The Australian Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Angela Tierney has expressed her country’s desire to partner with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in the provision of technical support and human capacity development.
The envoy who was on a visit to NIMASA headquarters in Lagos, commended the human capacity building drive of the Agency and conveyed the willingness of her country to work with NIMASA in building the requisite capacity for the industry.
Earlier, the Norwegian Ambassador to Nigeria, Rolf Ree, had visited the Agency and also said that his country was ready for the provision of technical support to NIMASA towards realising the full potential of the Nigerian maritime industry.
Receiving the Australian High Commissioner and the Norwegian Ambassador separately, the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Patrick Akpobolokemi said that the Agency would appreciate partnership with major maritime nations such as Australia and Norway particularly in the area of capacity building. “Australia is a nation that enjoys high respect among the comity of maritime nations and partnership with your country will surely help us realise the potentials of building a competent workforce that is poised to take the Nigerian maritime sector to greater heights,” Akpobolokemi said.
While meeting with the Norwegian Ambassador, the NIMASA director-general noted with delight that the support so far given the Agency by Norway has been of immense benefit to the maritime sector locally.
He urged them not to relent in their support, as such will continue to help growing maritime nations like Nigeria. Akpobolokemi assured the envoys of an improvement in monitoring Nigeria’s maritime domain in real time using a satellite surveillance system that covers the whole of Nigeria’s coast and the Gulf of Guinea. This progress, he said, should attract more commercial activity from around the world.
By Pita Ochai
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