By Stephen Ubanna
For the four years that Bashir Jamoh, a technocrat, who was catapulted from the position of an Assistant Director to the exalted office of the Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, by former President Muhammadu Buhari, he had enjoyed the support of Kitack Lim, the immediate past Secretary General of the Internal Maritime Organiation, IMO, a maritime agency of the United Nations, UN, in order to deliver on his three ‘’s’’ agenda: maritime safety, maritime security and shipping development.
Jamoh, the erstwhile Director General of NIMASA, may have taken advantage of the support from the former IMO, Secretary General and Heads of other international Organizations to give the pirates, sea robbers and other criminal elements operating in Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea a decisive blow that they were forced to relocate to other countries within the Gulf Guinea region to carry out their nefarious activities.
With the change of baton in NIMASA, as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who could not reappoint Jamoh after the expiration of his first term in office on March 10, 2024, had replaced him with Dayo Moberela, who may no haven a maritime neophyte as he had served as Commissioner of Transportation, during the Administration of Akinwumi Ambode, a former governor of Lagos state between 2015 and 2016, which may have given much insight into maritime activities at both the state and Federal levels and thus became exposed to top officials of IMASA and Nigerian Inland Water Ways Authority, NIWA as they were said to have held regular discussions to resolve their differences.
In the same way that Lim , the former IMO , Secretary General had supported Jamoh to fulfill his mandate in office, Arsenio Dominguez Velasco, from the Republic of Panama, who has been confirmed as the current Secretary General of IMO, by the General Assembly , on December 30, 2023, when Lim Left office, and who had effectively took over on January 1, 2024, appears to have given his words to Mobereola, ‘’to support him build on the great work that has already been done by his predecessors’’.
Until Jamoh, the former, Director General of NIMASA, finally left office on March 10, 2024, he was said to have plans on the implementation of the full agenda of the IMO, from safety to carbonization, digitalization to human capital development which looks towards the future of building the global maritime industry.
The new NIMASA Chief Executive Officer, CEO, who was also said to be faced with the problems of addressing the country’s climate change, diversity, inclusion and transparency which are all part of the agenda of the IMO, for the member maritime 30 member- maritime nations appears to have also taken it as a challenge that will be implemented by his administration.
Dominguez, the new Secretary General of IMO, who is looking forward to leading the IMO and to continue working with the all the member nations including Nigeria to ensure that the best are achieved for them and all other stakeholders including the seafarers had congratulated Mobereola, over his over appointment as DG, NIMASA , by the Nigerian President.
Osagie Edward, an Assistant Director and spokesperson of NIMASA, had said that in a conveyance the letter personally signed by the new IMO, Secretary General, he had recognized the giant strides of the agency over the years in building ‘’a robust maritime sector in Nigeria’’. He was said to have commended the significant effort, initiatives and investment in Nigeria by the past government which was said to have gone a long way in strengthening the country’s maritime institutions.
He may have alluded to the North American country of the United States, US, $195 million spent by the Nigerian government to procure 16 Armoured vehicles for coastal patrol, 17 Interception Boats, two Special Mission Vessels, two Special Mission Aircrafts for Surveillance operations and three Special Mission for helicopters for Search and Rescue operations and procurement of four additional Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for the NIMASA ,deep sea Project and the C4i Centre believed to have had a meaningful impact on the country’s shipping and freight costs as the Nigeria Navy , under the close watch of Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla , the anti – overseeing the operation and maintenance of the sea security assets with the support of the Nigeria Air Force overseeing the air equipment have taken the battle to pirates and sea robbers hideouts to comb the criminal elements out.
Although, there had been an attack on a Marshall Islands Flagged MT Nyon vessel since the Navy and the Air Force , actually mobilized the maritime security assets on site but that appears to be the last of such attacks as the Naval personnel had intensified patrol of the Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea to forestall future attacks.
Note that the Suppression of Piracy and other Maritime Offences, SPOMO, Act, 2019, is another of such government investments on the nation’s maritime industry that was said to have set ‘’a new standard in the Gulf of Guinea region in maritime security capacity building in the recent years’’.
Many believe that Mobereola, the NIMASA, boss has much to benefit from the technical knowledge of Dominguez, the IMO, Chief, and who, until his approval as the Secretary General of the IMO, by the General Assembly Council, in late December, 2023, was the UN Maritime agency of Director of Marine Environment Division had was said to have also chaired ‘’the maritime Security –Piracy and Sea robbery Working Group under the auspices of the IMO’S maritime safety Committee during Lim’s tenure.
Recall that he had also served as the Chief of Staff, CoS, to Lim, the immediate past IMO, Secretary General and later as the Director of the agency Administrative Division in 2020, which may have informed why Heads of maritime bodies of member maritime nations of the IMO, and even worked at at Braswell Shipyard in his home country , Panama, which may have informed why industry stakeholders had described him as a global maritime encyclopedia.
The IMO Secretary General may have emboldened Mobereola, the NIMASA, CEO, to do his job, when he stated that ‘’the focus of his Administration will be based on strengthening maritime law enforcement and maritime security architecture ‘’, believed to have been welcomed by the seafarers and the Flag States.
There is o gain saying the fact that past and present Leadership of IMO, has long ‘’supported the regional role of the Yaounde Code of Conduct for its member states including Nigeria, the most populous West African sub-region , in strengthening maritime security and law enforcement’’. Dominguez, the IMO , Secretary General, who could not hide his feelings had said that the UN , maritime agency had ben greatly encouraged with the continuation of the he regional ownership of the regional security outfit with the Formation and work of the Gulf of Guinea Maritime Collaboration Forum and Shared Awareness and Deconfliction, GoG-MCF/SHADE, 2021.
An elated Dominguez, was said to have used the opportunity of his confirmation by the IMO General Assembly and in sending out congratulatory message to Mobereola, the NIMASA, new Director General, to commend the agency’s partnership with the various regional organizations and expressed readiness of the Leadership of the IMO, to work with Nigeria and other member states on many maritime issues, particular, carbonization, Climate change, sea robbery and Piracy and tackling these issues headlong.
He noted that NIMASA’s partnership with the Interregional Coordination Centre, ICCC, and the Collaboration with the Shipping Industry stakeholders and the Yaounde, Cameroon, architecture has been instrumental in suppressing the threat of piracy attacks on ocean –going vessels, and their Crew embers in line with the UN, Security Council Resolution 2634, of 2022 , on piracy and sea robbery in the Gulf of Guinea and IMO, General Assembly Council resolution A.II59,32.
The IMO Secretary General, may have gladdened the heart of Mobereola and his Management team in the letter sent to him, when he declared: I look forward to working to working with you and your Management team on many of the maritime security issues that we are currently jointly tackling together. He was said to have stated further that he hopes to welcome, the NIMASA CEO in person at the IMO Headquarters, in London, United Kingdom, where they could talks, and by listening, understand each other better by sharing their aims and aspirations that could assist them to deliver on their individual mandates in their respective Organisations.
