function of the Navy is assigned to oversee the territorial waters and this is statutory.
"NIMASA must now also have its own Coast Guard which is common everywhere in the world.
"I recall that a particular client of mine was arrested by the NIMASA of then, I did not know there was a NIMASA detention centre across Apapa, it was my first time of going there. It is shocking to me that we are not really seeing their activities that we need to see" he said.
He insisted that NIMASA should be self-regulating. He also noted that the budget assigned to NIMASA to carry out its statutory function is inadequate and very shameful.
He said "NIMASA needs a huge budget to manage Nigerian maritime terrain, as I speak, I have an idea of what the budget is, it is minimal, paltry and shameful".
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