WEST African coastal states are unable to fight piracy due to a lack of coordination among them, said UK oil and gas company BG Group security manager Mike Dent.
In asserting itself as a region's superpower, Nigeria refuses to acknowledge its needs to coordinate with West African states in anti-piracy initiatives given its inability to maintain a "blue water navy", he said.
Speaking at the Security in Complex Environments Conference in London, Mr Dent said the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is the best placed body to challenge barriers and assist states to improve their capability to fight piracy.
Mr Dent said much of the training in countries such as the US, UK and France needs to be "joined up thinking" rather than independent from one another, reported Lloyd's List. Issues of geopolitics remain significant barriers for a country like Nigeria, which jostles with Gulf of Guinea neighbours.
"It has to understand that it needs to change its mentality," he said. "It may have a lot of ships but none are capable of going to deep water any more."
Ongoing issues of inconsistent approaches to law enforcement from Benin and Togo emphasise the inconsistencies of regional code of conduct despite the signing of one by 13 west and central African head of states in June.
There continues to be uneven progress with these signatory states, said the UK Chamber of Shipping head Gavin Simmonds.
These signatory states are: Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome and Principe and Togo.
PIRACY
05 November 2013 - 20:46
Nigerian pride stymies cooperation with neighbours in fighting piracy
WEST African coastal states are unable to fight piracy due to a lack of coordination among them, said UK oil and gas company BG Group security manager Mike Dent.
PIRACY
05 November 2013 - 20:46
Nigerian pride stymies cooperation with neighbours in fighting piracy
This news 9832 hits received.
These news may also interest you