The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dakuku Peterside has stated that Nigeria will continue to seek continued technical cooperation and support from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in order to build up sustainable capacity to be a globally competitive maritime nation contributing to economic development.
The NIMASA DG who made this assertion during a special interview he granted at the ongoing 120th Council meeting of the IMO in London, noted that technical cooperation will help build up knowledge and the necessary skills to position Nigeria as a maritime nation that operates in line with global best practices.
“The technical cooperation and support being sought from the IMO is in line with NIMASA’s Medium Term Strategy plan, which is intended to help drive maritime growth in the country. The technical cooperation has become a necessity that deserves urgent attention due to the knowledge gaps, changing technology, new regulations that have come into force and experience from incidents around the world”,he stated.
Speaking further, he noted that the Agency’s area of interest for seeking technical cooperation includes; domestication and ratification of IMO legal instruments, environmental stewardship and safety issues.
He also added that the cooperation is not only for NIMASA, but for all other maritime regulators and stakeholders in the country since synergy is needed to make the country a leading maritime nation, which is the overarching goal.
Peterside also hinted that the IMO Secretariat has approved a number of technical cooperation to be implemented in Nigeria from September till next year; including sending some experts to work in the country. He expressed the willingness and determination of the Agency to ensure that Nigeria is given its rightful place in the comity of maritime nations.
The Council is the Executive Organ of IMO and is responsible, under the Assembly, for supervising the work of the Organization amongst other responsibilities.
It may be recalled that the Peterside led Management of NIMASA has made continuous collaboration a hallmark, which has seen to the feats achieved in the Nigeria maritime sector since the inception of this administration.