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Tag: Nigerian Maritime administration and Safety Agency

  • 2019: Amaechi, other Rivers APC leaders adopt Sahara Oil boss Tonye Cole for governorship

    Oil magnate, Tonye Dele-Cole, is poised to fly the flag of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Rivers State governorship election next year, following the adoption of his candidacy by stakeholders at their apex leadership caucus meeting in Lagos on Thursday.

    Observers had expected the ticket to be a straight fight between the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr.Dakuku Peterside and Senator Magnus Abe.

    That, however, was not to be as the Lagos meeting, presided over by Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, who doubles as APC leader in Rivers State, gave Cole the nod.

    Other party leaders at the Lagos meeting included oil magnate, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs; the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside; a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party, Chief Sam Jaja and Senator Andrew Uchendu (Rivers East).

    Informed sources said that Amaechi wanted a ‘neutral’ candidate that would be largely acceptable to the mainstream APC in the state as well as the Abe faction of the party.

    Amaechi has been pushing for a candidate from the riverine part of the state to take over from the incumbent governor, Nyesom Wike. The riverine area has not produced governor since 1999.

    Cole, an architect and Chief Executive of Sahara Energy, is a son of Dr. Partick Dele Cole, a former managing director of Daily Times and a former ambassador of Nigeria to Brazil.

    He is from Abonnema-Kalabari, headquarters of Akuku-Toru (rivernine) Local Government Area.

    He attended the Lagos meeting along with Peterside who was the party’s candidate in the 2015 election.

    The NIMASA boss welcomed Cole’s endorsement yesterday as did Abe, who was not at the meeting. But Abe said he was not aware that Cole was an APC member.

    Peterside, in his response, said: “Our leader, Rt. Hon. Amaechi,” whose leadership they all subscribed to, made a decision on who members of the party in Rivers State should back for the office of governor of Rivers State in 2019, with the lot falling on his friend and brother in Christ (Cole).

    “I made a commitment to the group earlier to stand by whatever decision the leader makes in the overall interest of the party and Rivers State. I reiterated my position yesterday (on Thursday) in the leadership meeting. I thus stand by the decision on Tonye Cole.

    “We have toiled from 2013 to date (a period of five years) and have made sacrifices and lost lives in the course of enthroning the kind of government we want in Rivers State; a government that will guarantee peace, unity and prosperity. In the course of the struggle, we bonded as one indivisible family under God.

    “The decision by the leader has been met with mixed reactions, which is expected. My appeal is that we allow the greater interest of APC and Rivers State to prevail.

    “To those who believe in the vision I shared in the past five years, the leadership I gave at various times and the path of loyalty to the cause I have chosen over time, I urge you all to stand by the Leader, the party and the ordinary people of Rivers State in support of Tonye Cole.

    “I personally pledge my loyalty to the Leader (who is to me family) and the decision he has made. I enjoin all my supporters to queue behind our leader (Amaechi) and ensure total victory for our party.”

    Peterside also prayed for unity among the members of APC and victory in the 2019 elections.

    Abe, a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG), who hails from Bera-Ogoni in the upland part, said on the phone yesterday that he was “not aware of any meeting of APC stakeholders in Rivers State that has been held and endorsed anybody.”

    He added: “I have said it on several occasions that anyone who is interested in serving Rivers people should come forward and offer themselves and make their plans known.

    “If a Tonye Cole has been so endorsed, it is a very welcome development. He should come forward and offer himself and make himself known to Rivers people.

    “I, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, have said I am going to vie for the governorship ticket of our party, the APC, and I want to repeat that I will vie for the governorship ticket of APC.

    “Every other Rivers son or daughter who believes that he or she has the capacity and the experience to offer the needed services that our state needs at this time is welcome.

    “As far as I know, I have not known Tonye Cole to be a member of the party (APC). But if he has decided to join the party as to contest for the governorship, it is a welcome development.”

  • NIMASA hands over rescue copter to navy

    The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on Friday handed over its 16-seater AW149 Search and Rescue helicopter to the Nigeria Navy (NN) for for better maritime domain security.

