THE Director- General of the proposed Maritime Security Agency, Mr.
Jacob Ovweghre, weekend, lamented the huge amount the country is losing
daily to pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft, stating that the
passage of its bill currently before the National Assembly would help
boost Nigeria’s revenue by N3.1 trillion annually.
Ovweghre, who addressed newsmen in Abuja, further said once it gets
the necessary legal backing, issues of pipeline vandalism and fuel
scarcity would reduce drastically, while fuel price might drop sharply,
as it would deploy all its personnel to oil installations across the
country to safeguard the assets from acts of sabotage.
He said the agency, which would be self-financing, would help address
the issue of unemployment, as it would create an avenue for over three
million youths to be gainfully employed.
He said presently, Maritime Security Agency is operating skeletal
services and is involved in intelligence gathering, noting that when its
bill is passed, its personnel would be deployed to areas notorious for
piracy, pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft to stem the nefarious
activities.
He added that its activities would help assure foreign investors that
Nigeria’s territorial waters and the country in general, is safe for
investment.
He said: “Maritime security is a complex task the world over. It
entails protecting all forms of maritime assets, identification and
evaluation of special maritime threats and how to comprehensively manage
them.
“To achieve the safety of Nigeria’s maritime industry, government
must vigorously and robustly explore collaborative synergy with relevant
stakeholders and organisations that possess the requisite expertise to
enhance the nation’s maritime security.
“It is on this note that we call on President Muhammadu Buhari, who
is reputed to be a listening and responsive president, to as a matter of
urgent national importance, grant necessary operational approval to the
Maritime Security Agency (MASECA) expressly.”
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