By Onwe Wisdom
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Chatham House, London to jointly address United Nations Security Council on maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.
This was reached at a session between Dr. Dayo Mobereola, Director General of NIMASA, and Dr. Alex Vines, Director of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, London.
Mobereola according to a statement issued on Sunday by the Agency’s Head of Public Relations, Osagie Edward notes that the agency and Chatham House have also commenced collaboration to convene a meeting of international stakeholders from both the public and private sector in Nigeria, with the aim of developing a position paper on maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.
He emphasised the importance of effective international partnership to sustain security in the Gulf of Guinea.
Mobereola noted: “We had a very fruitful discussion with the team at Chatham House. The decision to engage the UN Security Council is to ensure they are well informed about the progress made so far in terms of security in the Gulf of Guinea.
“We also need an independent analysis of the security situation in the Gulf of Guinea and how best to transform the gains in terms of enhanced security, into tangible economic benefits such as reduction in the cost of all Nigerian Bound freight and issues bothering on payment of war risk insurance premium for Nigerian bound vessels.
“The coming on board of Chatham House will serve as a catalyst in developing our Blue Economy. “
Dr. Alex Vines, Director of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, London was accompanied by his team while Nigeria’s Alternate Permanent Representative at the International Maritime Organisation, Bwala William attends the meeting.