…NIMASA, Bundeswehr Command and Staff College, Hamburg Exchange Ideas
From Left: Executive Director (Operation) Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Engr. Rotimi Fashakin, Defence Attache, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Thomas Brillisauer, , Director General NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, Head of delegation, Bundeswehr Command and Staff College, Hamburg, Germany, Dr Thorsten Schutz , Executive Director (Finance & Administration) Mr Bashir Yusuf Jamoh, and the Director, Special Duties, Hajia Lami Tumaka, during a visit by the German Defence Attache and the staff college delegation to the corporate Head Office of NIMASA in Lagos.
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has said that interdependence among nations makes room for sustainable growth and development in a competitive global village.
The Director General of the Agency Dr. Dakuku Peterside made this statement in Lagos recently when a delegation of Bundeswehr Command and Staff College, a leading educational institution of the German armed forces, Hamburg, Germany, paid a working visit to the Agency.
In a statement signed by Mr Isichei Osamgbi, Head of Corporate Communications of the Agency, Peterside was quoted as stating that no nation can ever be self-sufficient and that needs would always arise for countries to meet through trade.
While noting that no two nations can engage in trade without recourse to maritime, Peterside stated that easy trade facilitation between nations can only be guaranteed if the maritime domains of the associated nations are safe and secure- with human asset, technology, ideas and intellectuality as key drivers.
“Technology and globalisation will continue to amaze us, just as Ideas, knowledge and intellectuality are complementary drivers of advancement in our today’s world. No individual or nation has a monopoly of knowledge. So cross-fertilisation of knowledge in critical sub-sectors of nations’ economies, particularly in areas of comparative advantage is sacrosanct for growth and development, towards the overall objective of advancing world peace”, he said.
From Left: German Defence Attache, Thomas Brillisauer, Head of delegation, Bundeswehr Command and Staff College, Hamburg, Germany, Dr Thorsten Schutz and Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, during a visit by the Germans to the corporate head office of NIMASA in Lagos.
Peterside took the delegation through the mandates, core functions as well as the human capacity needs of the Nigeria’s Maritime industry, while assuring the delegation of the safety of the Nigeria’s maritime environment and the various initiatives put in place by the Agency to address the projected growth of the industry particularly, in the areas of human capacity, safety and security requirements.
According to Peterside, “human capacity, maritime safety and security related crimes were the biggest challenges we had. They have been addressed and we would continue to address it in totality. We have the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP), which is an initiative designed to train Nigerian youths in various maritime professionalism. Currently, they are being trained in various countries around the globe. While some of them have graduated as full-fledge professionals, some are still undergoing the necessary trainings. We are partnering with maritime giants around the world to develop our Seafarers. For safety and security, we are collaborating with the Nigerian Military and the Police to ensure that”.
Leader of the delegation, Dr. Thortsen Schutz, stated that they were on a working visit to the Agency to ascertain facts that would aid trade facilitation between Nigeria and Germany, learn new ideas from NIMASA, as regards the peculiarities of the African continent.
He noted that NIMASA is strategic in the shipping scheme between Nigeria and Germany, and that it was necessary for the Commercial and Defence Attachés in Germany Embassy in Nigeria to understand the shipping as well as the maritime ideals and dynamics within the context of the Agency’s operations, for ease of trade engagements.
From Left: German Defence Attache, Thomas Brillisauer, Head of delegation, Bundeswehr Command and Staff College, Hamburg, Germany, Dr Thorsten Schutz and Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, during a visit by the Germans to the corporate head office of NIMASA in Lagos.
“We are here to understand NIMASA. We know your importance. And we are encouraged by your disposition towards ensuring a safe and secure maritime environment for shipping. You are strategic when it comes to trading in Africa. Be assured that we would encourage our people to come to Nigeria because we know that Nigeria has a lot of maritime potentials. We are ready to collaborate and also partner with NIMASA in the areas of technology, idea and knowledge sharing because the world is fast drifting to knowledge and idea base”, he said.
