The talk in the Maritime sector now is blue economy, which experts say covers aquatic and marine life, such as oceans, seas, coasts, lakes, rivers and underground water. In this interview with OLUWAKEMI DAUDA, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General, Dr Dakuku Peterside says the agency is working hard to promote such economy. He also blames Nigeria’s loss in the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) council election on late preparation and wrong perception.
There’s been so much talk about blue economy. How can Nigeria tap into this?
The blue economy in African context covers both aquatic and marine spaces including oceans, seas, coasts, lakes, rivers and underground waters. It encompasses a range of productive sector. Fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, transport, ship building, energy bioprospecting, under water mining and related activity that we can tap into to boost the economy and create employment.
It may interest you to know that 38 of Africa’s 54 nations are coastal states. Ninety per cent of Africa’s import and exports are conducted by sea. Maritime zones under Africa’s jurisdiction total 13 sq km to 6.5sqkm of continental shelf. Africa’s 63 trans boundary river basins cover 64 per cent of the continent’s land area providing home to 77 per cent of the region’s population.
What is the implication of this?
The implication is that we have another Africa under the sea.
Why did Nigeria lose the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) election?
We lost the election based on late preparation. The fact is that we did not go round other countries like others did. It would have cost plenty of money, but we are not willing to spend such money. We had considered economic factors in the context of our political aspirations.
Nigeria contested for IMO category ‘C’ and for you to use the name Nigeria; you must get the approval of the man who is managing all the country. The president just got elected, so it would have gone through a process, we have lost some time but the approval eventually came. After we got the approval, there are also budgetary processes to go through, even if the approval was given two years ago, we also need to do the background work to get budgetary provision for it before we begin the campaign; all of these things affected our early preparations.
What is the lesson to take from this?
We cannot wake up as a country and say we are going to contest IMO elections. The rules of engagement require that we get the approval of the Federal Executive Council and that takes a process. Now that we know better, we are starting the next preparations immediately, because we deserve a place in the council of the IMO, these are what we meant by late preparations.
What was the cost implication?
Nigeria did not spend as much as other countries. Before, whenever Nigeria bids for elections in IMO, we will go from country to country. But this time, we are just coming out of recession and we did not think it is wise to send delegation from country to country. If we had got the commitment of other nations early before other got their commitment, the outcome will have been different. We are going to start preparation for the biannual election now. Countries such as Singapore, China, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) attended the IMO with a large retinue of delegates
What was the process?
The choice of who get elected into the council is actually a democratic process. We presented ourselves but a few things were not tidied up which has to do with administrative processes and our campaign was not as potent as it should have been.
What is your take on the high rate of piracy on our territorial waters?
I cannot deny the fact that the issue of piracy may have had some impact on the elections. Our colleagues did not have much information about what we were doing to tackle piracy and there was a general impression that Nigeria was not doing enough to tackle the issue of piracy. But Nigeria is always being misrepresented by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), because not all criminal activities on the waters can be classified as piracy. There is difference between piracy and other forms of maritime crimes. We have noticed that everything that happened within the Gulf of Guinea is referred to as piracy. Even when there is kidnapping within our inland waterways, it is referred to as piracy. We have taken this up with the IMB that we have been misrepresented.
What should IMB do?
There is difference between piracy and other forms of maritime crimes. They classify everything as cases of piracy instead of trying to do a distinction between it and other forms of crimes.
The G7 Friends of Gulf of Guinea Group is in Lagos. Can you comment on their mission in Nigeria?
The ‘G7 Friends of the Gulf of the Guinea Group’ is one of the international initiatives Nigeria is leveraging to strengthen the fight against piracy and other criminal activities on the sea. What you are seeing now is an international dimension to the fight against piracy and maritime crimes which is a new strategy. G7 is an initiative of the group towards finding lasting solution to the issues of security in the Gulf of Guinea. For the first time, they decided to take the programme outside the continent of Europe and the lot fell on Nigeria because they think the Gulf of Guinea suffers the peculiar problem and criminal activities on sea.
What is NIMASA doing to end waterways crime?
NIMASA has gone a step further to tackle piracy from four broad approaches. One legal framework. Through this, an anti-piracy bill is before the National Assembly which will soon be passed into law, thereby making Nigeria the first country in the whole of Africa to formulate such policy. Others are acquisition of military hardware, through partnership with an Israeli firm, which will enhance our response capabilities to criminal activities, enhancing our intelligence gathering system and regional integration and collaboration through working with other African countries. No piracy begins and ends in one jurisdiction; when there is a hot pursuit, they shift to another region, and on our part, we are determined to give them a hot chase through our partnership and other collaboration with other countries in the region. Nigeria is the first country in Africa that subjected itself to IMO audit, which rated Nigeria high in terms of security on its waterways in line with the International Ships and Ports Security (ISPS) facility code with Nigeria having complied by over 80 per cent. Also, in the area of ratification of IMO conventions, Nigeria has done very well, which is evident in the day-to-day running of the maritime sector in the country. We did not win the election due to the fact that we started fairly late in our campaign for the election, as the country was still coming back into the international reckoning with a new government. So NIMASA could not reach out early enough to its counterparts in other countries for support, some of whom have made up their minds.
What is the role of G7++Friends?
The G7++ Friends of Gulf of Guinea Group is headed by the Italian government and it is poised to ensure sustainable interest in the promotion of peace, security and development in the Gulf of Guinea.
What is the relationship between NIMASA and maritime union?
