Kemi Nandap, the country’s Comptroller-general, has reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to improving maritime border security.
She emphasized the importance of re-evaluating strategies in response to changing challenges during her address at a workshop that the United Nations counter-terrorism team and the Nigerian immigration service jointly organized on Tuesday.
“We understand that deploying cutting-edge surveillance systems and advanced communication tools is a necessity for detecting and responding to threats quickly. The NIS’s unwavering commitment to preventing foreign terrorist fighters and criminal elements from attempting to cross our maritime borders is a pillar of national security.
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Our counter-terrorism strategy’s “effective control of passenger movement and travel documentation” continues to be at a critical position, she continued.
She said, “This forum today further strengthens our collective resolve to combat a wide range of transnational threats,” referring to the workshop’s theme, “Maritime Border Security,” which included piracy, terrorism, arms smuggling, human trafficking, illegal immigration, and stowaway incidents.
These problems “unpredict the stability of the vessels and their crews, threaten national and regional stability, and undermine economic progress.” Our approach must be multidimensional, encompassing strong community engagement, strategic capacity-building, robust policy formulation, and long-term regional cooperation.
She emphasized the significance of the Gulf of Guinea, which extends along West Africa’s Atlantic coast and includes nations like Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, So Tomé and Prénécipe, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, and Benin.
She claimed that this is of significant strategic and economic significance.
The world’s energy supply is significantly impacted by offshore oil and gas reserves. However, persistent maritime insecurity, which ranges from illegal oil bunkering and fishing to piracy and other violent maritime crimes, is stifling its promise.
The African Union’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, the 2050 Africa Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS), and the Policy Framework and Reform Strategy for Fisheries and Aquaculture in Africa all align with important continental frameworks, such as the Policy Framework and Reform Strategy for Fisheries and Aquaculture in Africa. We must first secure our waters, she continued, in order to realize these ambitions.
She notes that the organization is top-notch about its commitment to technology innovation, adding that operations now incorporate air-border security.
The NIS is actively enhancing its technological prowess, including the use of Passenger Name Record (PNR) and Advanced Passenger Information (API) systems for better intelligence sharing. Through the expansion of our Border Management Information System (BMIS), these tools, which are already essential for air-border security, are now being integrated into our maritime operations. We can better monitor and protect our territorial waters thanks to this strategic deployment.
Our presence in this country today shows how committed we are to the principles set forth in the ECOWAS’s Gulf of Guinea strategy and AIMS 2050. We are dedicated to creating a secure, prosperous maritime environment that promotes our shared social, economic, and environmental objectives.
The Comptroller-General emphasized the need for constant innovation, strategic thinking, and collaboration in order to address the Gulf of Guinea’s evolving security issues. She urged all parties involved to make use of the learnings from the workshop to create a more stable, secure, and prosperous maritime environment.
Source: Channels TV
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