‘Nigeria’s chances of returning to IMO council has improved’

Owing to the recent efforts put forward by the management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to implement global conventions and laws, the chances of Nigeria returning to the council of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), has improved significantly, Diko Balla, Nigeria’s Alternate Permanent Representative (APR) at the IMO, has said.

Balla, who stated this in a statement signed by Isichei Osamgbi, head, Corporate Communications of NIMASA, spoke at Nigerian IMO office in London. He said that Nigeria was among the first 10 countries from the over 170 member nations to submit itself for the IMO Member States Audit Scheme (IMSAS). “This was seen by the IMO as a show of direction of the current administration of maritime in Nigeria.

“Kitack Lim, IMO secretary general was pleased when the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi informed him that the observations of the Audit Scheme on Nigeria were being studied with a view to implementing Corrective Action Plans (CAPs).

According to him, the global maritime regulatory body considers the issue of piracy as priority and that it was pleased with Nigeria for taking the fight against piracy and sea robbery to new levels with the push for Anti-Piracy bill currently in the parliament.

“IMO is collaborating with Nigeria in the area of trainings and technical support and this shows its satisfaction with NIMASA operations in recent times. By November this year, I can assure you that Nigeria’s election into the Category “C” at IMO will be overwhelming.”

Bala noted that Nigeria being among countries considered as most successful in the implementation of the International Ships and Ports facility Security (ISPS) Code is a welcome development to both the IMO and other stakeholders in the maritime sector.

“Recall that when we lost our seat in Council in 2011, our implementation status was less than 13 percent but today we have over 85 percent compliance to ISPS Code,” he added.

He further assured that IMO is prepared to support Maritime Administrations in Africa in combating security challenges, and in building human capacity to implement, monitor and enforce international instruments.

On the recent conference of Association of African Maritime Administration (AAMA) hosted by Nigeria, Bala noted that the IMO is satisfied with the decision of the AAMA to encourage regional cooperation in enhancing information sharing towards combating piracy and other maritime crimes and to facilitate global trade.

Uzoamaka Anagor-Ewuzie