Somali pirates: Any lessons for Nigeria?
The sea is not the natural habitat of man. As ships ply the seas, piracy and sea robbery are mentally disturbing phenomena known worldwide. Sea robbery takes place in harbor, while piracy is in the high sea outside a nation’s territorial waters. The sea is vital to the survival of maritime nations; and its use covers economic, military, as well as diplomacy. It represents the common heritage of mankind upon which human prosperity depends. The development of maritime nations throughout history has always been influenced by the extent to which man has dominated the sea.
When there are incessant piracy attacks at sea, it is mostly due to harsh economic conditions occasioned by poor governance on land. It’s not exclusively due to weak naval capability as some feel. For pirates or sea robbers, staying at sea for many days until they are able to attack or hijack a ship for ransom is a survival tactic. It is high unemployment of youths in Somalia that propelled them to turn to piracy as a solution to their economic challenges.
On 14 March 2017, it was widely reported that pirates hijacked an oil tanker off the coast of Somalia. This being the first of such incident involving a commercial vessel since 2012. But a day before the incidence, an observer noted that pirates have been sailing through the ocean in search of foreign ships to hijack, they found one and boarded it. Why? “Foreign fishermen destroyed their livelihoods and deprived them of proper fishing.”Due to its adverse effect on the economy, it’s not surprising that illegal fishing activities of foreign trawlers within Somali territorial waters could cause the recent piracy attack.
To the global shipping community however, reports show that the attack came as a surprise. This is because navies of nations under the umbrella of North Atlantic Treaty Organizations (NATO), including China, India, and Iran, thought they had suppressed Somali pirate hijackings after several years of naval presence at sea. This huge naval presence is due to the nearness of Somalia to the Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint in the Horn of Africa. The Horn of Africa is strategic to global powers as almost all the trade between European Union and China, Japan, India and the rest of Asia pass through it daily. Statistics show that about 30 percent of world’s oil, including natural gas from the Persian Gulf heading West pass through the Horn of Africa daily.
Since October 2016, the United Nations had however warned that “the situation in Somalia particularly in the Gulf of Aden was fragile and that Somali pirates possess the intent and capability to resume attacks.” That means the Somali pirates were on “operational pulse,”- a diversionary tactic adopted to put their piracy activities on hold since 2012. But when they observed that there are rampant illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing activities going on in their waters, they decided to attack any fishing vessel. Unfortunately, sophisticated Somali pirates hijacked a UAE oil tanker- Aris 13.
Somalia is classified as a least developed country characterized by civil war and institutional collapse. It is a country with a “strikingly low” Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.285. the HDI ranks amongst the lowest in the world, while about 43 percent of its 11.3 million people live on less than US$ 1.0/day. Somalia occupies 190th position in the 2017 ease of doing business ranking. according to available statistics, (CIA World Fact Book). The country’s economy has suffered a great setback as a result of state failure occasioned by the civil war. In spite of this poor economic indicators, Somali pirates are rated by maritime security experts as “very sophisticated” in the world.
What are lessons for Nigeria? Since Nigeria is a maritime nation currently going through economic recession, there is need for the federal government to draw lessons from the recent piracy attack in Somalia. Pulling Nigeria’s economy out of recession is a task that must be done. Nigerians in shipping have lost valuable businesses as a result of piracy and sea robbery. Piracy and sea robbery have dented the image of Nigeria, and this has to be redeemed through good governance.
As security agencies destroy most of the illegal refineries in the Niger Delta, the federal government should be several steps ahead of the current security situation in that area. The probability is high that unemployed youths in the region and other coastal areas will return to piracy and sea robbery. It’s because some see these maritime crimes as a way of life. Perhaps, that is why the Nigerian Navy (NN) is having a dedicated anti-piracy squad at sea, in anticipation of a likely “threat migration” by youths involved in illegal refining of crude oil. Will the presence of the NN for 24 hours/day throughout 365 days solve the problem of piracy and sea robbery? Negative! Once people are hungry and miserable, hunger will make them enter the sea in search of money and food to survive the harsh economic conditions on land.
Though inflation is reducing, piracy and sea robbery are consequences of unemployment as most firms are still operating below capacity. Besides, most of our youths are unemployable, and this brings to fore the human resource gap in the nation’s quest for development. Nigeria, the most populous black nation in the world, must have a strong economy capable of employing most of the employable citizens. Therefore, the federal government must ensure that good governance is sustained, while promises made to citizens are fulfilled.
The quality of life of the people must be improved through achievable job creation strategies. The federal government should ensure that industrialization and strengthening of weak institutions are sustained. The governments’ focus must be how to industrialize in order to have a manufacturing economy. A manufacturing economy is necessary to reduce unemployment, as this will decrease piracy and sea robbery, which are very embarrassing to our image with serious consequences on our economic growth.
MA Johnson