APA – Accra (Ghana)
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana has called for enhanced cooperation in tackling the growing insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea’s maritime space.
Addressing the meeting of the 3rd Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) in on Tuesday in Accra, President Akufo-Addo said that criminality in the maritime domain of the Gulf of Guinea was a threat to the security and economic development of the region.
The Ghanaian leader stressed the need for countries in the geo-political space of the region to unite in order to curtail and eradicate the menace.
President Akufo-Addo, who is also the Chairman of the Assembly, said that the collaboration and cooperation amongst the states of the Gulf of Guinea region was “crucial” because of the interconnectivity of maritime activities.
“For us to have an effective and well-organised defence of the Gulf of Guinea Region, the countries in the Gulf of Guinea must be encouraged so that collectively, we can make a significant difference in maintaining maritime peace and security in the Gulf of Guinea region.
“Through well-coordinated collaboration and cooperation on matters of common interest among the members of the region, illegal activities at sea could be greatly reduced…Working together will enable us to build a safe, secure and prosperous Gulf of Guinea region for sustainable development,” local media reports on Wednesday quoted the Ghanaian President as saying.
In his speech at the meeting, Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari called for regular meetings among the countries that make up the Gulf of Guinea Commission.
Buhari, who is the immediate past Chairman of the Assembly of Heads of State of the Commission, and President said that such meetings were critical route towards achieving peace and security in the region.
“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.”
Reiterating Nigeria’s commitment and steps towards fighting maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea, President Buhari urged member countries to enact laws against piracy and other criminal acts as Nigeria has done.
“As a demonstration of Nigeria’s strong commitment towards the repositioning of the GGC into a more vibrant organisation 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 revitalising 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,
“Nigeria continues to deploy significant resources towards tackling piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. In June 2021, the government of Nigeria unveiled $195 million worth of boats, vehicles and aircraft to spear-head the country’s fight against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea through the Deep Blue Project,” he said.
It will be recalled that since the establishment of the Commission by Angola, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe with the signing of the treaty in Libreville, in Gabon in 2001, the commission has since admitted four member states of Equatorial Guinea the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon and Ghana.
The one-day meeting witnessed the swearing-in of the members of the new Executive Secretariat of the Commission.
GIK/APA