Pirates abandoned Gulf of Guinea first time in 20 years – Saraki

The Minister of State, Transportation, Sen. Gbemisola Saraki, says pirates have abandoned the Gulf of Guinea for the first time in 20 years.

Saraki disclosed this to our reporter on Friday in Abuja, on the sideline of the 2021 Engineering Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Society of Engineer (NSE), Bwari branch.

The theme of the conference is: The Role of Nigerian Maritime Sector in Strategic National Development.

She said this was as a result of the Suppression of Piracy and other Maritime Offences act (Spomo) assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

Recall that Buhari assented to the maritime bill to improve security on the country’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone.

“Some of the challenges found in the sector include insecurity which has led to high insurance premium on vessels destined for Nigeria.

“I am pleased that the efforts of the administration to provide a deep blue security in our architecture are now yielding results.

“Pirates have now abandoned the Gulf of Guinea for other gulfs; No country is entirely self-sufficient and every country rely on maritime trade to sell what it has and buy what it need.

“Maritime transport is essential to the proper operation of any country’s economy and a viable part of a nation infrastructure,” she said.

She noted that over 60 per cent of the maritime traffic in the subregion was either destined or originated for Nigeria.

Saraki said over 80 per cent of shipping business load in the whole of West Africa was actually done in Nigeria.

The President, NSE, Mr Babagana Mohammed, also advised branches of Engineers across the country to concentrate more on community engineering projects at the grassroots.

Mohammed, represented by Mr Gidari Saad, the society’s deputy president, said the National body of NSE appreciated branches getting people together to discuss topical issues.

He, however, urged them to leave conferences to NSE at the National level and professional institution of the NSE.

He commended the Bwari branch for its contributions toward national development at the grassroots level, adding that the branch recently donated Solar-Powered Borehole to Gaba community in Bwari, Abuja.

“I was at Gaba community to inaugurate the borehole, it was quite commendable intervention in community engineering.

“That project is in tandem with NSE’s consistent demand for branches and divisions to engage more in community engineering projects to solve many economic and social problems facing rural communities all over the country.

“The force of community engineering intervention becomes most obvious if we imagine the impact that will be created on lives of Nigerians if all our 80 branches across the country execute a rural project every year,” he said.

Chairman, NSE, Bwari branch, Dr Halimat Adediran, said that the theme for this year’s conference was apt in view of the strategies that the Federal Government was putting in place to diversify the economy from oil.

According to Adediran, Maritime sector is an overlooked goldmine with the capacity of becoming a key engine of our economic development.

“Though the maritime sector holds tremendous capacity to drive sustainable national development, it is still necessary to undergo restructuring and reform, reconstructing and repositioning by the government and other stakeholders,” she said.

Dr Umar Bindir, Special Assistant to the President and National Coordinator, National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), office of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development said that government was focused on poverty eradication.

Bindir said that there was the need for absolute total eradication of poverty and every Nigerian should have access, not just to basic human needs, but to all opportunities that would lead to fulfilling lives.