Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports.
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASADirector-General, )’s Dr. Bashir Jamoh, has inaugurated the agency’s Expert Level Planning Team (ELPT) to draft the National Maritime Security Strategy (NMSS) to sustain the agency’s successes in the fight against piracy, it was learned.
The NIMASA chief also praised the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for appointing facilitators to provide technical assistance to Nigeria.
He stated that maritime security would be the agency’s top priority, noting that it is the foundation and guarantee of any shipping business.
He stated that the agency’s new maritime strategy would be the culmination of the various efforts, initiatives, and partnerships that the agency had begun under its maritime security, safety, and shipping development programs upon his arrival in March 2020.
“There can be no doubt that maritime security is the bedrock and guarantee of any meaningful shipping enterprise,” he says. “From the crew to the cargo to the carrier to the coast and quayside, there must be security for confidence to drive shipping economics.”
“Maritime security has always been and will always be a priority,” he said, noting that “you are all aware of the current successes in ensuring maritime security within the nation’s maritime domain and throughout the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).”
“The GoG region has seen an unprecedented decline in piracy incidents over the last three decades,” Jamoh claims. Only last week, the International Maritime Bureau (the IMB) finally confirmed all of our efforts, announcing for months that piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has actually decreased. We should all be proud of ourselves.
“This is also a result of the Agency’s collaborative efforts with other relevant government bodies such as the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Police Force, Nigerian Army, the Department of State Security (DSS), and a number of other state and non-state actors and stakeholders with security responsibilities,” he added.
The Director-General stated that the agency was aware of the dynamic nature of maritime security threats, emphasizing the importance of taking deliberate and necessary steps to ensure the sustainability of its accomplishments by establishing a coordinated approach in dealing with maritime security issues in the country and beyond.
