Ahead of the December International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Council Election, Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, has called on the international maritime community to support Nigeria’s bid for reinstatement into Category C.
Speaking at the third Seminar of the Atlantic Center in Lisbon Portugal on Tuesday, Jamoh sought support of Nigeria’s friends to vote for the country into the council of IMO in the election that comes up in few weeks time.
He said: “We ask for your vote and count on your continued confidence in the efforts of Nigeria to work in partnership with other nation states in the Gulf of Guinea to continue keeping our corridor of the Atlantic Ocean a safe passage for seafarers, their vessels and the vital supplies they transport for our common sustenance”.
The DG who also requested removal of Nigeria by the global shipping community from designation as a war risk zone which causes increased insurance premium, also explained recent efforts by the Federal Government to make the country’s waters safer for crew members, vessels and cargoes.
He added that deployment of security vessels on waters adjoining the Atlantic Ocean should be in line with international laws without undermining the national sovereignty of countries within West and Central Africa.
Jamoh said “In 2018, Nigeria initiated a project known as Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure (Deep Blue Project), as a robust tool to combat piracy, armed robbery, and other maritime crimes within Nigeria’s territorial waters and by extension the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).
“To further bolster Nigeria’s effort in fighting crimes at sea, the government signed into law the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act, (SPOMO) 2019. This piece of legislation gave effect in Nigeria to the provisions of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982 on piracy and the International Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Navigation (SUA), 1998 and its protocol. Since the law came into effect, convictions of at least 20 pirates have been secured under the Act with offenders currently serving various jail terms.
“At the regional level, following the United Nations Security Council resolutions of 2011 and 2012 Calling on the countries in the ECOWAS, ECCAS, and the GoG to work together on a strategy to fight piracy, armed robbery, and other illegal activities at sea in the Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria joined other heads of States and governments to sign the Yaoundé Declaration on the 25th of June 2013 to collaborate in the fight against piracy and other crimes in their Atlantic oceans. This decoration known as the ‘Yaoundé declaration’ led to the establishment of the Inter-regional Coordination Centre (ICC Yaoundé)
“Further to this, Nigeria together with the ICC Yaoundé is engaged with the major international shipping industry and commodities groups (INTERTANKO, INTERCARGO, ICS, OCIMF, BIMCO) to develop a framework known as the Gulf of Guinea, Maritime Collaboration Forum on Shared Awareness and Deconfliction i.e. GoG-MCF/SHADE.
“The framework is a multilateral initiative involving industry stakeholders and member countries in West and Central Africa and the Gulf of Guinea on Information sharing and incident reporting, Cooperation at Sea, and Air De-confliction. The G7++ FOGG is another multinational collaboration with regional countries on Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea.
“Whilst multilateral and multinational collaboration and cooperation are desirable for maintaining safety and security of not only the Atlantic but the entire oceans and seas of the planet Earth, however, such must be done within the complex web of international relations and diplomacy so as not to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of any country, big or small.
“Therefore, while appreciating the principle of ‘Mare Liberum’, a unilateral declaration by private entities to deploy warships to the waters contiguous to the Atlantic seas of West Africa is not amenable to good international relations. Likewise, the idea of Coordinated Maritime Presence (CMP) scheme, used by some countries to deploy frigates to the Atlantic oceans of West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea should be with the consent and agreement of the countries within the sub-continent in line with international laws and as a mark of respect for the dignity of their people and the sovereignty of their nations.
“At the continental level, Nigeria is a party to the Charter on Maritime Security and Safety and Development in Africa signed in September 2016 in Lomé, Togo (Lomé Charter). One of the objectives of the charter is to prevent and suppress national and transnational crime, including terrorism, piracy, armed robbery against ships, drug trafficking, smuggling of migrants, trafficking in persons, and all other kinds of trafficking through the sea and IUU fishing”.
I like this internet site because so much utile stuff on here : D.
It¦s actually a cool and helpful piece of info. I am glad that you shared this useful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
I think other website owners should take this web site as an example , very clean and fantastic user genial layout.
Great work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and visit my website . Thanks =)
A lot of whatever you mention is supprisingly precise and it makes me wonder the reason why I had not looked at this with this light previously. Your article really did turn the light on for me personally as far as this specific issue goes. But at this time there is just one position I am not really too cozy with and whilst I try to reconcile that with the central theme of your issue, allow me see exactly what all the rest of the readers have to say.Nicely done.
I’m still learning from you, but I’m trying to achieve my goals. I certainly love reading everything that is written on your website.Keep the tips coming. I loved it!
I have recently started a blog, the information you offer on this web site has helped me greatly. Thanks for all of your time & work.
Thank you, I have recently been searching for info about this subject for ages and yours is the best I’ve discovered till now. But, what about the conclusion? Are you sure about the source?
Only a smiling visitant here to share the love (:, btw great style.
Some truly interesting info , well written and broadly speaking user pleasant.
Hello.This article was extremely motivating, especially because I was browsing for thoughts on this subject last Wednesday.
Regards for all your efforts that you have put in this. very interesting info .
I precisely wanted to say thanks yet again. I do not know what I would’ve done in the absence of the concepts revealed by you regarding such problem. This was a very traumatic dilemma in my view, however , finding out a new expert tactic you processed it took me to jump for delight. I will be thankful for your support and in addition wish you comprehend what an amazing job that you are providing educating the others by way of your webpage. Most likely you have never met any of us.
My partner and I absolutely love your blog and find a lot of your post’s to be exactly what I’m looking for. can you offer guest writers to write content in your case? I wouldn’t mind publishing a post or elaborating on a few of the subjects you write regarding here. Again, awesome web log!
Thank you for helping out, good information. “The surest way to be deceived is to think oneself cleverer than the others.” by La Rochefoucauld.
Great remarkable issues here. I am very glad to look your post. Thanks so much and i’m having a look forward to contact you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?
I would like to thnkx for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I am hoping the same high-grade blog post from you in the upcoming as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a good example of it.
I discovered your weblog web site on google and check a couple of of your early posts. Proceed to maintain up the superb operate. I simply additional up your RSS feed to my MSN News Reader. Seeking ahead to studying more from you later on!…
You made certain nice points there. I did a search on the subject and found mainly folks will agree with your blog.
It¦s actually a great and useful piece of info. I am glad that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
Valuable info. Lucky me I found your site by accident, and I am shocked why this accident didn’t happened earlier! I bookmarked it.
I like this post, enjoyed this one thanks for putting up.
I got what you mean , regards for putting up.Woh I am lucky to find this website through google. “Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.” by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
It is really a nice and helpful piece of information. I’m glad that you shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
Hi there! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I genuinely enjoy reading through your posts. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with the same topics? Thanks for your time!
Its such as you learn my thoughts! You seem to grasp a lot about this, such as you wrote the book in it or something. I believe that you simply could do with some percent to force the message house a bit, but instead of that, this is fantastic blog. An excellent read. I will certainly be back.
Magnificent goods from you, man. I have bear in mind your stuff previous to and you’re just extremely fantastic. I actually like what you’ve obtained here, certainly like what you’re saying and the way in which you assert it. You’re making it enjoyable and you continue to care for to keep it sensible. I can not wait to read far more from you. That is really a great web site.