    The handover, according to NIMASA’s Executive Director Operations, Rotimi Fasakin, followed a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari that the helicopter which was acquired by NIMASA in 2007 be handed over to the NN.

    The Nation reports that the helicopter which was developed and produced principally by AgustaWesland, now Leonardo Helicopters, has twin engines and the capability to perform different roles such as Search and Rescue, VIP airlift, offshore transport, firefighting, maritime patrol, law enforcement, emergency medical service and disaster relief.

    Speaking at the Naval Air Base Ojo Friday evening, Fasakin noted that the aircraft, which could perform some military operations, had always been domiciled with the navy.

    He said although the navy always had operational control over it, with the presidential directive, all documents and other accessories of the helicopter would be handed over to the service.

    Fasakin said: “It has been a long journey. The helicopter was purchased by NIMASA in April 2007. Two years after its purchase, NIMASA entered into an MoU with the navy. Since then, both agencies have had strong partnership in safeguarding the nation’s maritime domain.

    “Ever since the aircraft was purchased, it has been under the operational management of the NN. The aircraft is also suited for a few military operations so, the president in his wisdom deemed it fit that NIMASA formally hands over to the navy and that is what we have done.

    Read Also: NIMASA to create ship chandling jobs

    “Since its acquisition, the RESCUE 1 has flown a total of 243 hours and 45 minutes. It has been successfully deployed for various operations.

    “The partnership with the NN has been very strong, effective, effectual and efficient. It has helped to give NIMASA the needed teeth to bite within the Nigeria maritime space. It has helped NIMASA carry out its constitutional mandates.”

    Receiving the helicopter on behalf of the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas, the Chief of Training and Operations, Rear Admiral Abdullahi Kadiri said the NN would ensure the aircraft continued to serve the purposes for which it was acquired.

    He said the essence of the handover was to ensure more effective use of the patrol craft, adding that both agencies were collaborating for better governance of the nation’s maritime space.

     

  • NIMASA to end dumping of vessels, ship wreckage on waters

    To ensure that the territorial waters are safe and secure, they must be cleared of abandoned vessels and ship wrecks, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)  Director-General Dakuku Peterside has said. He warned local and international ship owners to stop abandoning their vessels or dumping wrecked ships into the waters or face sanctions.

    Apart from forfeiting such vessels to the agency, those involved in the illegal act, would be prosecuted, he said.

    Peterside, who spoke with The Nation, said it was necessary to ensure that the territorial waters remained safe for navigation.

    “In line with our mandate on the protection of the marine environment and safety of navigation within Nigerian waters and our powers as the receiver of wrecks, owners of all abandoned ships, vessels and derelicts are sternly warned to stop dumping them on our waters because we have put the necessary measures in place to locate them wherever they are and prosecute them,” he said.

    The NIMASA boss listed the sanctions to include the removal of such wrecks at the owners’ expense as well as forfeiting the vessels. The agency, he said, was empowered to do so by the Merchant Shipping Act 2007, other enabling Acts and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) instruments.

    Nigeria is a party to the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks  (Nairobi Convention 2007).

    The Convention is an IMO treaty  with the purpose of prompt and effective removal of Shipwrecks located in the parties’ territorial waters, including its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that may be hazardous to navigation or the environment.

    The convention gives the authority to remove wrecks and in Nigeria’s case NIMASA is the receiver of wrecks.

    All abandoned Vessels littering the country’s waterways and its shoreline are affected by this directive.

    An environmentalist, Prince David Omaghomi, also called for the enforcement of laws against dumping of wrecked ships on the Nigerian coastline.

    Omaghomi, an Executive Director, Eco Restoration Foundation, an non-governmental organisation (NGO), which promotes the protection, restoration and conservation of coastal wetlands in Nigeria, said Nigeria had become a dumping ground for wrecked ships because people found it convenient to sink ships from other parts of the world on Nigerian coastal waters to avoid bearing the cost.

