By Stephen Ubanna
Ever since the Nigerian Government declared its interest to contest for the 25-member International Maritime Organisation, IMO, Category C, Seat, It has opened the flood gate for pledges of support and cooperation for Nigerian maritime development by France, Netherlands and the Asian country of China.
As a prelude towards ensuring the country’s improve maritime development and also win a Seat in the International Maritime Organisation, IMO, a maritime agency of the United Nations, UN, Adegoyega Oyetola, a former governor of Osun state and minister of marine and blue economy had set up an inter- ministerial Committee headed by Dayo Mobereola, Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, to champion Nigeria’s campaign for the IMO, category C, Seat in the upcoming election , in London, United Kingdom, UK.
The Committee members were said to have taken the campaign to Gambia, France, UK, the North American country of the United Staes, US, and other countries, where international maritime events had been held between 2024 and now.
The discussions which may have been held at the various international maritime forums between the Committee members and Representatives of some of these maritime nations may have encouraged maritime companies from these countries based on reports from their Ambassadors in Nigeria to consider it necessary to invest in the country’s maritime sector.
The latest on the list of the foreign investors to visit NIMASA’s Headquarters in Lagos, the nation’s commercial nerve centre, in the recent time, was Jens Ole Bach Jansen, the Demark, Ambassador to Nigeria, who may have spoken the mind of Mete Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, when he stated that the country would continue to ‘’support Nigeria’s maritime development’’.
The Ambassador who noted that while ‘’the country is seeking to explore new areas of economic partnerships with Nigeria’’ had emphasized ‘’the longstanding ties between the two countries, from two different continents, which spans decades and has seen the Danish Government and Danish companies invest in the nation’s maritime industry’’.
He may have gladdened the heart of Mobereola, the NIMASA Director General and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, when he repeatedly declared that his home country, ‘’Demark, is willing to explore new areas of collaboration with Nigeria’’. He had alluded ‘’to the areas of training of seafarers and maritime security support’’.
In apparent response to the Danish Ambassador’s remarks, the NIMASA, CEO, who could not hide his feelings had expressed his appreciation for the Demark Government continued engagement with Nigeria in the maritime sector.
The NIMASA, helmsman, who may have taken advantage of the opportunity provided by the Danish Ambassador visit to the agency Headquarters in Lagos, to speak out had confirmed the Danish Government longstanding support for Nigerian maritime development, which had seen Danish maritime companies successfully ‘’invest in various areas of the sector’’, stressing that the relationship can only grow from strength to strength.
The NIMASA, boss , who had corroborated the views of Ambassador Jansen on some of the key areas of cooperation between Demark and Nigeria, which includes training of seafarers and professional development of maritime security as well as joint efforts to improve Nigeria’s maritime sector digital infrastructure had sighted the APM Terminals, significant investments in Nigeria port infrastructure in the Lagos port of Apapa, Onne and inland the dry port in the ancient town of Kano, north western Nigeria.
The Danish company investment in the inland dry port of Kano, may have facilitated the recent launching of the Electronic Cargo Tracking System, ECTS, a digital innovation and technology aimed at facilitating seamless trade to track containers, ensuring transparency, preventing tampering and eliminating diversion of containerized cargoes on transit.
There are indications that the Danish maritime company which had contributed significantly to the country’s maritime development is also supporting the country maritime agencies to significantly enhance the skills and preparedness of maritime law enforcement officers to operate more efficiently and contribute to safer areas of maritime security.
Mobereola, the NIMASA, Director General was said to have alluded to the Danish Government funded, Ship -in-a- Box, SIAB, simulator, at the joint Maritime Security Training Centre, JMSTC, facility, in Lagos, managed and operated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, to combat maritime crime.
The SIAB, facility, commissioned in February 28, 2025, according to an insider was built ‘’to enhance the professional skills of Nigerian maritime Law enforcement personnel in areas like Visit, Board Search and Seizure, VBSS, operations, that was said to have reduced to the barest minimum cases of piracy, sea robbery and kidnapping in Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea.
The message was clear that the SIAB, has significantly improved ‘’the quality and frequency of training of seafarers while reducing shipping costs as well as safety risks associated with the conduct of piracy, sea robbery and kidnapping at sea.
Recall that Oliver Stolpe, Demark Representative at the UNODC, who was at the commissioning of the project in Lagos, had escribed ‘’the Ship -in a -Box’’ as an integrated strategy which combines ‘’ elements of security , rule of law and prevention’’ that would eventually guarantee peace and a prosperous Nigeria maritime domain and other countries in the Gulf of Guinea region’’ and would further strengthen the Organisation ‘’collective response to maritime crime’’.
It was not surprising why the groups involved which could no longer bear aggressive approach of the country’s maritime Law enforcement officers in to continue engaging in these criminal maritime activities at sea have resorted into more lucrative and less risky markets like ’’oil theft, oil bunkering and other related offences.
