Barrister Nwagbara Osuala [Maritime Lawyer]
Barrister Nwagbara Osuala [Maritime Lawyer]
I am a bit worried about concession of maritime security because security all over the world, be it on maritime or at any order level should remain in the public domain and it’s a public affair particularly when it involves the nation at large and when you talk about maritime security, what comes to mind is that you are looking at the territorial waters, the inland waters, continental shelves, you are looking at the port facilities, ships that berth in our ports and even inland container depots. In other words, you are looking at the whole maritime sector and that is why it is called the maritime security and I believe that it is a public matter that is very serious. It is not one that you expect to make profit because to concession necessarily means the concessionaire is in business to provide service and to make profit out of that. I believe that it will be too early in the day to make maritime security in Nigeria issues for private concessioning mean it should not be concessioned into private hands because we still believe that government is in a better position to provide security in the maritime sub – sector. If however government starts it and it is done well, we can fine – tune it in such a way as to see how private hands can manage maritime security issues. So, I believe that it is too early in the day to think that we should concession maritime security to private hands. It goes beyond providing safety on our waters, it involves intervention when there is distress at sea, that is when a vessel is on distress at sea and intervention is a part of maritime security. Checking vessels that trade on Nigeria waters and how they operate in terms of providing the necessary facilities on board the ship is part of what security entails. It’s not just parading the waters and scaring away pirates, its much more than that. However my take in summary is that Nigeria should not concession maritime security into private hands.
Rev.Cole Chiori [M.D.Oceanglory Limited]
Stakeholders are of the saying that it is a mere duplication of functions on the part of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency [NIMASA].To me giving our territorial water to a private individual is unfair because the Navy are on standby to address external attack, but if the president says this is what he wants and he can man it effectively, with me I cannot kick against it and what we should say is for all to allow the President to do his job in conjunction with the Nigeria Navy.
Prince Obums Anene [Deputy National President, NAGAFF]
It is a welcome idea by the president because it is their territory; they know the terrain very well. I am not saying that the Nigerian Navy are not capable, but they truly need these people go get information about what is going on at sea, because information matters a lot It is part of the effort government is putting to ensure safety in our waters by bring those that can assist to combat the ills on our waters. In my own opinion, I will say that they can assist the Navy very well and I want to believe that before the president came out with the motive of concessioning the maritime security, I know he must have done his underground work before his decision, because they cannot do it alone; I mean the private hands therefore, the armed force must be there as well. For government to bring these guys closer shows that they are truly ready to assist in their own way, just like the way late President Yar Adua did with amnesty. We are not happy that ships coming into the country are not safe because of pirate attacks.
Chima Sampson [Registrar NIS]
My opinion is that, we are not getting things done the right way, that’s the way I view it from my own perspective. If you take a look at other maritime nations, whether developed or developing, we follow the trend. There must be a Coast Guard, aside from the navy. The role of the navy is clearly defined, which is to defend the nation against external aggression. Navy is military, their military activity is clearly defined. Maritime is purely commercial business; the nation’s territorial water must be clearly protected. When we talk of the activities of the pirates in the water, the navy has a role to play but there must also be trained coast guards who will police the waters, who will take care of the territorial water and enforce other maritime regulations that are stipulated by the international body. So, my opinion then is, when it is concessioned out by the presidency, because there was a controversy that NIMASA is already playing that role. Well, if they are going to exist or not, we should not leave out the existence of the coast guards.
Chris Sadoh (Stars Maritime Academy)
Well, I will say no. The reason being that this is a nation and as a nation we have those who are elected to move this nation forward and those who are elected also have their ministers and others to advise them on the way forward as far as this nation is concerned. The question I want to ask is does it mean that if we do not concession or privatize some of the establishments that we in this nation, we cannot make a headway? Absolutely, it is wrong that the maritime security will be given to private individuals. Why do we have the government in the first place? Why do we have the navy and every other security agency? Are we now saying that these people are not measuring up? What is happening in this nation is that we are always doing things to serve our own interest and you will agree with me that those people that will get the job as private companies are still those from the federal government and that is why things are not moving forward today, look at what happened with subsidy regime. I am totally against the concession of the maritime security to private hands.
Godstime Omowele [NUPENG Member]
I do not support the motive that is behind the concession of maritime security to private individual. The big question is what is wrong with the present security on our waters that is the marine Police, Customs and Nigeria Navy, is it that they can no longer maintain security in our waters? These are some of the things that we should put into considerations by finding the motive behind the President’s move to concession the maritime security to some set of people. If the motive is good, then we will say is a welcome idea, but if the motive is bad then there is no need for such. If the president can tell us the motive behind the concessioning maritime security to private hands, then it is welcome .If the Nigeria navy cannot handle the security on the Nigerian waters then nobody would be able to do that, because government funds the navy and a private company cannot provide adequate apparatus like the government.
Olanife Adeoye (Petroleum Marketer)
If it is a reputable private company or outfit then I will say yes, because presently, all the hands of government cannot be trusted, we have discovered that private organizations, if they are reputable organizations can perform well, this is so because the payment of their wages depends on performance, we have so many other companies competing, if they cannot perform well others will take it from them, but I cannot say yes to this now because the company has been reported to be affiliated to a militant, if we are allocating billions to NNPC and yet we can refine products locally or build refineries, then a private hand should be tried in patrolling the waters, if this will make it work, we know how much is given to police every year but then the security system is not there. So the money should not be the problem but the performance and security on the waterways should be our major concern, no amount should be too much for our security, especially on our waters.
Ray Ugochukwu (Maritime Reporter)
If what is being speculated that maritime security and patrol in Nigeria is being concessioned to an individual or a company is true, I don’t think it is a good development for Nigeria, it has a lot of implications for Nigeria, for a whole country to hand over the security of its maritime domain to a private organization is not very good. It is as good as saying, we have OPC, so let there be no police but OPC in the west, MASSOB takes charge in the South east, Militants take over Niger Delta, and already the Boko Haram are in the north. So you can see that it does not augur well, if there must be any public private partnership, it should be done in such a way that government will be in charge.
Barr. Chinedu Ogbonna (Custom Officer)
Securing our maritime domain should not be an issue with a private security outfit in order to avoid a situation in the future where people will be armed and well- equipped and at the end of the day destabilize the nation, because a private security outfit is likely to be armed if they are to operate effectively on our waterways, this is a big risk because they will not be part of any security meeting, it is not something that should be toyed with. For me I think the people that have statutory responsibility on the waters, the police and navy should be empowered and be left in charge, other than this, it is a disaster waiting to happen.
Aisuodionoe Fidel (Petroleum Marketer)
If Mr. President who is the commander- in- chief of armed forces in Nigeria decides to give maritime security or patrolling of our waterways to a private company, I think there is nothing wrong in that, but the question will be “how competent are they”. If they are competent, then it is good they give it to them so that the navy and other security agencies can focus on other aspects of security, we equally know that in other parts of the world, reputable private companies are contracted by the government either to serve as private investigators to compliment the efforts of the nation’s military or the police, but these are people that have good track records. But, in Nigeria, there is corruption everywhere and the fear of Nigerians and the system is that corruption does not allow things to work here. But if this idea can stand, then the marine police or the navy can now serve as a watchdog over this private security firm and the water will become more secured, unlike before when they choose their time and mode of patrol, when a private firm falls short, then the government can now try them personally, they have a master to report to unlike before when there is no master.
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