    He said ship wrecks had caused problems, which impacted negatively on the environment, hence the need to improve the Navy’s capacity on protection of the coastlines.

    “We have to save our coasts by implementation of policies, legislation and providing the Nigerian Navy with enough coastal awareness to enforce Nigeria’s territorial integrity, even from environmental hazards like ship wrecks.

    “Some people take insurance from insurance companies abroad, they dump the ships on the coasts of Nigeria because they are supposed to spend money on decommissioning the ship.

    “When a ship has served its life time, you are supposed to take it to a dockyard and dismember it, recycle the metals, but they avoid such expenses, make money from insurance and they dump it in Nigeria where nobody cares,” he said.

    According to him, there are over 3,000 ship wrecks littering the nation’s coastline, and that Nigeria is being ridiculed as the world shipwreck graveyard.

    “Nigeria has no legislation or enforcement of existing legislations that help people to remove ship wrecks. So, people find Nigeria a favourable ground to dump their ships, which are no longer in use.

    “There are particular winds on the Atlantic Ocean, which also push abandoned ships to the Bight of Benin, which is the area on the Atlantic coast that Nigerian shorelines fall within,” he said.

    Omaghomi said the money approved for some concerned government agencies in annual budgets for the removal of shipwrecks are usually not utilised for the purpose.

    He said the Eco Restoration Foundation single-handedly removed a ship wreck causing obstruction at the Lekki Beach, Lagos, in 2016 as part of its efforts to save the environment.

    He also called for protection of the Mangrove Ecosystem as natural means of preserving, protecting and conserving the nation’s coastal lines and the environment.

    “The laws need to be amended, the Oil Spill Detection Response Agencies need to be empowered to be able to enforce investigations and fund them.

    “In other cases, we have absence of laws, we have various laws that do not create the necessary environmental remedia-tion or restoration processes.

    “The laws need to be amended, fines need to be punitive, hefty and they need to deter operators from destroying the environment,” he said.

  • Peterside urges African leaders to partner on maritime resources

    The Director-General Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside has called on African leaders to partner with each other and articulate strategies for effective utilization of the continent’s maritime resources for sustainable development.

    Peterside made the call in Lagos on Wednesday, during the celebration of the African Day of the Seas and Oceans (ADSO), organized by the agency in collaboration with other stakeholders.

    The theme of the event is:  ‘Partnership Key to Sustainable Blue World’.

    The NIMASA helmsman challenged the African leaders and the stakeholders in the maritime industry to rise against the growing threat to the Seas and Oceans ecosystem health as a result of poor waste management, particularly from land based sources.

    ADSO, Peterside said, is day set aside by the African Union Commission to create awareness among African states on the importance of the Seas and Oceans to the African economy and the need to rise against the growing threat to the Seas and Oceans ecosystem health as a result of poor waste management, particularly from land based sources.

    He called on African nations to collaborate with each other and come up with effective solutions and strategies that would lead to optimum utilization of the continent’s maritime resources for sustainable development and rapid economic growth.

    NIMASA, Peterside said, is already developing a road map for building sustainable interest and passion for the maritime sector among the Nigerian youths, and urged other maritime administrations in the continent to emulate same.

    Read Also: ‘Peterside lost 2015 governorship election to sabotage’

    “NIMASA as the country’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has considered it necessary to continue championing the awareness on Africa integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS 2050) and the Blue Economy through the hosting of African Day of the Seas and Oceans annually.

    “Our passion for Africa‘s partneiship inspires our leadership role in the Association of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA) to continue to be innovative with ideas to pull African MARADS together for sustainable realisation of the objectives of AIMS 2050 towards a peaceful, prosperous and integrated Africa.

    “The Theme for this year’s celebration is, “Partnership key to Sustainable Blue World“. This theme could not have come at a better time when the global call for cooperative action in achieving the best result on various issues affecting mankind is prominent.

    The objectives driving this year’s theme, he said, were carefully drawn from critical domestic industry growth needs, which, according to him include the following:

    * To raise awareness of the campaign for better waste management on land to aid the recovery of our seas and oceans.

