The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside has called for the implementation of a National Maritime Policy in Nigeria to serve as catalyst for the actualization of the objectives of the Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS) 2050.
Speaking further, the DG who was represented at the meeting by the Agency’s Executive Director, Operations, Engr. Rotimi Fashakin, urged the committee to take cognizance of the current maritime security architecture in Nigeria that has been structured in line with international best standards and practices.
He also stated that in order to realize the dream of a blue economy, strategies must be put in place, and that security and capacity building amongst other initiatives are key areas to unlocking the opportunities that abound in the blue economy.
Earlier in her remarks, the Chairman of the Committee, Hajia Amina Yusuf disclosed that the AIM Strategy was developed as a response to the high volume of illegal activities that have been in occurrence in Africa’s Maritime Domain (AMD), amounting to huge losses in revenue and lives amongst other issues militating against the development of the AMD.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Implementation of the African Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS) 2050 came about as the outcome of the meeting of the African Union on AIMS 2050 which took place in Addis Ababa on 24th – 25th July, 2015. Among the resolutions arrived at during the course of the meeting was the position that Nigeria should constitute an Inter-Ministerial Committee to enhance its efforts at fulfilling its obligation towards the adoption and implementation of the Strategy.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee constitutes of eleven members, drawn from NIMASA, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) amongst others, all with the sole aim of articulating positions towards the enhancement of AIMS 2050 and ECOWAS Integrated Maritime Strategy, EIMS activities for a robust maritime domain in Nigeria and by extension Africa.