The nation owes the Nigerian Trawler Owners Association (NITOA) a great deal of gratitude for the attention that has now been turned to the menace called piracy and sea robbery within Nigeria’s territorial waters.
It was the association that first blew the whistle on what has become a means of livelihood for hoodlums, miscreants and militants across the length and breadth of the Niger Delta region and Lagos.
Since then, attention (albeit slowly) has shifted to the nefarious activities of the sea robbers and the pirates.
The nation owes the Nigerian Trawler Owners Association (NITOA) a great deal of gratitude for the attention that has now been turned to the menace called piracy and sea robbery within Nigeria’s territorial waters.
It was the association that first blew the whistle on what has become a means of livelihood for hoodlums, miscreants and militants across the length and breadth of the Niger Delta region and Lagos.
Since then, attention (albeit slowly) has shifted to the nefarious activities of the sea robbers and the pirates.
The local and international statistics are scary enough to underscore the economic and social dangers that are faced by victims of piracy or sea robbery.
The figures are indeed scary, more so now that the menace is no longer targeted at fishing trawlers, but on ships laden with refined and crude oil as well as on dry cargo ships.
Nigeria is now ranked next to lawless Somalia in piracy. She holds an unenviable record of being a giant in piracy activities in the Gulf of Guinea.
A lot has been said about the various options that we have as a nation. These option ranges from the NIMASA/Navy alliance, the Coast Guard option and the controversial MASECA option. There is also the laughable maritime domain contract between NIMASA and a private firm; Global West Vessel Specialist
The NIMASA/ Navy Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) gave birth to the Maritime Guard Command which is domiciled in NIMASA. It is this command that is largely responsible for the increasing rate of arrests of sea robbers and pirates in recent times.
Without boring anyone with statistics that are already in public domain, the current rating and the alarm that was raised by the International Maritime Bureau about piracy in the Gulf of Guinea is enough reason to reappraise our approach.
It is shocking that while piracy is reducing in the Gulf of Aden where Somali pirates are gods, it is escalating in the Gulf of Guinea and Nigerian pirates are being fingered for contributing immensely to it.
It is against these shocking realities and the monumental exposures that we want to commend the collaboration between NIMASA and the Nigerian Navy.
But, even as much as we agree that the alliance is producing results, we are still greatly of the opinion that it is not a most acceptable way of tackling the menace. It is a model that can not be cited outside of our shores.
The same applies to the NIMASA/ Global West marriage which involves the engagement of the later to supply platforms for anti-piracy operations. It is also a Nigerian creation that is not tenable in the comity of nations.
The most reasonable model appears to be Coast Guard, which is already a tested global model in the fight against piracy and all forms of vices associated with seafaring. The question is : if the Coast Guard apparatus has been tested and adjudged adequate in other maritime domains, what do we have against it in Nigeria.
It is even more curious that the same forces that are against the establishment of Coast Guard are those that are also working against the establishment of a Maritime Security Agency (MASECA).
We stress it again that it is the statutory responsibility of NIMASA to ensure a safe and secure water for ships, crew and cargo, the ad hoc arrangement with Navy or any institutions for that matter is just what it is – purely, ad hoc.
If NIMASA can not do it alone, then, we are in support of the creation of a Coast Guard.
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