By GODWIN OBI
It was a huge moment of sober reflection as maritime as stakeholders from diverse divides stormed Lagos Wednesday in to discuss the theme, “Maritime Security: Emerging Threats And Actionable Steps.”
Addressing at the Maritime Annual Lecture put together by the Maritime Reporters Associaion of Nigeria ‘MARAN’ it’s President , Mr. Godfrey Bivbere observed that the regeneration of piracy activities and its security threats in the Gulf of Guinea, GoG in the first half of 2023 generated an issue of concern to the association, and therefore felt dissatisfied with just being an onlooker. He also resolved to undertake an informed interrogation of the menace aimed at combating the scourge via an improved and a much more concerted collective will and focus.
The MARAN President observed with regrets the resurgence of maritime insecurities in the GOG, worrying that high profile illegal fishing that is linked to international syndicate has become the order of the day without corresponding effort to tackle it frontally
Mr. Bivbere further disclosed that MARAN was also worried about the huge statistics in Nigerian crude oil theft; and the attendant adverse effects it has had on the national economy; which had reportedly led to the gradual but unceasing dwindling economic fortunes of the country.
According to him, “MARAN is also worried about observed dissonance in the collective national effort to combat maritime economic crimes and crude oil smuggling, and call on the federal government and its relevant agencies to improve on coordination. I want to also especially call on the office of the National Security Adviser to the President, to have a firmer grip and supervision of the existing collaboration between state and non-state actors’ roles, in this regard.
“The International Maritime Bureau, IMB report of July 2023 confirmed that the GoG witnessed a surge in maritime incidents in 2023, with five of such incidents in the first quarter and nine in the second quarter. Out of these, 12 were classified as armed robberies and two as piracy, predominantly targeting anchored vessels within the region. In all the incidents, 14 crew members were kidnapped, out of which 8 were abducted from vessels on anchor. Additionally, in two separate hijacks, 31 crew members were taken hostage, communication and navigation equipment were destroyed, and some cargoes were stolen.
“We challenge the Nigeria Government and her regional counterparts to come up with a more workable and result oriented approach to the fight against maritime insecurity in the GOG. We believe that until and unless the international syndicates involved in the menace are confronted, apprehended and regularly exposed, through international collaboration as often happens with local criminals, the situation will not achieve any purposeful deterrence
“MARAN respectfully, wishes to further urge President Tinubu to provide an improved enabling environment for a common and united combat against maritime insecurity through effective harnessing of all available windows, both public and private sector participation.”
On his part, a former President of MARAN and Publisher of Shipping Position Daily, Mr. SESAN Onileimo believed that the threats that the nation observed come as a result of unemployment adding that the amount of unemployed youth that Nigeria had were willing tools for maritime insecurity even as he maintained that the insecurity in the country was also domiciled.
Expressing his doubt that the youths in other parts of the country would go to the Niger-Delta and go to the waters to feed from, he insisted that “There’s a mass of unemployed youth that the society has foisted on us, an idle hand is a willing tool.”
“And I will like to look at this from two angles, there are two categories of unemployed willing youths: the ones trained by NIMASA under its National Seafarers Development Programme who were trained, qualified with or without CoC but waiting to have something to do. They are there, they want to be active, they are the tools that are being used to forment trouble.
“The second leg are those boys and girls who are trained locally, some of them are trained at MAN Oron, but there are those that are trained even in Agege here who wear uniforms so much so like that of the Navy, they are equipped and recruited into that business that has turned out to be a source of threat to our maritime environment.
“I am saying this because in the course of my years as a maritime journalist, I have had a course to interact with a few of them. If you go to Liverpool here, I am sure the Maritime Workers’ Union will bear me witness; the boys and girls who graduated from Oron, who have turned out to be canoe boys, were not trained in Oron to be handling canoe and boats but there is no job for them. These are the same boys who had five years of training but afterwards, there is no job. Take that guy to Niger-Delta, he is ready to do anything for as long as the money is available”, he said.
Also speaking, the President of the Nigerian Indigenous Shipowners Association, NISA, Mr. Sola Adewumi said that Nigeria should work to have a safe sea where one could move on, sail his ship to wherever he wanted to do his business and come back safely. Insisting that there was so much competition at sea,he maintained that the equipment were there but with inefficient people to man them.
He said, “If any of you have had the opportunity of entering the Navy’s situation room known as the Falcon Eye, there’s nothing that happens at sea that they don’t see but you will realize that most of our security agents are engrossed with what will come into their pockets. A situation whereby they do everything to their advantage is one of the reasons why we are having issues.
“What did Lome have that we do not have in Nigeria?This is the question we should just ask ourselves. These people saw our weakness and made sure that their anchorage was secured. It attracts international operators and they started making money out of it. What is the work of our security agencies? And even when arrests are made, are they not made on frivolous excuses? All these things still go to say what is going to be the benefit to me.
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2023-11-30
