House of Reps Speaker pledges legislative support for maritime growth

Port Harcourt Port, Rivers State, Nigeria

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has stated that Nigeria’s rich maritime resources represent a vital economic safeguard and vehicle for the successful implementation of the President Muhammadu Buhari government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and must be sustainably tapped.

Gbajabiamila said this on Thursday in Lagos at the 2019  African Day of Seas and Oceans hosted by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). The theme of the event was “Harnessing Nigeria’s Marine Biodiversity for Accelerated Economic Growth.”

The Speaker pledged that the legislature would support efforts by the executive to ensure sustainable management of the country’s vast marine resources.

According to Gbajabiamila, who was represented by Hon. Linda Ikpeazu, “Efficient management and sustainable exploitation of the marine resources in our seas and oceans, no doubt, provide a veritable tool for our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan as a country and give expression to our sustainable development goals.”

He added, “We will support the sustainable governance of Nigeria’s seas and oceans and the efforts of the executive arm of government that would see the effective domestication of relevant international conventions of the International Maritime Organisation on marine environment management through legislative enactments.

“The National Assembly would also work with the executive arm in putting in place the necessary legal framework for the Blue Economy to engender and protect the Nigerian marine environment and development of the ocean economy.”

Dakuku, in his remarks, reiterated NIMASA’s critical focus on the development and protection of the marine environment, saying, “Our efforts in this area have been recognised by the International Maritime Organisation.”

He listed the marine environment management instruments forwarded to the government for ratification to include: the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009; International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel; the Protocol Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties Intervention), 1973; and Protocol on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (LLMC), 1996.

Speaking also, the Chairperson, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Common Services, Dr. Bakare Wadinga, said maritime security and development were a top priority of the Federal Government in the execution of the ERGP. 

The Chief Host, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Sabiu Zakari, said with Nigeria’s over 850 kilometres coastline, the country was blessed abundant resources to back its economic diversification and development drive. Zakari, who was represented by Director, Maritime Safety and Security in the ministry, Dr. Danjuma Dauda, also restated the government’s commitment to the development of the maritime sector.

The African Union (AU) had set a 10-year period from 2015 to 2025 as the Decade of African Seas and Oceans, and July 25 as the African Day of seas and oceans.

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