At the graduation program for the third batch of the Deep Blue Project, which includes the Maritime Security Unit, Armored Personnel Carriers of the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, and Technicians and Mechanics of Unarmed Area Vehicles, held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the Federal Government called on leading insurance companies around the world, including Lloyd’s of London, to stop collecting the War Risk Insurance costs on Nigeria. At the ceremony, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director General, remarked that Nigeria had made significant progress toward eliminating piracy within its national seas and the Gulf of Guinea.
He believes that Nigeria is worthy of the consideration of global insurance companies to remove the requirement for war risk insurance on vessels and goods that are bound for Nigeria. The director general of NIMASA also revealed that Nigeria had not suffered a single attack by pirates ever since the deep blue project was initiated. He went on to say that the two most recent attempts by the pirates to operate within Nigerian seas were abortive.
Removal of the war risk insurance premium will improve the economy.
Jamoh additionally revealed that the installation of war risk insurance across all cargoes heading for Nigeria was a huge setback to the country’s economy due to the detrimental influence that it has on the cost of commodities in the market, which everyone feels. Because Nigeria relies heavily on imported goods and materials, the high cost of insurance premiums imposed as a penance for the insecurity of the seas at the time ultimately made consumer goods more expensive.
Though it is generally hard for any item that rises up to drop back down in Nigeria, However, he anticipates prices will fall after it is eliminated because of increased competition. As a result of Nigeria’s success in combating piracy with the aid of the cutting-edge deep blue project, the world community would appreciate the achievement. According to Jamoh, it is the message he is spreading around the globe because ever since the project was put into action, there has not been a single successful attack by pirates in Nigeria’s territorial waters.
Security condition of the country’s territorial water has been reformed.
Mu’azu Sambo, the Minister of Transportation, also spoke, reiterating the Federal Government’s excitement with the vastly enhanced security condition in the country’s territorial waters ever since the launch of the deep blue project and promising to continue the program. He explained that the majority of piracy and maritime crime is plotted on land, carried out on land, and the earnings are then brought to the land, according to intelligence analysis of the operations of pirates and sea criminals.
More so, the efforts of the marine security unit, particularly their supply chain, which are facilitated by the specialists of the armored personnel carriers, are indeed highly crucial and necessary in the overall deep blue architecture due to their involvement in destroying the operating structures of these criminals. He congratulated the graduates for making it through the intensive process and stated that all participants in the project were making an honest effort to ensure that it got off to a strong start.
Government and military agencies collaborate to launch the initiative.
Lastly, Sambo noted that the Deep Blue Project is unique because it is the first time that a civilian government entity is collaborating with military agencies, and more will be achieved with this. On the other hand, He exhorted the graduating service members to keep a greater motivation in the fulfilment of their tasks, as they will thereafter be sent to numerous operating regions. On the other hand, the Minister has assured that they will not waiver in their resolve to ensure that all welfare concerns are resolved as quickly as possible.
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