Another Rudderless Debate on Coast Guard, by Pius Mordi

A combination of factors make Nigeria’s maritime status special. Its coastline of 853 kilometres, its over seven port complexes dotting the coastline and huge population, albeit now with very limited purchasing power, make its territorial waters a hub of maritime activities. In the not distant past, Nigeria’s coastal waters was notorious as the hub of piracy, second only to Somalia, a country that has not had a central authority for decades and governed by armed gangs.

Last month, Senator Wasiu Eshilokun (APC- Lagos), had tabled a bill to set up a Coast Guard, a fourth group in Nigeria’s Armed Forces after the Navy, Army and Air Force. According to him, the Coast Guard will “provide assistance in the enforcement of all relevant laws within the maritime zones in Nigeria’s jurisdiction. It is also to administer and enforce regulations for the preservation of lives and property within the maritime zones of Nigeria.”

Beyond this vague description of the functions of the envisaged coast guard, every other activity to be associated with the guard is basically an adaptation of the functions of the Navy. The clearest indication of what may have inspired Senator Eshilokun is his allusion to having an agency that will maintain a state of readiness as a specialised service in support of the Nigerian Navy in war situations: There is Coast Guard in America, so we should have one here.

This is the latest bid to emasculate the Nigerian Navy, the least equipped of the three arms of the military. With about 70 warships, the Navy is categorised as the fourth strongest navy in Africa in terms of numbers, after South Africa, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco. But most of the vessels are no longer seaworthy and will require extensive refitting and drydock to get them back to active service. However, with limited funds made available to it, the Navy has not been able to pull its weight as a blue water Navy. Rather, its diminished capability has compelled it operate mainly with the coastal area and with no offshore platform or foreign engagements, it seemed tolerable.

The scheme to emasculate the Navy began much earlier than Sen. Eshilokun’s bill. In 2003, the Federal Government set up the Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Safety and Security (PICOMMS) to make up for the depletion of maritime security platforms following Nigeria’s involvement in efforts to end the Liberian civil war. From recommending the pathway to refitting the Navy and restoring its combat readiness, the committee sought to transmute itself into an independent arm of the military. Although the perpetrators did not want to be called the Coast Guard, it resisted propositions to have it operate as an adjunct of the Navy.

When eventually the federal government decided to scrap the PICOMMS that came as a committee 19 years earlier, it had become enmeshed in various shady activities that led to the arraignment and prosecution of some of its top operatives. An alleged N6.5 billion fraud among other malfeasance, including an alleged bribe to get the National Assembly to approve PICOMSS’ transformation into a “Maritime Safety Agency” led the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate and prosecute its leaders before its formal dissolution.

Vice Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba (rtd), a former Chief of Naval Staff, condemned Sen. Eshilokun’s bill. He warned that it is a duplication of the Nigerian Navy’s functions that could lead to confusion, conflicts, and a weakened maritime security framework, arguing that the policies outlined in the bill do not address specific maritime challenges and could create more problems.

“What it implies is complete anarchy in the maritime space. I doubt if a proper gap analysis was done,” Ezeoba said on Arise Television, adding that the Coast Guard’s responsibilities, as outlined in the bill, mirror those of the Nigerian Navy, making its creation redundant.

For Mrs. Mfon Usoro, a maritime lawyer and pioneer director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), it is strange that the creation of a new arm of the military as the Coast Guard Bill proposes is at the instance of a private bill. Normally, it should be an executive bill and the product of exhaustive evaluation, consultation and study, she said.

“How is a branch of the armed forces established in our country? It accentuates the lack of coordinated cohesive policy-making process”, she said.

“This bill is really not well thought of because how will the Marshall, the head of the Coast Guard who is supposed to be a serving naval officer, report to a civilian ministry? What happens to command and control where his primary employment is in the Nigerian Navy? There are lots of things, technically, that are not clear”, Usoro stated.

Already, there is the controversial arrangement whereby private security organisations, including Tantita Security Services, is handling the provision of security of pipelines and combating of crude oil theft. But it serves the purpose of engaging young men in the main theatre of oil activities as well as providing support for the Navy.

Not unexpectedly, when the bill came up for debate during its second reading on the floor of the Senate, members seemed carried away by the esoteric perception of their superintending over the establishment of fourth arm of the Armed Forces. None of the law makers raised fundamental questions on the imperative of having a new arm, its cost implications or if the buy in of the Aso Rock had been secured. Assuming the National Assembly passes the Coast Guard Bill, will President Bola Tinubu be obliged to set up an agency he may not have planned for? Rather than expend precious time and resources in this rudderless venture, the National Assembly should seek the strengthening of the Navy which is already becoming more effective given its collaboration with NIMASA that has seen Nigeria removed from the list of high-risk areas for shipping because of incidences of piracy and sea robbery by the International Maritime Bureau. In the midst of dwindling resources, undermining the Navy and setting up a rival arm will become a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth.