Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has advocated for the protection of Africa from economic exploitation and adverse agreements.
Prof. Osinbajo made the submission when a delegation from the International Seabed Authority (ISA), led by its Secretary General, Mr. Michael Lodge, paid him a courtesy visit at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The ISA is an autonomous international organization established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The ISA leadership is in Nigeria for an international workshop on international deep seabed resources.
The Vice President said, “As the regulations are being negotiated, ways by which our countries can be protected from economic exploitation and from adverse agreements and terms, must be the focus, especially because very frequently the technical skills that are required and the technology are almost invariably imported.
“This is something that I hope you will pay some attention to as you develop regulations around the industry.”
Prof. Osinbajo said the ISA conference in Abuja would help Nigeria to pay more attention to the deep blue project.
He added the country has spent a fair amount of time trying to conceptualize interventions in the Blue Economy.
He said Nigeria is persuaded by the need to pay more attention to the Blue Economy, not just from the point of view of protection of the Gulf of Guinea and all of the other issues, but more from the point of view of economic exploitation of mineral resources in the country’s sea bed.
Satisfaction
Prof. Osinbajo expressed satisfaction with the participation of the Government in the activities of the ISA.
“I am happy that we (Nigeria) are important contributors to ISA and that it is very well represented and that Africa is the focus given the fact that it has not had that much of a contribution in seabed exploration.
“We need to pay more attention to technology, how to do this more ourselves, because, clearly, one of the problems we found partly with some of the IOCs is that they are not able to negotiate the very best terms especially given the nature of offshore exploration.”
The Secretary General of ISA, Mr. Lodge expressed gratitude to the Nigerian government for hosting its workshop in Abuja and commended the country’s long-standing support to the organization spanning over two decades.
Mr. Lodge urged Nigeria and all Africans to explore the unlimited resources in the seabed, noting that “the development of this new industry (blue economy) will be key and crucial to the energy transition.”
He also emphasized the need for Africa to be represented in the development of deep-sea minerals which is crucial for the future of the continent’s blue economy.
Nigeria’s Ambassador to Jamaica and Permanent Representative to the ISA, Amb. Maureen Tamuno said Nigeria’s active participation in the activities of the ISA is indicative of the country’s readiness to leverage the vast opportunities in the blue economy.
The visiting ISA Secretary General was accompanied on the visit to the Presidential Villa by the Director General of the National Boundary Commission, Mr. Adamu Adaji, among other officials.
Olusola Akintonde
