As US Coast Guards arrive Nigeria
THE Federal Government has ordered that any
port and terminal facility across the country
having security deficiencies be shut down
following the arrival of officials of the United
States Coast Guards in Nigeria to carry out security audit exercise on Nigerian ports
Vanguard learnt. Disclosing this fact to Vanguard the Senior
Special Assistant to the President on Maritime
Mr. Leke Oyewole said that any terminal or port
facility that is found to have security
deficiencies will be short before the arrival of
the US Coast Guard officials who will begin their inspection exercise on Tuesday. The officials of the US Coast Guards will arrive
Nigeria today to carry out an audit exercise of
the security deficiencies observed in some
ports and terminal facilities to determine their
compliance level with International Ship and
Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code. Operators of such facilities were seen over the
week end putting last minutes measures in
place to avoid sanction. The U. S Coast Guard
had observed on their first visit that Nigeria
port facilities fall short of compliance with the
International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code hence a second verification
exercise to test compliance level. Already, the Nigerian Maritime Administration
and Safety Agency (NIMASA), which was
appointed as the Designated Authority to
midwife the implementation of the ISPS Code,
has been collaborating with various
stakeholders in the Nigerian maritime industry to ensure that there are no deficiencies in their
facilities. It will be recalled that the United States
Government, about three months ago
threatened to withdraw shipping services to
Nigeria, if some of the security deficiencies
observed in some facilities are not corrected
within ninety days. The United States had said it will stop vessels
that call at ports and terminals with
deficiencies in Nigeria from entering America
territorial waters adding that it will encourage
its allied countries to do same. Besides the
moves by NIMASA to ensure compliance, industry operators have also expressed
concern over Nigeria’s preparedness to meet
the ninety days ultimatum saying that the
consequences of failing to comply will be very grave.
Speaking at the end of its monthly meeting,
some members of the Port Facility Security
Officers (PFSO) Forum had said that vessels
will now sail to neighbouring ports and Nigeria
importers will be forced to take delivery of
their cargoes from these ports. The officers who spoke on conditions of anonymity also
said that non compliance with the Code will not
only lead to loss of revenue to government, it
will also lead to the loss of jobs at the various
port facilities in the country. Addressing the media last week, the Director
General of the Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Mr.
Ziakede Akpobolokemi said that the agency
encountered some challenges when it took
over the implementation of the Code some of which include the expiration of all Statement of
Compliance for Port Facility (a document that
verifies how prepared a facility is to absolve
security threat or challenges). According to Akpobolokemi, the agency has
taken up the challenge of Designated Authority
with a view to ensuring that the country does
not suffer the embarrassment of such
sanctions as contained in the report. The
NIMASA boss however disclosed that in a bid to correct the deficiencies observed in some
facilities, an action plan was developed and
immediately activated to aggressively close the
reported gaps. He explained that some of the efforts
employed to close the gaps includes the
dispatch of competent “Recognised Security
Organisation” to conduct security surveys and
assessment aimed at identifying and
correcting these deficiencies and any other observed vulnerabilities. The action plan according to Akpobolokemi has
also been commended by officials of the
United States Coast Guard adding that it also
pledged to support the effort of NIMASA His words “The action plan has been given a
nod by the USCG and it has pledged to support
the efforts of the DA in ensuring the issues
raised are remedied. “The DA has outlined its implementation frame
work in the form of a handbook to enable the
public understand its agenda with respect to
the new implementation regime. The
Management of NIMASA has since approved an
ISPS Code implementation Committee to help oversee the implementation mandate”. Aside from key NIMASA personnel who form
part of the Committee, membership of the
Committee are also drawn from other
government agencies such as the Nigerian
Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Nigerian Police, State Security Service (SSS), the
Customs and Immigration. On the funding of the ISPS Code project,
Akpobolokemi said that the agency will not
require any subvention from government as
maritime regulating body can take care of the
financial needs of implementing the Code in
Nigeria. It was also said that in order to establish the number, location and nature of
operations of all port facilities in the country,
NIMASA has also commissioned a stocktaking
of the nation’s coastal maritime assets. This audit Akpobolokemi said will help the
agency capture and catalogue all port and
berthing facilities as well as verify their ISPS
compliance status. All port facilities including
those mentioned in the U S diplomatic note to
Nigeria are also currently undergoing security assessments as a step towards preparing plans
that are ISPS compliant.
Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun
Aganga The agency, Vanguard gathered only recently
concluded Verification Inspection Exercise
(VIE) on all shore based port facilities in
Nigeria. In order to address the issue of
relevance and application due to the lack of
understanding of the ISPS Code exhibited by security personnel that man these port
facilities, NIMASA has also put measures in
place to ensure more training and capacity
building for security personnel and operators in
the maritime industry. NIMASA’s Director-General, further disclosed
that security companies providing guard force
personnel to companies operating in the
maritime are now required to provide ISPS
training for their personnel adding that
everybody has a role to play in the ISPS theatre. The agency also stated that it was its
responsibility to set or change security levels
for port facilities just as it decided to work
closely with the office of the National Security
Adviser and other security agencies in
determining operating security levels based on the evaluation of risks and trends.
