Regular meetings amongst the nations that make up the Gulf of Guinea Commission were cited by the president of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari as a crucial step toward attaining peace and security in the region.
Speaking at the 3rd Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) in Accra, Ghana, yesterday, President Buhari dwelled on the importance of the session.
The session’s topic, “Building a Safe, Secure, and Prosperous Gulf of Guinea Region for Sustainable Development,” was emphasized by President Buhari as being particularly pertinent and important for tackling the problems in the area.
He said, “we must remain committed to our regular GGC Summits and the Extraordinary Sessions and use these deep-seated fundamental platforms to essentially continue to work out key modalities that could afford us the opportunity to discuss, identify, support strategies and develop capacities to achieve peace, security and prosperity in the Gulf of Guinea Region.”
Speaking further President Buhari reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to and actions in combating marine insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea and urged member nations to take similar legal action against piracy and other criminal activity.
He elaborated on the actions already taken by Nigeria to demonstrate its continued commitment to the GGC’s goals.
“As a demonstration of Nigeria’s strong commitment towards the repositioning of the GGC into a more vibrant organization that will effectively deliver on its mandate, the 5th Ordinary Summit of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Gulf of Guinea Commission was hosted on 13th October, 2022 in Abuja, where the Assembly adopted policy decisions towards revitalizing the Commission.”
“Nigeria considers the effective and optimal function of the GGC as strategic to the global security interests in the Gulf region. These commitments include addressing issues of Piracy, Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Protection of Marine Resources as well as Irregular Migration to the Region,” he said.
The President continued, stating that “in June 2019, Nigeria’s National Assembly passed the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act, 2019 (POMO Act),” which aims to prevent and suppress piracy, armed robbery, and any other illegal acts against any ship lawfully operating in the Gulf Region.
“Nigeria continues to deploy significant resources towards tackling piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. In June 2021, the Government of Nigeria unveiled one hundred and ninety-five million dollars’ worth of boats, vehicles, and aircraft to spearhead the country’s fight against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea through the Deep Blue Project,” President Buhari stated.
The president of Nigeria took advantage of the opportunity to thank his host, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, the Assembly’s Chairperson, for the invitation and to express his gratitude to an exemplary Nigerian diplomat, Ambassador Florence Ukonga, the outgoing executive secretary of the GGC, and her management team for their commitment and selflessness in carrying out their duties.
Earlier, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana expressed his joy for a physical summit. In his welcome speech, he also noted that the COVID-19 epidemic had forced the group to adapt to a virtual summit since 2019.
He reminded attendees of the difficulties the Commission was facing and urged Member States to pay their debts on time so that the Commission could carry out its legal commitments.
The treaty establishing GGC was signed on July 3, 2001, in Libreville, Gabon. It is made up of Angola, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, and Sao Tome and Principe.
