Reports have been making the rounds that the Acting Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr. Haruna Baba Jauro had defended Tompolo’s maritime security contract with the Agency, since his working visit of to the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, recently.
A statement signed by the Head of Public Relations of NIMASA Hajia Lami Tumaka, declared that Mr. Haruna Jauro did not at any point during the said visit, or at any other fora for that matter, defend ‘Tompolo’s maritime security contract’ because there is no such contract in the first place.
What the DG said and which should be put on record is that “Global West Vessel Specialists Limited (GWVSL) has an existing Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement with NIMASA wherein the vendor’s mandate involves procuring, bunkering and operating platforms on behalf of NIMASA on a Supply, Operate and Transfer (SOT) basis for a 10 year period as approved by the Federal Government in 2012 and it is presently in its third year”.
According to Jauro, the vessels, which ownership will revert to NIMASA after the contract period, are manned by officials of NIMASA and personnel of the Nigerian Navy for the enforcement of the Agency’s mandate.
This is not the same thing with a maritime security contract as many publications have alleged.
The Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Ibas also re-echoed this position at the same event when he said “the Nigerian Navy provide security, we arm those ships. The Nigerian Navy is fully manning those boats and we still do”.
It has become necessary to clarify this position as it is capable of misleading unsuspecting members of the public.
