Harboursandport.com: Lagos - The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, has reiterated the
Federal Government’s determination to rid the Nigerian territorial waters of
criminalities through the Integrated Security and Waterways Protection
Infrastructure, otherwise known as the Deep Blue Project.
l-r: GOC 81 DIV, Major Gen. MS Yusuf, Director General
NIMASA,
Dakuku Peterside, Representative of the Minister of Transportation/Director
Maritime Safety and Security, Danjuma M. Dauda and the Representative of
the
Chief of Defence Staff Rear Admiral A Akinrinande during the Graduation
ceremony of C41 intelligence System Operator Course held in Lagos.
Amaechi disclosed
this on Thursday in Lagos during the graduation ceremony for participants of
the C4I Intelligence System Operator Course for the Deep Blue Project. The
ceremony was attended by the top echelons of the Nigerian Armed Forces, led by
the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin represented by Rear
Admiral A. Akinrinade.
Amaechi stated that the 853km long Nigeria coastline and the country’s
location in the Gulf of Guinea made it strategic for both maritime activities
and security issues.
According to the minister, who was represented by the Director, Maritime
Safety and Security, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Engr. Dajuma Dauda,
“The length of our coastline, our exclusive economic zone, as well as our
strategic location on a major shipping route, which is the Gulf of Guinea,
means that we cannot afford illegalities, such as piracy, oil theft, sea
robbery, and other crimes.
“The Deep Blue Project is a conscious effort towards addressing
illegality in our territorial waters and, indeed, the Gulf of Guinea.”
In his welcome address, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, said the Deep
Blue Project would drastically reduce criminalities in the Gulf of Guinea.
Dakuku explained that the project was multifaceted and involved the training of
selected officers from the various strata of the security services and NIMASA
as well as acquisition of assets to combat maritime crime.
He stated, “The Deep Blue Project is a multipronged approach towards tackling
insecurity in our territorial waters and the entire Gulf of Guinea. What we are
doing is fulfilling the training aspect of the project and this will also be
complemented by acquisition of assets, such as fast intervention vessels,
surveillance aircraft, and other facilities, including a command and control
centre for data collection and information sharing that will aid our goals of
targeted enforcement.”
The NIMASA DG added, “The Deep Blue Project is geared towards building a
formidable integrated surveillance and security architecture that will
comprehensively combat maritime crime and criminalities in Nigeria’s waterways
up to the Gulf of Guinea.”
Dakuku stated that the Agency, in collaboration with the National
Assembly, was taking steps to ensure that the Antipiracy Bill was passed soon.
He said NIMASA was involved in both regional and domestic collaborations to
ensure that maritime crimes in the country’s waterways were reduced to a bare
minimum, if not completely eliminated.
In his remarks, the best graduating student among the 21 course participants, Abdul Razaq Lawal Mohammed, said the course exposed participants to security challenges being faced in the Gulf of Guinea region and the possible solutions. He promised to bring his experience to bear in efforts to make the Nigerian maritime space safe for investment.
Certificates were presented to the successful participants by the GOC 9th Mechanized Division, Maj-Gen M. S. Yusuf representing the Chief of Army Staff; Air Commodore S. O. Shobande and Rear Admiral M. A. Eno Represented the Chief of Air Staff and the Chief of Naval Staff respectively. Also the Police was represented by AIG, Marine, Abdul Dahir Danwanu; and Mr Ado Ibrahim represented the Department of State Security Service (DSS).
In his remarks, the best graduating student among the 21 course participants, Abdul Razaq Lawal Mohammed, said the course exposed participants to security challenges being faced in the Gulf of Guinea region and the possible solutions. He promised to bring his experience to bear in efforts to make the Nigerian maritime space safe for investment.
Certificates were presented to the successful participants by the GOC 9th Mechanized Division, Maj-Gen M. S. Yusuf representing the Chief of Army Staff; Air Commodore S. O. Shobande and Rear Admiral M. A. Eno Represented the Chief of Air Staff and the Chief of Naval Staff respectively. Also the Police was represented by AIG, Marine, Abdul Dahir Danwanu; and Mr Ado Ibrahim represented the Department of State Security Service (DSS).
The participants were drawn from the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force,
Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police, DSS, and NIMASA.
NIMASA had
earlier in the year graduated 24 C4i system operators and also, recently, 300
officers of the Nigerian Army who were trained on the Basic Infantry Course,
all under the Deep Blue Project. The Intelligence System Operator Course, with
21 graduates, is an aspect of the training that focuses on intelligence, data
gathering, and information sharing towards a targeted enforcement approach.
The project
provides both land and air based surveillance capabilities with command and
control centres located across the country for data gathering and information
sharing.
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