    * To popularize the strategic importance of National Maritime Strategy

    * To reopen the discourse on the National Maritime Transport Policy ( NMTP) for sustainable development.

    * To raise awareness amongst stakeholders on the critical urgency for partnership amongst stakeholders to develop our blue economy.

    * To understand our regulatory instruments for Marine Environment Management (MEM), our dynamic capabilities with implementation and problems and prospects.

    * To understand our role(s) beyond annual celebrations and partnership strategies to ensure sustainable implementation of resolutions.

    *To develop a road map for building sustainable interest and passion for the maritime sector in our young people.

    “This event is designed to offer a lot of awareness and learning opportunity and recreation,” Peterside said.

    The Board Chairman of NIMASA, Maj. Gen. Jonathan Garba (rtd) said the human planet comprises 71 per cent of oceans and critical to our survival.

    “It is the most important life-support system on earth, and almost all humans on earth depend on the sea’s natural resources. Half of the world’s population live within 200 km of the coastline. Oceans produce 50 per cent of the oxygen necessary for human survival and therefore, the sustainable use and management of the oceans, even its resources, is critical to us today and for future generations.

    “With growing dependence on natural resources, we have to ask ourselves a question: How can we forge an economically viable, environmentally sound and socially responsible vision for the use of the seas and oceans’ natural resources without compromising those of future generations,” he asked.

    He said that the world is getting more and more complicated and that healthy seas and oceans are essential for humankind as a source for global food security and engine for economic growth.

    “Oceans are also home to a rich, fragile, and largely unexplored biodiversity, which provides a variety of important ecosystem services.

    “However, with the world population reaching 9-10 billion by 2050, pressures on the oceans are expected to increase. Global competition for raw materials, food and water will become more intense, while illegal fishing, piracy, climate change, and marine pollution are already threatening our seas and oceans’ ecosystem health,” he said.

    Other speakers at the event urged African leaders and maritime stakeholders to come to together and fashion out policies and strategies that will promote the maritime sector, boost security and provide sustainable food and employment for the people of the continent.

  • APC is still evolving, there will always be differences – Peterside

    The Deputy Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has stated that the ruling party (APC) is still evolving and there will always be differences.

    He stated this on Friday on a live national television programme monitored in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

    Peterside, who is also the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), maintained that the APC-led Federal Government had done well in the past three years.

    He noted that what a lot of people had been seeing as internal combustion within the APC was part of its evolving process, where people with different tendencies would always struggle to realise their political ambitions, with all the issues being resolved internally.

    The NIMASA chief said: “APC as a party is still evolving. There will always be differences and there is no time when all the issues can be resolved, but we are doing and have done well.”

    Read Also: Peterside: APC will win Rivers in 2019

    Peterside, who was the 2015 governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers state, also admitted that some national leaders of the party might have some concerns, but the relevant hierarchies of the party were addressing all the issues.

    On the issue of farmers/herdsmen clash, he said the Federal Government was genuinely concerned about the security of lives and property, hence identifying the problem and seriously working out measures to arrest the ugly situation.

    The APC chieftain noted that since security breaches varied from one locality to another, the Federal Government decided to take multidimensional approach to identify and resolve the root cause of each challenge.

    He said: “The Federal Government is concerned about insecurity in Nigeria. The government has identified the problem and it is being tackled. The government is not living in self-denial and that is very important. It did not start today and the government is looking at multidimensional approach to resolving it.”

    On whether the service chiefs should not have been sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari, the NIMASA chief stated that without first identifying the root causes of the various security challenges, sacking them might not solve any problem.

    Peterside stressed that information at the disposal of the President would determine the kind of strategy to use and whether the service chiefs should be removed from office, pointing out that taking rash decisions because of opposition was not the best of response.

  • Peterside urges Wike to pay salaries of workers in Rivers

    The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has urged Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to pay salaries of workers and entitlements of pensioners in the state.

    He also lauded Rivers workers for their sacrifices and productivity towards the growth and development of the state.

