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Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has expressed willingness to partner the European Union (EU) towards ensuring security in the Gulf of Guinea.
He stated this in Abuja on Monday when he hosted a delegation on maritime security from the EU. According to
him, Bayelsa State has the longest coastline in the country and as such was interested in partnering with the EU and other stakeholders to assist in securing its maritime area and harness the resources therein.
In a statement made available to The Trumpet by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Daniel Alabrah, the governor described Bayelsa and the Ijaw nation as “critical stakeholders in maritime safety” given the fact that the lives of the people depended on their coastal ecosystem.
He said it is in line with the significance of the ecosystem to the people of the state that his administration has developed policy framework to ensure wealth creation.
Diri noted that the state government had intervened directly in affected communities where potential maritime criminal activities have their origin through the Community Based Crime Prevention and Development Intervention strategy, which he said is the first of its kind put in place by any of Nigeria’s nine coastal states.
He said the administration has continued to create the enabling environment for good governance, transparency and accountability, which are critical elements in the fight against criminality in the maritime environment.
The governor called on the international community and the federal government to involve states on issues of maritime security while assuring that his administration will remain committed to the wellbeing of the people of the state and the maintenance of peace and security.
His words: “We from Bayelsa State and the entire Ijaw nation are critical stakeholders in the whole idea of maritime safety, protection of the maritime ecology, the healthy and sustainable development of the Deep Blue economy and preservation of our aquatic, cultural heritage.
Our commitment to this is premised on the fact that our lives depend on the coastal ecosystem and any threat to its peace directly impacts us.
For example, encounters with pirates and sea robbers often impinge the economic peculiarity of our fishermen and communities.
“Consistent with our actual existential reality as a people of the coastal belt of our country, Bayelsa under my watch has continued to develop policy frameworks that will ensure wealth creation, job creation and long term preservation and management of the resources of the environment around us. That is, our internal water and the adjoining sea.
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“Our focus has therefore been on five prongs’ which include ensuring peace and security around our coastal communities and the entire Gulf of Guinea.
“This is under what we refer to as “Community-Based Crime Prevention and Development Interventions and in particular, the Community Based Crime Prevention Strategy. This is the first of its kind put in place by any of the nine coastal states in the country. This also means that we are taking the intervention directly to the affected communities where potential maritime criminal activities have their origin.”
Also speaking, Ambassador Boladei Igali, said as Ijaw people, who reside mostly in the coastal areas of the country, whatever happens around the region was capable of affecting the people and called for support directly to the state, as against the practice where support in form of interventions usually go to the Federal Government.
Earlier, EU’s Senior Coordinator for the Gulf of Guinea, Nicolas Berlanga, said the union and its partners would work with the government and the people of the state as long as they provide the needed leadership.
On his part, Spanish Ambassador to Nigeria, Juan Sell, said the meeting with states was because they were conscious of the fact that success would not be achieved if the coordinating units were not involved in efforts to improve security in the Gulf of Guinea.