We have a robust relationship with Maritime Workers Union (MWUN). NIMASA is a home to every maritime worker. From the advent of this administration, we have noted that the union believes in dialogue and not confrontation in dealing with issues as it pertains to our operational relationship. We believe that the human element is the greatest asset in our quest to ensure the growth and development of our maritime sector. Without the human element, our equipment and other resources are useless. That is why we always acknowledged the complementary and symbiotic roles maritime workers, seafarers and dockworkers play in the sector. It is heartwarming to note that the MWUN leadership have clearly stated that maritime workers prefer engagement to confrontation, and we all know that confrontation is not usually the best approach. That is why our new capacity development initiatives are now tailored towards growing human capacity in the sector for immediate employment.
What is your take on the campaign against the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) mostly in Rivers State?
The campaign against the FSARS is being championed by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and probably the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). They have been shouting that SARS be scrapped. We all know that without the police in a society, we cannot maintain law and order. In order to enforce its mandate, which is the enforcement of law and order, the police created units and SARS was created as a response to violent crimes such as armed robbery and kidnapping. Unfortunately, these vices are worst in Rivers State. Consistently for the past 18 months, Rivers State has occupied number one position in high profile crimes. There have been recent cases of assassination and armed robbery.
What do you think is responsible for the campaign?
The SARS in Rivers State has been very potent in tackling such crimes. But because the state government seeks to control the unit and it has refused and insisted that it was an institution of the Federal Government, working for the general good of the people (it is under attack).
What is your concern?
My concern is that if we keep quiet as a people, this issue would assume a life of its own and we would have a society that is brutish and one where there’s a wind of crime. Another fact is that I am from that state and I think we should put things in proper perspective-that Nigerians support the police. We support the FSARS. We also support that the police be reformed to perform optimally like other institutions of government.
What should be done?
Rather than condemn them, we should advocate that both the federal and state governments should give them the tools to do their work. The government of Rivers State has singled out FSARS for attack because they are used to working in unholy alliance with some of these institutions. This particular unit has refused to compromise and so, they have initiated a campaign of calumny against them. But the ordinary people of Rivers State appreciate the sacrifices of FSARS.
Which sacrifices are you referring to?
They have helped to control high violent crimes in Rivers State. For the state to spend all her resources to campaign against a unit of an agency, shows that something must be wrong with some of those campaigning against the unit. Nobody could deny the fact that SARS has been very potent in tackling violent crimes and helped to reduce incidents of crimes and build confidence in the people.
What is the relationship between NIMASA and other security agencies?
The Director-General of the Defence Research and Development Bureau, Air Vice Marshall Jomo Osahor led his team to NIMASA to initiate new processes based on detailed research, which will in turn guarantee sustainable growth with a positive multiplier effect on the nation. I made it clear to them that we need to develop indigenous capabilities to build armoured and ballistic vessels amongst others, which will be specifically designed to suit our geographical terrain. It is only when the research capabilities of the armed forces are fully developed that we can maximise our military powers. We are now more knowledgeable that not everything in the country is imported. Yes, we cannot accomplish all over night, but with sustained efforts we will be there and even surpass them. We are also partnering with the Army, Navy and the Airforce. I commend them for their doggedness in ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Nigeria is not compromised. We are also partnering the Customs, police and other security agencies to promote peace in our land. On our part as NIMASA, we are open to all forms of developmental initiatives that can help better our maritime sector, especially in the area of maritime security.
How secure is Nigeria’s waterways?
As the Chairman of the Association of African Maritime Administration, (AAMA), I know that piracy attack on our water and the Gulf of Guinea has reduced tremendously as statistics shows that attacks on oil and gas installations, both onshore and offshore, reduced from 36 in the first half of year 2016 to nil in the corresponding period this year. The truth is that maritime security architecture in the Gulf of Guinea has political, strategic, regional, multinational and national components which are aimed at enhancing security in the region. The strategic operational headquarters to coordinate the implementation of the maritime security architecture in the region are located in Abuja Nigeria, Libreville in Gabon, Luanda in Angola, Pointe Noire in Congo and Yaoundé in Cameroun.
What is NIMASA doing to curb piracy?
Some of the efforts being put in place by NIMASA to curb piracy include; sponsoring anti-piracy bill in the National Assembly to enhance the legal framework to fight piracy, establishment of NIMASA-Navy Maritime Guard Command Unit to enhance the implementation of some of the provisions of UNCLOS Law; capacity building programme to enhance human and infrastructural capacity amongst others. The Federal Government has also approved heavy investment in maritime security which include command and control centre, acquisition of special mission aircraft, special mission patrol vessels, special mission helicopters, specially trained Naval personnel among others.
There has also been the issue of regional integration. What is NIMASA doing on this and blue economy?
NIMASA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ghanaian Maritime Authority (GMA). The intra-African collaboration is a vital requirement for Africans to effectively harness the natural potential that the blue economy represent for the continent. African countries must cooperate to solve challenges peculiar to the continent. All maritime nations on the African continent have comparative advantage in different areas, and only collaboration will ensure that we complement each other, thus ensuring that the maritime sector contributes effectively to the growth of the continent. The African maritime sector is richly endowed to the extent that coastal and aquatic ecosystems within the continent are treasures that provide diverse and vibrant natural resources. The importance of bilateral cooperation to solve maritime environmental challenges that transcend international boundaries in our coastal and aquatic ecosystem cannot be overemphasised. We are ready, and will give our support to tackle all associated maritime challenges that have over time impeded and slowed the region’s maritime sector progress. We are ready to work with Ghana and other African countries in all fronts within our defined and enabling capacities. NIMASA will not relent or derelict its duties and responsibilities within the contemplation of the MoU. The highlight of the MoU, include knowledge transfer and sharing Initiative between both agencies; joint capacity building initiative; cabotage enforcement joint study initiative; joint comparative research initiative and joint efforts to combat piracy and terrorism initiative.
