The directive from the United States Coastal Guards should be treated with the seriousness it deserves
The recent Federal Government order for the immediate evacuation of haulage trucks out of the port access roads in Lagos is one that ought to be complied with by all concerned. The directive came in the wake of a 90-day ultimatum to the country by the United States Coastal Guards on the need to comply with the International Ships and Ports Security Facility Code. While this will not be the first time efforts were made by the government to clear all access road to the Apapa Port Complex, it is our hope that it will work this time, especially against the background that we have lessons to learn from America on the need for the ports to be properly secured against unprovoked attacks.
Following the September 11, 2001 Twin-Towers terrorist attack, the US Ports Authority took series of measures to sanitise the country’s 361 ports which were considered by many security experts as attractive targets for terrorist attack. The Americans opted to raise the standards in ensuring safety at its seaports by undertaking a comprehensive assessment of the ports. These include projections of the effects on the national economy of a successful port attack, private-sector implications of improving port security, a first-hand account of the considerable bureaucratic challenges that must be overcome at the level of individual ports, and guidelines for financing port security efforts.
Thus given the increasing trend of international trade the US authorities thought it wise to ensure that ports across the world that conduct business with America ought to upgrade their ports security system as well, hence the ultimatum to Nigeria to do likewise. In fact some officials of the US Coast Guards were recently in Nigeria to assess the effectiveness of measures so far undertaken by the country towards implementing adequate port security.
Every port user in the country can readily remember the chaos that was called the Apapa Port Complex just a few months ago. Entrance into and exit from the port used to be a herculean task. Indeed it was easier for the proverbial camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for vehicles to drive through the port complex. Trailers laden with containers littered the ports thereby posing serious hindrance to any attempt to evacuate the port in the event of a terrorist attack.
Without doubt the upsurge in terrorist attacks in parts of the country must have influenced the decision by the American Coastal Guards to issue the ultimatum to Nigeria which has since 2011 been battling the Boko Haram insurgents. Indeed the relative ease with which these terrorists attacked the United Nations building and the Police Headquarters both in Abuja along with other targets including places of worship and schools with the resultant loss of lives makes it mandatory to take our national security seriously.
It is instructive here to state that a security-conscious nation needed not to have waited for another sovereign country to call her attention to the security implications of unprotected ports. But it is our believe that the wake-up call from the US Coastal Guard authorities would further compel our government to also take serious look at our borders. Finally, in expectation that the haulage operators at the nation’s ports will comply with government directive to clear the ports in keeping with the International Ships and Ports Security Facility Code it is our hope that it will not be business as usual once the team of American officials were gone. Of course the consequences of any imposition of sanctions for violation of the code are only obvious. It would include the stoppage of foreign vessels visiting the nation’s seaports, the larger implication of which is that Nigeria’s crude oil will not be lifted and goods can also not be imported.
Following the September 11, 2001 Twin-Towers terrorist attack, the US Ports Authority took series of measures to sanitise the country’s 361 ports which were considered by many security experts as attractive targets for terrorist attack. The Americans opted to raise the standards in ensuring safety at its seaports by undertaking a comprehensive assessment of the ports. These include projections of the effects on the national economy of a successful port attack, private-sector implications of improving port security, a first-hand account of the considerable bureaucratic challenges that must be overcome at the level of individual ports, and guidelines for financing port security efforts.
Thus given the increasing trend of international trade the US authorities thought it wise to ensure that ports across the world that conduct business with America ought to upgrade their ports security system as well, hence the ultimatum to Nigeria to do likewise. In fact some officials of the US Coast Guards were recently in Nigeria to assess the effectiveness of measures so far undertaken by the country towards implementing adequate port security.
Every port user in the country can readily remember the chaos that was called the Apapa Port Complex just a few months ago. Entrance into and exit from the port used to be a herculean task. Indeed it was easier for the proverbial camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for vehicles to drive through the port complex. Trailers laden with containers littered the ports thereby posing serious hindrance to any attempt to evacuate the port in the event of a terrorist attack.
Without doubt the upsurge in terrorist attacks in parts of the country must have influenced the decision by the American Coastal Guards to issue the ultimatum to Nigeria which has since 2011 been battling the Boko Haram insurgents. Indeed the relative ease with which these terrorists attacked the United Nations building and the Police Headquarters both in Abuja along with other targets including places of worship and schools with the resultant loss of lives makes it mandatory to take our national security seriously.
It is instructive here to state that a security-conscious nation needed not to have waited for another sovereign country to call her attention to the security implications of unprotected ports. But it is our believe that the wake-up call from the US Coastal Guard authorities would further compel our government to also take serious look at our borders. Finally, in expectation that the haulage operators at the nation’s ports will comply with government directive to clear the ports in keeping with the International Ships and Ports Security Facility Code it is our hope that it will not be business as usual once the team of American officials were gone. Of course the consequences of any imposition of sanctions for violation of the code are only obvious. It would include the stoppage of foreign vessels visiting the nation’s seaports, the larger implication of which is that Nigeria’s crude oil will not be lifted and goods can also not be imported.
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