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From molly Kilete, Abuja
The Federal Government has pledged to harness the full potential of the nation’s maritime resources and opportunities to take Nigeria out of the present economic doldrums to a diversified economy for sustainable growth and development.
Minister Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, made this known, at the 2024 World Hydrography Day celebration in Abuja with the theme “Hydrographic Information-Enhancing Safety, Efficiency and sustainability in Marine Activities”
Badaru, who commended the Nigerian Navy for playing an instrumental role in laying the foundation for Nigeria’s national hydrographic services capacity, said the Navy Hydrographic office has worked tirelessly to develop nigeria’s hydrographic capability, ensuring the safety of navigation and contribution to the national security.
The minister while noting that the creation of the National Hydrographic Agency built the solid foundation, expanding Nigeria’s capability to meet evolving needs of our maritime sector, reiterated the importance of hydrographic information for enhancing maritime safety by providing accurate and up to date information to vessels to navigate.
He said this is particularly crucial in Nigeria where the nation’s ports, “busy shipping lines and offshore oil and gas are vital to the economy”.
“Thus by providing detailed hydrographic data, the national hydrographic agency will help ensure that our maritime activities are conducted safely and efficiently”.
“Moreover, the National Radiographic Agency will play a critical role in promoting environmental sustainability as we strive to balance economic growth and environmental protection.
“Hydrographic information will guide our efforts to manage maritime resources sustainably, monitoring coastal erosion and mitigating the impacts of climate change”.
Badaru stressed that the strategic significance of the National Hydrocarbon Agency extends beyond safety and sustainability.
Continuing, the minister said “by optimizing shipping routes and improving port management, the agency will enhance the efficiency of our maritime operations, will lead to reduce operational costs, increase competitiveness and new economic opportunities.
“The national hydrographic agency will contribute to the realization of Nigeria’s blue economy aspiration, creating jobs and fostering economic prosperity for all Nigerians.
He assured the agency that the federal government will continue to invest in the development of Nigeria’s national hydrographic capacity in areas such as the acquisition of state of the art survey technologies, building a skilled workforce and fostering international partnerships.
Earlier in his address, the Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, while noting that the Navy made several attempts at domestic charts for Nigerian waters, said this was in realization of the fact that “hydrography is actually a public good, just like construction of roads, you really cannot quantify the impact it will have in terms of value and that is why enormous resources are required”
He said “Over the years, the Nigerian Navy and other agencies in the maritime domain, for instance, NIMASA NIWAand the NPA have made tremendous effort towards fulfilling our roles of providing that information which is required to produce nautical charts and other aids to navigation and safety of mariners. We have charts covering nigerian waters. Most of these charts were based on information obtained by the British when they were here along the line. We have had several other improvements on those charts, particularly in the past ten to 15 years. But there were still serious gaps when it comes to surveying in our waters and that gap is not only nigerian waters, it’s the whole of Africa, particularly West Africa.
“As far as much as we are behind in terms of providing hydrographic information, we are first in West Africa. And we even happen to be the only country that in West Africa that was a member of the International Hydrographic Organization. That is to say that if we do not do something to propel hydrography forward, as we are going backward, the whole of Africa is going backward”.
Ogalla, said that the Africa integrated multi strategy recognized that the eradication of poverty in Africa depends on the ability of african nations to exploit the resources in the marine environment.
” It was projected that the marine environment, the blue economy, we call it blue economy now is the only way and one of the vital ways which we can propel ourselves out of poverty. And that is the reason why I believe that for us to be able to do that, we must have adequate hydrographic data. One of the problems which we have been facing all these days was the issue of see blindness. People not knowing exactly what, how important the marine environment is and the resources therein. And that is one of the main reasons for the World Hydrography Day celebration in 2007″.
He called on African leaders to invest in hydrographic information.
“we are gradually moving towards having all our charts produced in Nigeria, not only charts, but caribbean graphic information generally, including notices to mariners and all other aspects of arbitrary these are things that are required to improve safety in our waters”.
He said that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his resolve towards supporting the Nigerian Navy and particularly the national geographic agencies, towards actualizing these goals has given the go ahead
“So the ball is now in our court for us to do what is required so that we can turn the tide and change the status quo when it comes to the issue of safety lack and all these issues related to improper charting within our waters. I believe that with this agency. And from today on, we should not only be able to produce charts covering our waters and produce publications covered in our waters, or to produce that which will cover the entire west african sub region and even beyond.
“We also expect the agency to play a key role in terms of reducing the issue of capital flight in Nigeria. Hydrography is a very, very, very costly project and it’s only federal government, government that can invest in it. And now government has given us the go ahead to invest in this area. And by so doing, we should be able to produce the required outcome that will enable us to also contribute to the economy of this nation through sales and dissemination of hydrographic information. So the national hydrographic agency is not only a national security apparatus, but is also a commercial apparatus that is designed to contribute to reduce the issue of capital flight, issue of using foreign exchange to acquire hydrographic products and acquire other marine data products from abroad and that is one of the tasks that these agencies look towards addressing.
Also speaking, the Hydrographer of the Federation Rear Admiral Ayodeji Olugbode said Nigeria’s advancement in Hydrography has laid a solid foundation for the nation’s progress.
He said the federal governments investment has bolstered Navy’s capacity as a nation to conduct comprehensive surveys of nation’s territorial waters up to the extremities of its exclusive economic zone.
“These vessels are not just assets, they are symbols of sovereignty and our unwavering commitment to maritime safety and operational excellence”.
“What we have achieved this year will include the launching of a revised national charting scheme, the maiden edition of our catalogue of nigerian charts, and a chart of the approaches to Lagos harbor. All of these were achieved within the first half of this year, even though some of this work has commenced even before I came into office.This critical milestone marks a new chapter in our hydrographic journey. The revised national charting scheme addresses previous gaps that were identified, ensuring greater precision and comprehensiveness in our national navigational products”.
According to him, the catalogue of National Health Nigerian charts will make maritime resources more accessible, cataloguing existing charts and outlining our future projections, while the chart of the approaches to Lagos is said to become an invaluable tool for mariners, providing detailed and accurate information essential for safety of navigation, these developments are more than technical advancement they are strategic enablers.
“The conduct of surveys in Nigeria speaks volumes of a long standing commitment in the field of hydrography, but our progress does not end here. Looking ahead, capacity building remains a top priority. We are committed to equipping our hydrographers with the best training and resources, ensuring that they are well prepared to meet challenges of the future. Advanced technologies and innovative methodologies will continue to drive our efforts, enabling us to produce high quality hydrographic data that is crucial to maritime success”.
