IMO gives conditions to re-admit Nigeria into board

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has given some conditions under which Nigeria will regain its status as the hub of the West African sub-region.

Included among the terms are that the country should commit more efforts to reducing the rate of piracy within its territorial waters, as well as libreralising policy that will promote growth of indigenous shipping operations in the sector.

It would be recalled that Nigeria was a prominent council member of the global maritime body, until it lost its seat in 2011, with two repeated attempt to return to the council failing in 2013 and 2016.

But the country’s Alternate Permanent Representative (APR) in the IMO, Diko Balla disclosed in London recently, that the efforts by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety (NIMASA) to assure the international community of the safety in the country’s waters had attracted attention of the organization .

“There is a possibility of early return to the council, though the monitoring team of IMO is yet to give its final verdict on the issue.

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“The steps taken by the present NIMASA management have led to a great improvement in the country’s relationship with the IMO as a body, and other maritime administrations who are members of the organization“, he stated.

According to the APR, “IMO considers the issue of piracy as top priority, and the maritime community, particularly the IMO, is pleased with Nigeria for taking the fight against piracy and robbery at sea to new levels with the Anti-Piracy Bill being pushed in the National Assembly.

“The achievements of NIMASA in the past one year are an indication that the nation’s maritime sector is heading in the right direction. And the fact that the IMO is collaborating with Nigeria much more in the area of training and technical support shows that the international body is satisfied with NIMASA operations in recent times. By November this year, I can assure you that Nigeria’s election into the Category C at IMO will be an overwhelming one.”

Commenting on the implementation of the International Ships and Ports facility Security (ISPS) Code, Bala noted that the fact that Nigeria is now in the category of countries considered as most successful in its implementation is a welcome development to both the IMO and other stakeholders in the maritime sector.

“You will recall that when we lost our seat in Council in 2011, our implementation status was less than 13 per cent. Today, we have over 85 per cent compliance level, so you can see that the international community is watching and appreciating our efforts,” he said.

It would be recalled that all member countries of the Association of African Maritime Administration at their 3rd conference which took place in Abuja recently, agreed to address the challenges of building human capacities in the maritime sector, by developing an integrated human resources strategy to support the provision of skills taking into account gender balance in the entire maritime value chain which includes shipping and logistics, offshore activities, fishing, tourism and recreation, as well as safety and security.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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