The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has identified safety concerns and insecurity along the waterways as major reasons most ships are not berthing in the Niger Delta region.

To address the problem, NSC called for increased security patrol on the nation’s waterways especially in the Niger Delta.

The council said the move would guarantee the safety of ships coming to the ports in the region and restore confidence in the Niger Delta Maritime sector.

The Executive Secretary of NSC, Pius Ukeyima, spoke in Port Harcourt at the 2024 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) with a theme, “The Role of Education in Protecting and Empowering Youths for a Disaster-Free Future”.

Ukeyima while delivering his lecture titled, ‘Building a Disaster Free Maritime in the Niger Delta: Role of Stakeholders’, said if security surveillance increased in the region’s waterways shipping firms would return to the region for businesses.

The Executive Secretary, who was represented by the Director of Consumer Affairs, NSC, Glory Onojedo, said though there was a large reduction in piracy attacks in the region, there was a need for stakeholders to take proactive steps to restore confidence.

Ukeyima called for collaboration and synergy among security agencies and maritime stakeholders, saying that such would guide against any form of risk in the shipping activities.

He said: “To ensure disaster-free maritime activities in the Niger Delta, the collaboration and proactive involvement of maritime industry stakeholders is crucial. These stakeholders are government agencies, regulatory bodies, oil and gas companies, shipping companies, port authorities, local communities, and non-governmental organizations.

“To mitigate this challenge, relevant government agencies must prioritize security measures such as increased patrols, surveillance technology, and collaboration with local authorities to combat piracy and ensure the safety of maritime activities.”

Ukeyima noted that the shipping operations in the country were still bedeviled by inadequate and dilapidated infrastructures like ports, terminals, and navigation aids, adding that the peak of concern were issues of inadequate funding and corruption.

“In addressing the challenges, the government should adopt a term approach by structuring the various initiatives into short-term (0-2 years), medium-term (2-5 years), and long-term (5-10 years) measures,” he said.

Also, Onofiok Luke, a former member representing Etinan/Nsit Ibom/Nsit Ubium Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, in his keynote address, regretted that communities had always been reactionary to disasters.

Luke said lack of political will was one of the major barriers affecting the implementation of disaster risk management, tasking the Federal Government for improved allocation in the 2025 budget for risk management.

He said: “Budgetary allocation and releases of funds. We need to give more funds to NEMA to buy modern gadgets that would enhance their activities around risk management. This will also help them to involve more technology, and train manpower in the move to manage emergencies and risks.” (The Nation)