MOWCA: Adalikwu assumes office as Luvambano bows out.

Segun Oladipupo

The new Secretary General of Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr. Paul Adalikwu formally assumed office on Wednesday in a brief handing over ceremony at MOWCA secretariat in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

The ceremony was witnessed by the Nigerian Ambassador to Cote d’Ivoire and the representative of the Minister of Transport of Cote d’Ivoire,

In a statement by the organisation, the Minister of Transport of Ghana and Chairman of MOWCA, Mr. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah thanked the Government of Cote d’Ivoire for her continuous support to MOWCA and the former Secretary-General of MOWCA Mr. Michel Alain Luvambano for honouring the invitation.

He recalled that the handing over exercise was the climax of a process that started at the 8th Bureau of Ministers and the 15th General Assembly held in Congo Kinshasa but concluded at the 16th Extraordinary Session held in Accra, Ghana in November, 2021.

“The Chairman implored the former Secretary-General to always avail the wealth of experience garnered over the years to the continuous growth of the Organization.

“He reminded the new Secretary-General of the enormity of task ahead which can only be achieved when member States comply with the obligation of paying their dues regularly.

In his remarks, the immediate past Secretary-General Mr. Luvambano commended Ghana for the process that led to the final election of the new Secretary-General and informed that it was indeed the desire of the Organization for Nigeria to produce the Secretary-General.

He pledged his unalloyed support and cooperation to the new headship of MOWCA.

The in-coming Secretary-General,Dr. Paul Adalikwu, in his remarks expressed gratitude to the Chairman and Government of Ghana for successfully hosting the Extraordinary Session in Accra and thanked Mr. Luvambano for making out time to attend the handing over Ceremony and urged him to continue to avail the organization his wealth of experience.

Dr. Adalikwu acknowledged the role of maritime trade to global economy and promised that during his tenure, he will work towards a revolutionary turn around in trading activities in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) area in a safe and secured maritime environment leveraging on Nigeria’s success with the Deep Blue security architecture.

According to him, Africa is so endowed to have a positive impact on trading activities within its maritime domain. In this direction, he promised to work towards the actualization of the launch of the Regional Maritime Development Bank (RMDB) by the second quarter of 2022.

Finally, he called on member States to ensure regular payments of their statutory dues to enable the Organization achieve its set goals and objectives. The S-G called on the Staff to team up with him for the success of the Organization.

The Government of Cote d’Ivoire pledged its continuous support to the Organization.

Other events at the Ceremony included handing over of the records and symbols of the Organization, signing of the handing over documents, group photographs and physical facility inspection of the Secretariat.