The Director General of  the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Bashir Jamoh, has commended the Nigerian Navy for its cooperation with the Agency in reducing sea piracy and all forms of crimes and criminality in the Nation’s waterways.
Jamoh said collaboration with the Nigerian Navy has played a key role in the achievements of his administration in terms of maritime security in Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea (GoG)
He stated this while receiving the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Mustapha Hasssan, and a delegation of Senior Naval officers in Lagos.
The DG said the Nigerian model is now being adopted in other countries, adding that the change in narratives about security in Nigerian waters from the era of over 26 piracy incidents and negative media exposure, to no single piracy incident in Nigerian waters for almost two years now, is a direct product of effective collaboration of both agencies.
“Collaboration with the Nigerian Navy is largely responsible for the confidence of stakeholders in the current management of the Agency.
“I was in Brazil last week, the South Americans and even our neighbours, such as Ghana, are eager to learn how we arrived at this MARAD-NAVY collaboration yielding successes.
“Just imagine that the negative media exposure in 2019-2020 about prevalent piracy and criminal activities in Nigerian waters had continued, you can only imagine where Nigeria would have been by now. I am glad we sought and got collaboration with the navy”, he said.
He said the Agency is eager to ensure Nigerians enjoy benefits accrued from the blue economy.
Earlier, the FOC noted the need to sustain information sharing between NIMASA and the Nigerian Navy.
He commended NIMASA for the support to the Western Naval Command and requested NIMASA to support “Operation Water Guards” to combat smuggling around the Badagry channel.