    Peterside, on Tuesday through his media team, in a message to mark this year’s Workers’ Day, was particularly full of praises for the workers, who he said had endured difficult times and harsh labour environment under the Wike’s administration and had soldiered on, in spite of obvious challenges.

    He maintained that Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had only succeeded in paying lip service to the issue of workers’ welfare, without any tangible result in the last three years, declaring that despite receiving huge allocations, workers are not better off.

    The NIMASA chief said: “The working environment in Rivers State has been made hostile and there is absolutely no consideration for the average worker by Wike’s administration.”

    Peterside, who was the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2015 elections in Rivers, also lamented that many workers were being owed salaries for months, while pensioners had been turned to beggars, over the inability of the Wike-led administration to pay them their legitimate entitlements.

    He said: “I really sympathise with workers in Rivers State. I have heard a lot of complaints from them. Go to the state secretariat and see how so desolate the place is. Workers are really trying to give their best in difficult circumstances. No payment of arrears, no promotion, no pension, nothing.

    “Since Wike became governor in 2015, how many times has he conducted biometric exercises for workers, under the guise of all manner of things? Many workers are still being owed from the last exercises. For how long will he continue this?”

    The NIMASA chief also tasked Rivers workers not to relent in their efforts to make the state better, while assuring them that an APC-led government in Rivers state in 2019 would better their lot and make them fulfil their hopes and aspirations.

  • Wike’s N22b for Neighbourhood Watch, misplaced priority, says Peterside

    The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has described the N22 billion voted for the controversial Neighbourhood Watch in Rivers State by Governor Nyesom Wike as a misplaced priority.

    He noted that Wike was yet to create any employment since he assumed office on May 29, 2015, but rather took more Rivers people down the poverty line, stressing that the N22 billion to procure arms and ammunition for his private militia would have ensured that many qualified youths of the state were meaningfully engaged.

    Peterside, who was the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2015 election in Rivers, yesterday through his media team, stated that the Rivers governor was not prepared for governance.

    At a time the British government issued an advisory for its nationals to be wary of visiting Rivers state, the NIMASA chief insisted that Wike lacked the vision and ideas to run a progressive and purposeful government.

    The Rivers governor, while assenting to the neighborhood watch corps bill, maintained that operatives of the outfit would work with security agencies to provide intelligence, with a former Rivers police Spokesman, Dr. Uche Chukwuma, appointed as the Acting Director-General of the Neighbourhood Safety Agency.

    Peterside, however, insisted that it was illegal and ran contrary to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, for the operatives of the neighborhood watch to bear arms.

    The APC chieftain said: “Resorting to Neighborhood Watch is about Wike going back to his comfort zone and his old path. He will fail like all other areas where he has failed. He has not created a single job since he came to office. Every effort by his predecessor that created jobs has been abandoned.

    “We will not allow Wike to return us to the dark era, when Rivers people were placed under curfew, due to the activities of criminals and cultists, an era where Rivers people were daily living in fear of the unknown, where guns were freely used on innocent citizens of the state.

    “Our recent history does not suggest that the wrong people would not be recruited as Wike’s private militia. Already, the man appointed to lead the organisation has been accused of being a sympathiser of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Wike’s government. Why will a governor want the state to be in anarchy? What does he stand to benefit and who is beating the drum for him?”

    Peterside, a former member of the House of Representatives, also advised the Rivers governor to follow the path of honour, listen to Rivers people and suspend the activities of the neighborhood watch, pending when all the grey areas had been sorted out.

    Read Also: Amaechi, Obaseki, others celebrate Peterside

    He admonished Wike to perish the thought of buying arms for the neighbourhood watch corps’ members, warning that any attempt to put arms in the hands of Rivers youths would be lawfully resisted.

    The NIMASA chief hinted that Wike planned to sack three hundred persons from the Rivers Internal Revenue Service (RIRS) for no reason, other than the fact that they were engaged during the administration of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

    Piqued by the Rivers governor’s seeming lack of policy direction on the economy, agriculture, power, health and ICT, Peterside, a former Rivers Commissioner for Works, said: “It is obvious that Wike was only desperate to become governor, in order to acquire wealth for himself and not for the overall benefit of Rivers people.

