The Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, has reiterated that assets under the Deep Blue Project would be given necessary protection to serve their purpose of providing security for the entire Gulf of Guinea.

Jamoh spoke in Lagos during the graduation of pilots and other air assets trainees under the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure.

About 43 officers and men of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) received certificates on the special mission aircraft, special mission-specific equipment operators, special mission aircraft maintenance technicians, the unmanned aerial system operation, and C4i operation.

The DG said the graduation of the air assets crew was another significant leg of the Deep Blue Project, which he described as the agency’s “grand intervention” in maritime security.

Speaking further, he appreciated the NAF for its commitment to the project with particular reference to providing facilities for in-country training of the pilots and others to complete the training module.

He added that the challenge was not about deploying the assets but its maintenance and sustaining the tempo of the project so that it can outlive the current generation.

The NIMASA DG, who further reiterated the agency’s commitment to effective management of the assets, noted that the progress made so far was encouraging as intelligence gathering within the maritime domain has reached new heights with recent video evidence of improper ballast water discharge in the nation’s waters.

Also speaking at the event, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao, said the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure has strategically repositioned the air force to effectively support NIMASA to provide an investment-friendly environment through the provision of adequate security.

Amao, who was represented by the Chief of Training and Operations of the Airforce, Air Vice Marshal JMD Gwani, commended NIMASA for its commitment to seeing through the successful implementation of the Deep Blue Project.

MEANWHILE, the agency, as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR), donated medical equipment to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to augment efforts of the Federal and State governments in dealing with the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.

While handing over the materials to the Chief Medical Director of the UPTH, Jamoh, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Maritime Guard Command (MGC) of the Agency, Dr. Joe–Hope Maduka, assured of the continuous support of the agency to the health sector.