Akpobolokemi stated that incentives will be
given to port facilities that maintain and
sustain their compliance over a period of time
just as sanctioned will be meted out to
facilities that fall short of expectation. Speaking to Vanguard on both the expectation
of the Designated Authority (NIMASA) and the
U.S Coast Guard, a security expert Dr. Ona
Ekhomu said that NIMASA has adequate time to
have prepared itself in ensuring that the
observed deficiencies are corrected before the arrival of their guests. He however opined that
he will be surprised if Nigeria as a country and
the deficient port facilities fail to pass the
audit adding that it was very important that the
U. S Coast Guard gives Nigeria a clean report. Ekhomu explained that beyond passing the
audit test, sustainability of the entire security
system in the port is what NIMASA should be
considering at this moment. He advised that
the only way to sustain the system, is for the
facilities to regularly carry out a self audit of themselves while NIMASA ensure regular
verification and monitoring exercise of these
facilities. “Sustainability will be an issue because passing
this audit exercise is not enough, the tempo
should be sustained for as long as possible
such that with or without the presence of the
U. S Coast Guard our security situation must
not fall below certain standard. “The best way to sustain the tempo is to
periodically carry out a self audit or a
penetration test on your facility”. He explained
that should Nigeria fail the test, then doing
business in the nation’s ports will be more
difficult and expensive. A former official of the defunct Presidential
Committee on the Implementation of Maritime
Security and SAFETY )PICOMSS) Capt Abel
Memuduaghan observed that the issue of
access control to some of these port facilities
is a major problem adding that more measures are needed to be taken to control both human
and vehicular movement in and out of these
facilities. The ex- PICOMSS official noted that NIMASA
does not have the capacity to implement the
ISPS Code adding the U. S Coast Guard knows
what they are looking for. He said that since
PICOMSS was wound up, there has been an
increase in the issue of oil theft noting that when PICOMSS was in charge of the ISPS Code
implementation the rate of oil theft was
manageable. Speaking in similar vein, Chief Chris Orode
noted that after the first visit of the U S Coast
Guard officials, there was a down turn in cargo
traffic, adding that it will be disastrous both to
the maritime industry and the economy should
Nigeria fail to pass the verification test. He advised against a fire brigade approach to the
implementation of the ISPS Code saying that
“such approach cannot stand the test of time.
THE Federal Government has ordered that any
port and terminal facility across the country
having security deficiencies be shut down
following the arrival of officials of the United
States Coast Guards in Nigeria to carry out security audit exercise on Nigerian ports
Vanguard learnt. Disclosing this fact to Vanguard the Senior
Special Assistant to the President on Maritime
Mr. Leke Oyewole said that any terminal or port
facility that is found to have security
deficiencies will be short before the arrival of
the US Coast Guard officials who will begin their inspection exercise on Tuesday. The officials of the US Coast Guards will arrive
Nigeria today to carry out an audit exercise of
the security deficiencies observed in some
ports and terminal facilities to determine their
compliance level with International Ship and
Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code. Operators of such facilities were seen over the
week end putting last minutes measures in
place to avoid sanction. The U. S Coast Guard
had observed on their first visit that Nigeria
port facilities fall short of compliance with the
International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code hence a second verification
exercise to test compliance level. Already, the Nigerian Maritime Administration
and Safety Agency (NIMASA), which was
appointed as the Designated Authority to
midwife the implementation of the ISPS Code,
has been collaborating with various
stakeholders in the Nigerian maritime industry to ensure that there are no deficiencies in their
facilities. It will be recalled that the United States
Government, about three months ago
threatened to withdraw shipping services to
Nigeria, if some of the security deficiencies
observed in some facilities are not corrected
within ninety days. The United States had said it will stop vessels
that call at ports and terminals with
deficiencies in Nigeria from entering America
territorial waters adding that it will encourage
its allied countries to do same. Besides the
moves by NIMASA to ensure compliance, industry operators have also expressed
concern over Nigeria’s preparedness to meet
the ninety days ultimatum saying that the
consequences of failing to comply will be very grave.
Speaking at the end of its monthly meeting,
some members of the Port Facility Security
Officers (PFSO) Forum had said that vessels
will now sail to neighbouring ports and Nigeria
importers will be forced to take delivery of
their cargoes from these ports. The officers who spoke on conditions of anonymity also
said that non compliance with the Code will not
only lead to loss of revenue to government, it
will also lead to the loss of jobs at the various
port facilities in the country. Addressing the media last week, the Director
General of the Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Mr.