    “The Rivers State governor has shown to be a man of short vision, who does not see beyond the present, while some of his brother governors are busy laying the foundations for economic prosperity and legacy initiatives.

    “Ask anybody in Rivers what is the vision of the governor, nobody knows. He has no clear-cut vision on education, health, economy, power and agriculture, among others. Little wonder, no serious investor has come the way of Rivers State in the last three years. In all of these areas, the state is yet to experience any single improvement. The government Wike leads has failed in virtually all sub-sectors, thus leading to pushing more youths into frustration.

    “Rivers State is listed among the rice belts in Nigeria. Our state is rich in palm oil, cassava, rubber, banana and plantain, but what has the governor done to galvanise our youths to positive action and invest heavily in agriculture?

    “Is it not laughable that with all the potential of Rivers, the state is high on misery index and unemployment rate? At every economic and investment programme I have attended, it is always shocking that the state is not listed among the top states, due to lack of policy direction by the governor.”

    The NIMASA chief also stated that Rivers people would no longer allow lawlessness, mis-governance and misleading of the youths into engaging in criminal activities, through the due process of law.

     

  • Women playing major roles in growth, development of Nigeria – Peterside

    Women playing major roles in growth, development of Nigeria – Peterside

    The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has stated that women are playing major roles in the growth and development of Nigeria.

    He also hailed the contributions of women to humanity, as the world marked the International Women’s Day yesterday.

    Peterside, who is also the Deputy Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, noted that women had greatly contributed sweat, industry, creativity, grace and intelligence to the emergence of generations and industrial revolutions that helped to shape humanity.

    The NIMASA chief, on Thursday through his media team, in an online statement, stated that any country that desired to make progress without giving due recognition to women was doomed.

    He paid glowing tributes to Nigerian women who had challenged the status quo and risen to the pinnacle of every profession.

    According to a United Nations’ (UN’s) report, one in three women experience violence in their lifetime, while 830 women die every day from preventable pregnancy-related causes, and only one in four parliamentarians worldwide are women.

    Peterside, a former member of the House of Representatives, also reiterated that in all the positions he had held, women were given equal consideration like their male counterparts, assuring that he would continue to support every platform that seeks to promote the good of women and their emancipation.

    Read Also: Peterside vows to fight piracy

    He tasked those occupying different positions in and outside government to give women the leverage to achieve their dreams in life, insisting that women are the bedrock of any progressive nation and that any achievement they make reflects on the society.
    Quoting from a former first lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt, who stated that: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent,” the NIMASA chief urged Nigerian women not to be deterred in their quest to make the changes they desire in the society.

    He said: “The APC-led Federal Government has created many platforms, policies and programmes aimed at giving women the opportunities to become whatever they desire in life, in addition to giving women sensitive positions.”

    Peterside, who was the governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers state in 2015, assured that an APC-led government in Rivers would give women equal opportunities in decision-making policies and activities, as well as providing the leverage to lift women out of poverty and contribute to the socio-political and economic wellbeing of the state.

     

  • Dakuku: we have zero tolerance for piracy in Gulf of Guinea

    Dakuku: we have zero tolerance for piracy in Gulf of Guinea

    Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General Dr. Dakuku Peterside has said teh country has zero tolerance for piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

    Peterside spoke while delivering a paper at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London.

    The lecture was titled; “The problem of maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea is real”.

    Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi disclosed that the Federal Government had approved an Integrated National Security Strategy (INSS) for the maritime sector. The strategy, which will be implemented in collaboration with other countries in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG), is aimed to stem the tide of insecurity on the region’s territorial waterways.

    Amaechi’s paper is titled; “Nigeria’s role in responding to the causes and consequences of maritime insecurity”. He said NIMASA was already implementing a comprehensive maritime strategy in collaboration with other partners  to enhance the fight against piracy attacks in the region.

