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By Zika Bobby
The Director General of the International Maritime Institute of Nigeria (IMION), Rear Admiral Thaddeus Udofia (retd), has advocated for expansion of naval capacity in the Gulf of Guinea through concerted investments by West and Central African countries in joint maritime security efforts.
Udofia, who spoke yesterday in Lagos during a visit by 300 level international relations students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), also called for improved engagement of various communities in the coastal areas to reduce incidents of maritime crimes.
While commending the various steps Nigeria has made to enhance and sustain a more secure maritime domain, Udofia also recommended the promotion of multilateral legal frameworks for maritime law enforcement to ease arrest and prosecution of suspects.
While addressing the students and faculty members, he described IMION as a specialised maritime institute designed to meet the increasing demand of highly skilled maritime experts required to contribute effectively in developing the Blue Economy.
He said the Institute was established as a strategic think-tank and research body aimed at advancing the Blue Economy Sector of Nigeria, the Gulf of Guinea and the world at large.
Udofia also said IMION serves as a platform for maritime experts to research and discuss policies, strategies, and innovations that impact Nigeria and the broader GoG region with additional mandate to support the Nigerian Government and maritime agencies by providing robust training for capacity building, research and benchmarking.
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According to him, IMION also promotes policy advocacy on key issues such as maritime security, ocean governance, blue economy hydrography and climate change among others.
Also speaking during the visit, Dr Ifesinachi Okafor -Yarwood, a Lecturer at university of Saint Andrews, Scotland called for increase non kinetic measures to address the challenge of maritime insecurity in the GoG.
Okafor-Yarwood, who spoke virtually during a paper presentation said the application vid armament alone cannot solve maritime insecurity as according to her there is the need to look at root causes of maritime crimes and collaborate with the communities.
She questioned the rationale behind calls by a section of the country maritime stakeholders for the establishment of a coastguard when the country is unable to properly fund it’s navy.
While commending the Nigerian Navy for establishment of Falcon Eye ,an initiative for proper surveillance of the maritime domain to detect and address issues of maritime security, Yarwood said maritime boundaries dispute is contributing to some coastal communities disruption thereby promoting insecurity.
She cited an example with the Nigeria, Cameroon Bakassi Peninsula dispute which has left affected Nigerian citizens displaced without compensation to date
Leader of the OAU team, Dr Ibikun David thanked the Institute for the opportunity and described the visit as an eye opener for lecturers and students.
