Too many talks without action on sea piracy, other marine crimes worry stakeholders
Africa and mainly Nigerian stakeholders in shipping and maritime business have expressed worry over what they described as too much preparation to fight piracy and other criminalities at seas without any real action for some time now.
To experts, proposals for actions on serious maritime issues seem to have taken more time that should be used for implementation while more loses are felt on a daily basis.
It would be recalled that the Chairman of the Association of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside, recently in London repeated the too much preparation to begin action without giving any time on when real action will begin.
According to him, Maritime Administrations (MARADs) in Africa are set to tackle the twin issue of piracy, sea crime and illegal migration in the continent.
Though he told maritime journalists at the sidelines of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) council meeting in London that the continent through her leaders have put in place the necessary framework to tackle all forms of criminalities, which will guarantee safety and security of lives and property and help harness the benefits of the blue economy, he did not give any details.
According to him, “some of the instruments being proposed to tackle crimes include; the Africa Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS) 2050, the Yaoundé Code of Conduct, the Djibouti Code of Conduct and the Lome Charter amongst other strategies”.
Speaking further, Dr. Peterside hinted that as part of its Medium Term Goals, AAMA as a body intends to partner Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) who are involved in rescue operations on the sea and international partners to tackle the challenge of migration by sea.
Instead of giving details of action plans for implementation of strategies, the DG of NIMASA went ahead to add that “in order to stem the tide of illegal Migration, the Association is in the process of empaneling studies in selected African countries on illegal migration to enable them provide empirical data to the African Union for action”.
To stakeholders, nothing is yet happening based on the body language of the chairman of AAMA in Africa tackle maritime challenges.
Continuing in his press address in London, peterside said “Let me assure you that African Maritime Administrations are determined to tackle the challenges in the maritime sector to maximize the benefits of the blue economy, but Africa and Africans are the ones to lead the search for solution to the problems plaguing African Maritime domain; the support of the International community will only be complimentary to the effort of Africans”.