    Peterside added that the agency through collaboration with other relevant government bodies was leaving no stone unturned in ensuring zero tolerance to all forms of piracy and illegalities on the nation’s territorial waterways and the  Gulf of Guinea.

    He also highlighted four strategic pillars the agency has adopted for tackling the issue of piracy tagged; “Total Spectrum Maritime Strategy” namely situational awareness, law enforcement, response capability and regional cooperation all aimed at achieving a virile and robust maritime sector.

    Dr. Peterside, who is the Chairman of the Association of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA), also assured the international community that NIMASA will continue to collaborate with other relevant bodies both locally and internationally in order to realise its vision of a prosperous maritime sector in Nigeria and the west and central Africa sub-region.

    The NIMASA DG noted that improved profiling and information sharing on maritime criminality and illegality, enhanced maritime domain awareness and surface to air patrol capabilities, functional legal framework, integration of national inter-agency efforts, youth empowerment programmes amongst others are factors that can help bring solutions to the issues surrounding insecurity in the maritime space.

  • Amaechi, Obaseki, others celebrate Peterside

    Amaechi, Obaseki, others celebrate Peterside

    The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, who was the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2015 election in Rivers State, was born on December 31, 1970.

    To mark the 47th birthday of the deputy leader of APC in Rivers (Peterside), his committee of friends, led by Dr. Henry Ogiri, put together a thanksgiving service and an elaborate reception at the highbrow Aztech Arcum Event Centre on Ken Saro-Wiwa (formerly Stadium) Road in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

    Choristers from various churches  and independent singers/musicians performed at the thanksgiving service (Part A), which had in attendance, renowned clerics, including Pastor Okechukwu Enelamah, Apostle Eugene Ogu, Pastor Belemina Obunge, Rev. George Izunwa, Pastor James Idode and Rev. Essa Ogory, among others.

    Prayers were offered for the former governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers and his runningmate at the poll, Asita Honourable, who also marked his 51st birthday at the same venue.

    The programme was attended by Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi; Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki; Peterside’s mother, Madam Sogba; a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the APC, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja; a former Minister of Culture and Tourism, Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas; Deputy National Secretary of APC, Chief Victor Giadom; and two former Vice-Chancellors of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Profs. Nimi Briggs and Don Baridam; as well as many chieftains of APC, among other eminent personalities.

    In Part B of the programme, Ogiri described Peterside as a complete gentleman, hardworking, disciplined, brilliant, a man of honour and integrity, while lauding all the members of the committee of friends for the support and the distinguished persons in attendance for honouring the alumnus of UNIPORT and the then Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), now Rivers State University (RSU), Port Harcourt.

    While proposing the toast, an oil magnate, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, said: “Your background is not the reason why your back is on the ground. Commitment and prayers will give you all you need in life,” describing the former Rivers Commissioner for Works as very humble, trustworthy and reliable.

    The beautiful birthday cake was also cut by the celebrant, in company with Amaechi, who is the leader of APC in the Southsouth zone and Rivers state; Obaseki; and Asita, among others.

    Immediately after cutting the cake, the Masters of Ceremonies (MCs): Mike Ogolo and Tekena Iyalla, decided to test the dancing skills of Peterside and Asita, who did not disappoint their friends and family members, by digging it for about thirty minutes.

    Edo governor, who was accompanied by his wife, in his remarks, revealed that the 2015 governorship campaigns, energy and passion of Peterside, inspired him to vie as governor.

    Obaseki said: “I decided to leave Benin City on December 31. Traditionally, I am not supposed to, but I said I would come to Port Harcourt with my wife, not just for the respect for my in-law, but to come and tell him (Peterside) how much we love and respect him.

    “Peterside may not know, you are one of those who inspired me to run for the office of governor of Edo State. I watched and followed your campaigns. I saw the energy and passion with which you campaigned and they gave me inspiration. It is unfortunate that the deserved victory was not given to you, but you will get it back.

