President Muhammadu Buhari has advocated for collaborative efforts to tackle maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea.
President Buhari made the call at the first Global Maritime security conference which began yesterday in Abuja.
Represented at the event by the Minister of state for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Zubairu Dada, he noted that the Gulf of Guinea is at the epi-centre of Maritime security discussions globally. He added that available statistics however indicate that efforts to eradicate the menace by governments in the region are bearing dividends, citing the IMB Piracy reporting center report for second quarter of 2019.
Buhari said the FG is committed to ensuring security in the Maritime sector.
”We will not relent in our efforts to rid our waters of the Piracy scourge” he said, adding that “I reiterate the need for a joint effort because security in the Gulf of Guinea is vital and central to global trade in view of the fact that many critical trade routes connecting the rest of the world run through the Gulf”.
The Minister of State for Transportation ,Sen. Gbemisola Saraki said, an integrated maritime security architecture has also been emplaced with a command and control centre for effective policing of the Nigerian waters.
She said the initiative encompasses three main components: A C4-I Intelligence system to enhance domain awareness; acquisition of land, air and marine assets for patrols, quick response and interdiction; and the retraining and capacity building of military response teams to effectively respond to threats and incidents within the maritime domain.
“Our prosperity as nation-states today has an inextricable linkage to maritime security, considering that over 90% of world international trade is by sea. Thus striving to maintain safe, secure shipping in our seas and oceans is non-negotiable.
“I firmly believe that the result of our efforts would foster better cooperation in addressing the challenges of maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea for the overall benefit of member states and the world at large,” she said.
