By Milton Tella – His Excellency, Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Isola presented his letter of accreditation as the permanent representative of Nigeria to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to Mr Lim Kitack, Secretary General at the headquarters in London on 20 June 2022.
While addressing Mr Lim Kitack, Secretary General of IMO, Ambassador Isola delivered greetings from President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR and the very good people of Nigeria. He said, “with all sense of responsibility that I am pleased to present my letter of accreditation as the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the International Maritime Organisation”.
“I wish to assure Your Excellency that Nigeria is fully committed to meeting her treaty obligations in promoting safe, secure, efficient, and sustainable shipping in furthering the IMO’s objectives.
“Specifically, On the issue of insecurity and piracy activities in the Gulf of Guinea, the Nigerian Government has in the last two years, adopted a manifold approach to fighting insecurity and the challenge of piracy in Nigeria waters and indeed the Gulf of Guinea area.
“The Nigeria Joint Industry Working Group (NIJWG), jointly co-chaired by the industry-organisations and NIMASA was established in our deliberate effort to finding lasting solutions to the piracy situation. This initiative gave birth to the Gulf of Guinea Maritime Collaboration Forum (GOG -MCF/SHADE) which together with the International Community and IMO necessitated the success story recorded so far in the Gulf of Guinea Region.
The Deep Blue Project by the Nigeria government complimented by the communication platforms and the legal finish as well as collaboration, cooperation and effective coordination with the International community have proved effective in addressing the menace of piracy and maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea.
Your Excellency, permit me to acknowledge the various IMO’s Technical support to Nigeria, particularly, the development of Port Community System (PCS) for electronic data exchange for Nigeria Ports and also the development of National Maritime Security Strategy both of which are currently ongoing”.
In concluding, Ambassador Isola said, “I wish to assure Your Excellency, that Nigeria will continue to discharge it’s responsibilities in an effort to support IMO to deliver on its mandate”.
In his remarks, Mr Lim Kitack, Secretary General of IMO enumerated the plans of the organisation in supporting developing countries. He expressed his deepest appreciation to the government of Nigeria and congratulated Ambassador Isola as he received the credentials of the High Commissioner of Nigeria to the UK.
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