MASECA Will Provide 50,000 Jobs for Jobless Nigerian Youths—Navy

By ZION Olalekan |

A Nigerian Navy training expert, Capt Abel Ogah has said that the controversial Maritime Security Agency (MASECA) Bill will provide jobs for 50,000 teeming youths in Nigeria and also eradicate piracy.

Speaking with Nigeriamaritime360.com in a chat, Capt Ogah who is a trainer at the Nigerian Navy Base, NNS Beecroft in Apapa said that despite the opposition to the MASECA bill at a public hearing held recently in Abuja, the Bill remains the only permanent solution to solve piracy.

He argued that when fully established, the maritime security agency will give job opportunity and permanently engage pirates as long term measure.

Recall that the House of Representatives committee on Maritime Safety, Administration and Education headed by Hon Umaru Bago in July 2018 held a public hearing on the MASECA bill where strong voices in the maritime industry, including the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Navy kicked against the establishment of a parallel security agency.

But Capt Ogah told our correspondent exclusively, that the Niger Delta Amnesty Program established by the Federal Government was supposed to have been a temporary measure towards removing the aggrieved boys from the creeks, but that the program is no longer working.

“It is like a case of giving them fish without equipping them with the facilities to fish by themselves. It must be noted and emphasized that these guys still have the knowledge of what they know to do best.

“And that is the knowledge of operating in maritime. Consequently, what they need is job opportunity to permanently engage them as long term measure.

“Probably, the establishment of maritime security agency (MASECA) where up to 50, 000 youths could be engaged may go a long way in stopping the Amnesty program. The benefit is that, they will be collecting pay for providing maritime security, thereby making the maritime environment safe and secure for businesses to thrive in Nigerian waters”, he said.

Also speaking with our correspondent, Trustee of the Shippers Association Lagos State (SALS) Rev. Nichodemus Odollo, said that the Amnesty program will not reduce piracy in Nigeria, he said the program is only telling the jobless to pick up arms if indeed they want to be rich or need money.

“Nigerian government left justice and be pursuing peace, forgetting or not knowing that justice will give them peace, the way out is for us to live Godly life and good governance, practicing holiness, righteousness, and Justice”, he said.

On his part, Dr. Henry Muogho, Chairman, Freight Academy of Nigeria said that Nigeria alone cannot solve the problem of piracy. He stressed the need for collaboration with ECOWAS States to holistically address the menace which according to him is ravaging and bringing Nigerian waterways into disrepute.