38 Navies, 27 Coast Guards Expected at Global Maritime Security Confab – Dakuku

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Forum to produce Declaration on Maritime Security in Gulf of Guinea

Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside

Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, says a robust
collection of international maritime security stakeholders have confirmed their
attendance at the Global Maritime Security Conference (GMSC) scheduled to hold
in Abuja from
October 7 to 9.

The conference is organised to address pertinent
security issues in the Gulf of Guinea maritime domain.

Speaking in Abuja, Dakuku decried the scourge of
maritime insecurity, especially in the Gulf of Guinea.

He said there was an
urgent need for international collaboration to tackle the menace, emphasising
that the conference would come up with a formal declaration on solutions to
maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea.

“Dealing with the issues of piracy and maritime crime
requires inter-agency collaboration as well as regional collaboration between
sister agencies in the participating countries,” he stated.

Dakuku said that about eight Chiefs of Naval Staff from
Africa, 16 representatives of Chiefs of Naval Staff from the continent, and
representatives of Chiefs of Naval Staff from Brazil, United States, and some
European countries were expected at the conference.

He said, “So, we have full representation. We have
navies from 38 countries coming for the conference, including two Rear Admirals
from the United States. The global naval community is well represented at the
conference.

“We are also bringing the Head of Liberian Coast Guard, we are
bringing the heads of coast guards from 27 countries. We have clearly confirmed
over 500 foreigners coming for the conference and over 2,000 persons have
registered for the Global Maritime Security Conference.”

Dakuku, who is also Chairman of the Association of
African Maritime Administrations (AAMA), added, “This is a tactical conference
between developing countries, developed countries and high international
partners to find solution to a problem that is affecting global commerce.

“Ninety per cent of commerce is conducted via seaborne
trade, so whatever affects seaborne trade affects global commerce and has
direct impact on development and quality of living of a people.

“At the end of the conference, we are expected to come
up with the Abuja Declaration on Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea, which
will be a document that will be a consensus agreement of all participants
regarding what needs to be done to address the deteriorating situation. There
will be a defined roadmap to deal with maritime security in the Gulf of
Guinea.”

He said during the live interview on the Nigerian
Television Authority (NTA) that getting global institutions, bilateral and
multilateral agencies, and nations of the world to partner in order to make a
clear statement on how to deal with the security challenges in the Gulf of
Guinea was the ultimate goal of the forum.

The conference is being hosted by the Federal Ministry
of Transportation, in collaboration with the Nigerian Navy. It is the first of
its kind in the Gulf of Guinea and follows in the tradition of similar events
held globally.

The objectives of the conference include defining the
precise nature and scope of coordinated regional responses to maritime
insecurity, evaluating the relevance of various external interventions, and
moving towards policy harmonisation and regional cooperation.

The conference will also tackle cyber security threats,
while advocating deeper global commitment to the deployment of resources for
ending maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea region in the shortest time
possible.