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Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
On Monday 7 October 2024, the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla arrived Venice, Italy for the XIV Trans-regional
Seapower Symposiumand had a meet & greet with other heads of navies, including the American Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Lisa Franchetti and the Director of the International Hydrographic Organisation, Mr John Nyberg.The theme for the
symposium was “Spotlight on the depths: The Underwater as New Frontier for Mankind”. This was contained in a statement signed by Commodore A. Adams-Aliu, Director of Naval Information.
Thereafter, on Tuesday 8 October 2024, the CNS delivered a paper titled
“PRESERVING THE UNDERWATER — THE SECURE & SUSTAINABLE USE OF THE UNDERWATER”. In the paper Vice Admiral Ogalla highlighted the African
Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS) which recognises that the underwater holds enormous resources crucial for advancing Africa’s Blue Economy. He also stated that Nigerian’s maritime Area of Interest encompasses Nigeria’s internal waters, territorial
sea, the Exclusive Economic Zone and the entire Gulf of Guinea. The area has enormous underwater resources and serves as a medium of seabourne trade which accounts for over 85% ofNigeria’s trade volume while having varieties of aquatic species and a reservoir of non-living natural resources including over 36 billion barrels of crude oil and 182 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves. Furthermore, the CNS
stated that in line with the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), about 60% of the oceans are outside the national jurisdiction which
implies shared responsibility for preserving and securing the underwater. The interconnectivity of the sea also compels collectivism in global strategies for
enhanced maritime security to preserve underwater resources for safe and sustainable use hence the AIMS sought to foster increased wealth creation from African states by developing a thriving blue economy in an environmentally stable manner, while
preserving underwater resources.
The paper delivered by Admiral Ogalla was well received as it underscored the need for unified global efforts to harness resources of sea for the common good. On the same day, the CNS had separate bilateral discussions with the Chief of the Italian Navy, Admiral Enrico Credendino and the American Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Admiral Lisa Franchetti. The CNS and the CNO discussed their enduring partnership and how U.S Navy ship visits and collaboration demonstrate shared commitment to security and stability in the region. They further analysed how more opportunities to increase maritime cooperation and counter piracy efforts in the Gulf of Guinea could be facilitated. Admiral Franchetti thanked Vice Admiral Ogalla for Nigeria’s leadership in promoting maritime cooperation during exercises such as OBANGAME Express.
For the Nigerian Navy, participation in the XIV Trans-regional Seapower Symposium was an opportunity to showcase the giant strides of NN having worked assiduously to eradicate piracy in Nigerian waters since 2022 and exiting the International Maritime
Bereau list of Piracy Prone States. It further provided the platform for improved international cooperation, a necessity for trans-national maritime security.
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