Lagos – Stakeholders have commended the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside, for effective preservation and conservation of the oceans by the agency.
A statement by the Head, Corporate Communication Team of NIMASA, Hajia Lami Tumaka, said on Wednesday in Lagos.
According to the statement, the stakeholders spoke during the celebration of the African Day of the Seas and Oceans hosted by NIMASA in Lagos.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Sen. Ahmed Sani, said that since taking over as the head of NIMASA, Peterside had initiated strategies aimed at making the agency more effective and efficient in the discharge of its mandate.
Sani, who was represented by Sen. Solomon Olamilekan, noted that the oceans were critical part of the biosphere that must be conserved for the future.
The legislator also said that the committee was prepared to support Peterside within the ambit of legislative powers to further impact positively on the Nigerian maritime industry.
“What NIMASA is doing under the leadership of Peterside is commendable and as a Committee, we will give NIMASA the necessary legislative backing,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes Sani as saying.
He said that the backing would be in terms of amendments to the existing laws and enhanced appropriation for the agency to effectively carry out its regulatory activities.
In the same vein, the Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Dagogo Fubara, highlighted the challenges faced by oceans in Africa to include indiscriminate dumping, unregulated fishing and lack of adequate knowledge of the seas.
Fubara also mentioned inadequate hydrographic information.
He commended NIMASA for drawing attention to the need to conserve and preserve the oceans.
Fubara commended Peterside for his ingenious leadership style, which he said would galvanise the maritime industry to greatness.
“Apart from the fact that you have assembled first grade scholars to talk today, this is the first time in my 78 years sojourn on earth that I have chaired an event and four hours after, the hall is still filled to capacity, ‘’ he said.
Earlier in his keynote address, the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, restated the Federal Government’s commitment to ensure the exploration of resources in the marine environment.
The minister, who was represented by the Director of Maritime Safety and Security in the Ministry, Mr Danjuma Dauda, said that it was the desire of the government to ensure cleaner oceans.
The minister also stressed the need to eliminate sea piracy and armed robbery within Nigeria’s maritime space.
According to him, for many years Africans believed that their wealth and destiny lay in their arable lands alone.
“They, therefore, paid little attention to the exploration of the seas and oceans and accepted every decision made at the international level with little or no contribution. That narrative has to change,’’ Amaechi said.
Welcoming guests to the event, Peterside said that oceans and seas were essential to the sustainable development of the nation and indeed Africa.
He mentioned a number of challenges making it difficult for Nigeria and indeed other African countries to actualise the potential of maximising the benefits of ocean resources, including ocean governance.
Peterside, therefore, called for cooperation among all stakeholders.
“We must realise that the conservation, preservation and sustainable use of the oceans is a shared responsibility,’’ NAN quotes him as saying.
The director-general said that all stakeholders must be committed to bequeath a safer planet for generations unborn.
The director-general noted that the 2050 African Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS) document had exposed the fact that illegal activities in Africa’s maritime domain in the past decades had accounted for huge loss of revenue in the continent.
He, therefore, urged all stakeholders to support NIMASA in its new drive to encourage cleaner oceans and rid the Nigerian maritime space and indeed the entire Gulf of Guinea of illegal activities.
NAN reports that the African Day of the Seas and Oceans was instituted by the African Union in 2015.
The occasion seeks to draw attention to the strategic importance of proper management of marine resources for the development of the African continent in a sustainable manner. (NAN)
