Safety and Security on Nigerian Coast: The NIMASA /Navy Alternative

One of the many reasons that were adduced to justify the 2006 merger of the National Maritime Authority (NMA) with the Joint Maritime Labour Industrial Council (JOMALIC) was the need to tighten security on Nigerian waters.
Hence by August 1, 2006, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) was born, to among other things provide regulations related to Nigerian shipping, maritime labour and coastal waters. The Agency also undertakes inspections and provides search and rescue services.
It is arguable that, NIMASA has strived to live up to its ‘Mission Statement’, which is: “To achieve safe, secure shipping, cleaner oceans and enhance maritime capacity in line with best global practices towards Nigeria’s economic development.”

Arguably too, the present management of the Agency has recorded quite a number of successes in the fight against oil thieves and other criminals on Nigerian waters. At the beginning of the current dispensation of Mr Ziakede  Akpobolokemi as the Director General of NIMASA, it has been arresting, seizing and detaining many found to breach any of the provisions of the NIMASA, Cabotage and the Merchant Shipping Acts.
At first, many attributed it to the contract with Messrs Global West Vessel Specialists, but it appears that   all that have changed.
At the peak of its activities, there were regular reports of feats attributable to it.  On July 25, 2012, the Agency took delivery of four state-of-the art patrol boats – NIMASA Port Harcourt, NIMASA Lagos, NIMASA Burutu and NIMASA Warri – described as the fastest boats on the nation’s waters, with a speed capacity of 50 nautical miles per hour. This was part of the concession contract NIMASA signed with Global West earlier in the year.
In the nine months up to October 2012, NIMASA arrested many vessels involved in illegal ship-to-ship transfer of products, unauthorised midstream discharge, illegal bunkering and outright oil theft.
NIMASA also entered into collaboration with the Nigerian Navy, which gave birth to the Maritime Guard Command (MGC).
 While the usual press statements from NIMASA about arrests and seizure of ships and persons involved in piracy and oil theft have stopped seized, attention has shifted to the Nigerian Navy and the Joint Task Force (JTF).
Hardly is there any week that the Navy and the JTF do not address the media about their exploits in the Niger Delta. It has become so usual that one begins to wonder if there still exists the NIMASA/Messrs Global West contract.
Attacks on ships, oil theft and sundry misdemeanours have become so rampant again, and it is most common within the Niger Delta region.
Apart from the unbridled attacks on ships and crew, there have been two noticeable attacks in the last four weeks. The first was the attack on a US-flagged oil service craft; C-Retriever and the subsequent kidnap of the Captain and the Chief Engineer.
Also about three weeks ago, the younger brother of the immediate past president of Nigerian Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association; Engineer Williams Kemewerigha was killed in an attack by sea robbers around the Bakassi Rivers in Cross Rivers state.
All these are pointer to the fact that piracy and sea robbery are now on the increase.
The success so far recorded against piracy and sea robbery, notwithstanding, a lot still share the opinion that NIMASA is currently saddled with a great deal of responsibilities, flag and port state issues, Cabotage, maritime labour and so on.
I am of a very strong opinion that it is the statutory responsibility of NIMASA to ensure a safe and also secure passage for ships, crew and cargo within the nation’s coast.  The ad hoc arrangement with Navy or any private or public institutions for that matter is just what it is – purely, ad hoc.
The earlier NIMASA takes full charge, the better for the nation; the maritime industry and the economy at large.
Even though the most reasonable model appears to be Coast Guard, which is already a tested global model in the fight against piracy and all forms of vices associated with seafaring in some climes, it has met a brick wall in Nigeria.
The question is: if the Coast Guard system has been tested and adjudged adequate in other maritime domains, what do we have against it in Nigeria?