Ziakede Akpobolokemi said that the agency
encountered some challenges when it took
over the implementation of the Code some of which include the expiration of all Statement of
Compliance for Port Facility (a document that
verifies how prepared a facility is to absolve
security threat or challenges). According to Akpobolokemi, the agency has
taken up the challenge of Designated Authority
with a view to ensuring that the country does
not suffer the embarrassment of such
sanctions as contained in the report. The
NIMASA boss however disclosed that in a bid to correct the deficiencies observed in some
facilities, an action plan was developed and
immediately activated to aggressively close the
reported gaps. He explained that some of the efforts
employed to close the gaps includes the
dispatch of competent “Recognised Security
Organisation” to conduct security surveys and
assessment aimed at identifying and
correcting these deficiencies and any other observed vulnerabilities. The action plan according to Akpobolokemi has
also been commended by officials of the
United States Coast Guard adding that it also
pledged to support the effort of NIMASA His words “The action plan has been given a
nod by the USCG and it has pledged to support
the efforts of the DA in ensuring the issues
raised are remedied. “The DA has outlined its implementation frame
work in the form of a handbook to enable the
public understand its agenda with respect to
the new implementation regime. The
Management of NIMASA has since approved an
ISPS Code implementation Committee to help oversee the implementation mandate”. Aside from key NIMASA personnel who form
part of the Committee, membership of the
Committee are also drawn from other
government agencies such as the Nigerian
Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Nigerian Police, State Security Service (SSS), the
Customs and Immigration. On the funding of the ISPS Code project,
Akpobolokemi said that the agency will not
require any subvention from government as
maritime regulating body can take care of the
financial needs of implementing the Code in
Nigeria. It was also said that in order to establish the number, location and nature of
operations of all port facilities in the country,
NIMASA has also commissioned a stocktaking
of the nation’s coastal maritime assets. This audit Akpobolokemi said will help the
agency capture and catalogue all port and
berthing facilities as well as verify their ISPS
compliance status. All port facilities including
those mentioned in the U S diplomatic note to
Nigeria are also currently undergoing security assessments as a step towards preparing plans
that are ISPS compliant.
Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun
Aganga The agency, Vanguard gathered only recently
concluded Verification Inspection Exercise
(VIE) on all shore based port facilities in
Nigeria. In order to address the issue of
relevance and application due to the lack of
understanding of the ISPS Code exhibited by security personnel that man these port
facilities, NIMASA has also put measures in
place to ensure more training and capacity
building for security personnel and operators in
the maritime industry. NIMASA’s Director-General, further disclosed
that security companies providing guard force
personnel to companies operating in the
maritime are now required to provide ISPS
training for their personnel adding that
everybody has a role to play in the ISPS theatre. The agency also stated that it was its
responsibility to set or change security levels
for port facilities just as it decided to work
closely with the office of the National Security
Adviser and other security agencies in
determining operating security levels based on the evaluation of risks and trends.
Akpobolokemi stated that incentives will be
given to port facilities that maintain and
sustain their compliance over a period of time
just as sanctioned will be meted out to
facilities that fall short of expectation. Speaking to Vanguard on both the expectation
of the Designated Authority (NIMASA) and the
U.S Coast Guard, a security expert Dr. Ona
Ekhomu said that NIMASA has adequate time to
have prepared itself in ensuring that the
observed deficiencies are corrected before the arrival of their guests. He however opined that
he will be surprised if Nigeria as a country and
the deficient port facilities fail to pass the
audit adding that it was very important that the
U. S Coast Guard gives Nigeria a clean report. Ekhomu explained that beyond passing the
audit test, sustainability of the entire security
system in the port is what NIMASA should be
considering at this moment. He advised that
the only way to sustain the system, is for the
facilities to regularly carry out a self audit of themselves while NIMASA ensure regular
verification and monitoring exercise of these
facilities. “Sustainability will be an issue because passing
this audit exercise is not enough, the tempo
should be sustained for as long as possible
such that with or without the presence of the
U. S Coast Guard our security situation must
not fall below certain standard. “The best way to sustain the tempo is to
periodically carry out a self audit or a
penetration test on your facility”. He explained
that should Nigeria fail the test, then doing
business in the nation’s ports will be more
difficult and expensive. A former official of the defunct Presidential
Committee on the Implementation of Maritime
Security and SAFETY )PICOMSS) Capt Abel
Memuduaghan observed that the issue of
access control to some of these port facilities
is a major problem adding that more measures are needed to be taken to control both human
and vehicular movement in and out of these
facilities. The ex- PICOMSS official noted that NIMASA
does not have the capacity to implement the
ISPS Code adding the U. S Coast Guard knows
what they are looking for. He said that since
PICOMSS was wound up, there has been an
increase in the issue of oil theft noting that when PICOMSS was in charge of the ISPS Code
implementation the rate of oil theft was
manageable. Speaking in similar vein, Chief Chris Orode
noted that after the first visit of the U S Coast
Guard officials, there was a down turn in cargo
traffic, adding that it will be disastrous both to
the maritime industry and the economy should
Nigeria fail to pass the verification test. He advised against a fire brigade approach to the
implementation of the ISPS Code saying that
“such approach cannot stand the test of time.
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