Photo Caption
L-R: Lagos Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde; Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Mrs. Folashade Jaji; Chairman, National Transport Commissioners’ Forum, Hon. Ramatu Mohammed; Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Mrs. Magdalene Ajani; and Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi at the opening ceremony of the National Transport Technology Conference and Exhibition at Victoria Island, Lagos…yesterday
By Frank Kintum
The maritime security experts contracted by the federal ministry of Transport and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), HLSI, has disagreed with the ministry and NIMASA over collaborative efforts to comprehensively check insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea (GOG).
While making his presentation at the National Transport Technology Conference and Exhibition held in Lagos yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer of HLSI, Mr. Tai Spektor, called for collaboration from other maritime agencies, specifically the Nigerian Ports Authority, National Inland Waterways Authority and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
He equally advised that the Deep Blue project initiative be expanded to cover inland waterways, as well as holistic surveillance.
However, the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, who was represented at the event by a Director, stated that NIMSA enjoys collaborations from sister agencies as heads of federal maritime agencies meet bi-monthly to share ideas and data.
Her position was corroborated by the Permanent Secretary in the federal ministry of transport, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, who further explained that the deep blue project which has succeeded in coping piracy in the GOG equally benefits some other countries.
The main objective of the Deep Blue Project is to secure Nigerian waters up to the Gulf of Guinea. The Project has three categories of platforms to tackle maritime security on land, sea, and air. The Project, which was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Transportation and Federal Ministry of Defence, is being implemented by NIMASA.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, had on June 10, last year in Lagos, performed the official launch of the assets under the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, also known as the Deep Blue Project.
