The National Boundary Commission (NBC) says it is delineating Nigeria’s maritime boundaries with its neighbours to maximise the country’s growing blue economy.
The NBC Director-General, Mr Adamu Adaji, stated this on Sunday in Abuja, while assessing the impact of President Bola Tinubu’s administration after two years in office.
Adaji told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the commission had made progress in delineating Nigeria’s maritime boundaries with Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Benin Republic and Ghana.
“For Ghana, there has been some stalemate in terms of our efforts to define the boundary, but we’ve gotten them back on track and we are making progress.
“We have plans to meet to continue the progress this year to make sure that we define the boundaries.
“For the maritime boundary between us and Equatorial Guinea, we’re also managing it properly.
“We also have plans, this year, to continue with the discussions towards defining the remaining aspect – the remaining length of the boundary that is still outstanding, about three nautical miles,” he said.
Adaji said that the effort was to make sure that Nigeria’s maritime territories were well defined, secured and protected.
He added that in line with promotion of the blue economy, the resources in the affected maritime boundaries would be defined for proper management.
Speaking on Nigeria’s extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles by the UN, the D-G said that the government would soon roll out plans to harness its resources.
He also disclosed the possibility of Nigeria getting additional extension of the continental shelf.
“After getting more, the government will now commence processes of trying to see how they can maximize all the benefits.
“This is because that area is an area where we have resources that can benefit the country. For example, we have minerals like hydrocarbons and metallic modules that can be of benefit to the country.
“There are other resources, which by the time we start exploration, they will be of great benefit to the country,” he said.
Speaking on securing the maritime boundaries, Adaji said that a committee had been set up under the Ministry of Defence along with Nigeria’s neighbours to provide adequate security for the maritime sector.
Stressing the need for the combined efforts, the D-G said “we are working closely with our neighbours to make sure that we jointly patrol the area and ensure maximum security for the maritime sector.