    “I know that given what you are doing in NIMASA today, you would have done much more for your state. If you have the opportunity to handle a state like Rivers that is so rich and so blessed with people and resources, we will find enough engine to change the fortunes of the Southsouth zone of Nigeria.

    “Edo is the entry point to the Southsouth. We have started the reform of our region from Edo State, but I am very lonely. I am the only APC governor from the Southsouth zone. I want my APC brothers to be governors in the zone, because in Edo State, with the little amount of oil (crude) and the little amount of money/derivation we get from the federal purse, if we can do what we are doing in Edo, can you imagine what this state (Rivers) can do?

    “The country realises the potential in you (Peterside). I am sure the people of Rivers State also realise the potential you have. Giving what you have achieved in these years of your life, no doubt, when you have the opportunity to do more for your people, you will do the same way you are doing at the federal level. We are very proud of you. Keep working the way you are doing. We also want to thank you, as people of the Southsouth, for helping us to remove our shame in NIMASA. We are grateful to you. You have come to demonstrate that what happened before your tenure was not in our character. You have done well. Please continue.”

    The governor of Edo state also assured that by the grace of God, he and others would come to Port Harcourt again and again to celebrate with the director-general of NIMASA.

    Peterside, who is also a former member of the House of Representatives, assured that end would soon come to the hopelessness, mystery and lack of good governance in Rivers by Governor Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The NIMASA chief said: “There is no doubt that in Rivers State today, everything is going wrong at the same time. Our healthcare system has collapsed. The National Bureau of Statistics recently released the mystery index and Rivers State is number one in the mystery index. Our people are wallowing in abject poverty and mystery. We sympathise with the people of Rivers State.

    “I can assure you that between the next 12 and 24 months, by the power of the Almighty God and by the power of your rights as Rivers sons, daughters and residents, we will bring to an end, the lack of good governance, hopelessness and mystery in Rivers State. We will bring to an end the shame our people are suffering today.

    “I have heard the cries, pains and agony of our people. There is no one man who can bring to an end these pains, cries and agony. It has to be all of us, working together in the same direction under God and under a common leadership.”

    The former federal lawmaker (Peterside) also expressed gratitude to all the eminent personalities who honoured him and Asita on their birthday.

    The transportation minister, while also speaking, disclosed that the only time somebody, especially a top government official, could know who was loyal, would be when he/she was out of office.

    Amaechi, who is a former governor of Rivers state, said: “If indeed you will call everybody my boys in politics, it will be three persons: Peterside, Nwuke Anucha (from Omuma LGA of Rivers State) and Gabriel Pidomson (an indigene of Bodo-Ogoni in Gokana LGA/former Secretary to the Rivers State Government in the administration of Sir Celestine Omehia). Out of the three of them, it is only Peterside that is with me. By character we shall know them.

    “The only two persons that can write their histories and can call me their boy are Chief Rufus Ada-George and Dr. Peter Odili (both ex-Rivers governors). When we were fighting for the governorship of Rivers State under Dr. Odili, they said Peterside would betray me. I am telling Peterside for the first time. Is Pidomson there? Is Anucha there? The person they said would go (Peterside), is the person who is with us.

    “The only time you will know who is loyal, is when you are out of office. I am not out of office. The only reason they are trying their luck, with what they are doing, is that they believe he (Amaechi) is close to the President (Muhammadu Buhari), but they said there are others who are also close to the President that they can work through. If tomorrow, the President calls me and he says you are my son in whom I am well pleased in Rivers State, they will come back. But because the President does not speak and he attends to everybody according to their needs, they are trying to see some people who can talk to the President. They cannot stand hunger.”

    The minister of transportation also stated that NIMASA was a cesspit of corruption, but Peterside was able to recently return N20 billion, which he (Amaechi) described as highly commendable.

    With the disclosure that the NIMASA chief had a humble beginning, but through the grace of God and hard work, he is now a force to reckon with, not just in Nigeria, but globally, the youths should emulate him, especially bearing in mind that hard work does not kill, it pays.