The Managing Director Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Mallam Habib Abdullahi has advocated for the urgent convocation of a national conference on the delineation of functions amongst the agencies of government responsible for maritime safety and security.
According to the Managing Director, the conference, which he said was long overdue, should be tripartite in nature with the active participation of the Marine Police, the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Assuring that the NPA would be willing to fully facilitate the hosting of the proposed tripartite conference, the Managing Director explained that the proposed conference should be able to harness all the problems arising from the discharge of the safety and security responsibilities by the various government agencies and proffer solutions to them.
Mallam Abdullahi was speaking in Lagos on Monday when he received the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Maritime Police command, Lagos Force Headquarters Annex, Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police Kalafite Helen Adeyemi who paid him a courtesy call as part of her familiarization visit to police establishments and key stakeholders in the Western Ports Command, Lagos.
The Managing Director said the conference which should be holding within the shortest possible time should be able to harmonise and streamline the responsibilities of the various government agencies, with a view to removing duplication and conflict of roles as well as map out strategies on inter-agency complimentary efforts.
He commended the Federal Government for according special attention to the Maritime Police Department of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), with the appointment of seasoned police officers as the AIG as well as the appointment of Commissioners to head the Western and Eastern Zones of the Port Police Commands in Lagos and Port Harcourt respectively.
With these appointments, he explained, the Federal Government has continued to accord Maritime policing of its rightful place in the scheme of things, adding that the nation Maritime sector remains a significant sector of the economy after oil and therefore deserves all the security and safety surveillance.
He appealed to all government agencies and stakeholders in the nation’s maritime sector to support the Maritime police department of NPF in the discharge of its responsibilities, which assuring that the NPA would do everything within the power to make the office of the new AIG effective.
Earlier, AIG Kalafite had told the Managing Director that she was in his office to solicit for greater cooperation in the discharge of her assignment and for the success of the newly established office.
She explained that as the gateway to the nation’s economy, the Maritime Police Command was determine to secure the nation’s ports, so as to make the ports safe for economic activities.
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good representation