Reps, Police, Navy, NIMASA, CSOs reject marine corps
19 November 2024 |
2:42 am
No fewer than 66 members of the House of Representatives have kicked against the move to establish the Nigerian Marine Corps. The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Shippers Council and several Civil Society Organisations
No fewer than 66 members of the House of Representatives have kicked against the move to establish the Nigerian Marine Corps. The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Shippers Council and several Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) also rejected the idea at a public hearing held yesterday at the National Assembly.
Deputy spokesperson for the House, Philip Agbese, who spoke on behalf of the lawmakers, contended that the bill would lead to duplication of functions if allowed to scale through.
Known as a Bill for an Act to Establish Nigerian Marine Corps to Promote Maritime Security (HB 225), the proposed piece of legislation, sponsored by Alex Egbona (Cross River), had passed a second reading and referred to the House Committee on Navy for a public hearing.
The bill seeks to create a new federal body tasked with maritime law enforcement and defence responsibilities, traditionally managed by the Nigerian Navy and other existing agencies such as NIMASA.
Agbese, who represents Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency of Benue State argued that there was a need to avoid the creation of duplicative structures within government agencies.
“Acting under the mandate to promote efficient governance and resource management, we hereby call for the total and complete rejection of the bill proposing the establishment of the Nigerian Marine Corps.
“It is our contention as members of this legislative body that the creation of this new entity would only result in significant overlap, redundancy, and logistical strain, creating operational inefficiencies and imposing unwarranted financial demands on the government,” he said.
On its part, the Nigeria Police Force, represented by Nandom Vongjen, a Staff Officer in the Marine Section, described the bill as ill-advised, stressing that it does not only lead to duplication of duties, which a section of the force was currently undertaking but would result to proliferation of maritime security outfits and tantamount to a parallel unit of the armed forces.
In their separate submissions, the Chief of Training & Operations of the Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral Olusegun Ferreira; Coordinator, NIMASA, Abuja Zonal Office, Mrs Moji Jimoh, and Director, Legal Services, Nigerian Shippers Council, Bala Saleh, underscored the need to strengthen existing agencies, rather than creating new ones which could pose more security threats to the nation.
The CSOs equally rejected the bill.Those who spoke on behalf of the CSOs include Abdullahi Bilal, spokesman of Security Analysts & Research Forum in Africa; Okwa Daniel, Executive Director of Centre for Social Justice, Equity & Transparency; Daniel Momoh Prince, National President of Nigerian Unemployed Youth Association; Igwe Ude-Umanta, Convener, Coalition of Civil Society Organisations on Economic Watch; Opialu Fabian, Executive Director, Centre for Human Rights & Advocacy in Africa Network.
While adjourning the hearing, Chairman of the House Committee on Navy, Yusuf Gadgi, assured Nigerians that due diligence would be done in carrying out legislative actions on the bills.
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No fewer than 66 members of the House of Representatives have kicked against the move to establish the Nigerian Marine Corps. The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Shippers Council and several Civil Society Organisations
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