Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi and his Foreign Affairs counterpart, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, on Monday solicited support from Heads of foreign missions in the country’s quest for re-election into the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Council.
A statement by the Head, Corporate Communications, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr Isichei Osamgbi, on Monday, noted that the ministers spoke at a cocktail dinner in honour of foreign missions in Abuja.
The dinner was jointly organised by the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The `C’ of the IMO is one of the highest decision-making bodies of the Council.
The election into the council will be held during the 30th Regular session of the IMO Assembly in London from November 27 to December 8, 2017.
Onyeama said that as a key player in the global maritime industry, Nigeria had played active leadership roles in ensuring the development of the sector not only within the country but also in the entire West and Central Africa sub-region.
He gave an assurance of Nigeria’s readiness to ensure optimum performance through curbing piracy, preventing marine pollution, re-invigoration of its ports and capacity building.
“I wish to inform you that we have enacted proactive policies that conform to global best practices in the maritime sector.
“More specifically through NIMASA, we have domesticated a number of IMO maritime safety conventions with a view to ensuring maritime safety and security not only in our domain but in the entire West and Central Africa sub-region,’’ he said.
In the same vein, Amaechi said that Nigeria had taken a lead role in African maritime sector.
He said that the Regional Search and Rescue Coordination Centre (RMRCC) in Lagos coordinated Search and Rescue (SAR) activities in Nigeria and Africa sub region which comprised Togo, Benin Republic, Cameroun and Congo.
Others include Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea as well as Sao Tome and Principe.
The minister said that the Federal Government had approved the establishment of an Integrated National Surveillance and Waterways Infrastructure Protection which would ensure security in the Nigerian maritime domain.
Also, the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr Dakuku Peterside, said that Nigeria occupied a special position in the African Maritime sector based on the length of its coastline and the attendant volume of trade.
According to Peterside, Nigeria has a coastline of over 850km and 65 per cent of the cargo heading to Africa would end up in Nigeria.
“We are the first country in Africa to enact a Coastal and Inland Trade Law (Cabotage Law) and we are likely going to be the first to enact an anti-piracy bill and so we are committed to taking shipping to the next level,’’ he said.
The Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Harry Purwento and his counterpart from Syria, Mohammed Abo Serriah, commended Nigeria’s achievements in recent times and pledged support toward the election of Nigeria into the IMO Council seat.
They said that aside supporting Nigeria’s bid, they would also canvass for votes for the country after seeing the strides being made by Nigeria in the entire African maritime sector.
NAN reports that Nigeria through NIMASA, is seeking re-election into the Category `C’ of the IMO council which is coming up later this year.
Nigeria lost the seat in 2011 but improvements have been made in the past two years, which puts the country in a good stead to clinch the seat of one of the highest decision-making body of the IMO Council.
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