Daily Independent (Lagos)
Rotimi Akinwumi
29 June 2009
The Nigerian Navy has said the Federal Government must show more commitment to the development of hydrography (surveying of water bodies) in the country in the interest of the nation's waterways' security.
Hydrographer of the Nigerian Navy, A.G Inusa, an Air Commodore, at the closing ceremony of the celebration of the 2009 World Hydrographic Day, said hydrography was significant for the safety of the nation as it borders on maritime safety, exclusive economic zone delineations, infrastructure, coastal management and railing of one's international profile in the field of diplomacy.
Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Ishiah Iko Ibrahim, a Vice Admiral, also speaking at the event, said it had become necessary for the hydrographic department of the Nigerian Navy to become autonomous because it is becoming increasingly difficult to adequately fund the department from the Nigerian Navy vote.
He also noted that for the department to meet its objective, there must be a concerted effort at repositioning it in tandem with international standard.
He identified lack of proper policy framework as the major problem inhibiting the development of hydrography department, stressing its importance to national department and security architecture.
"It is pertinent to state that over the years, the major problem inhibiting the development of hydrographic department is lack of proper policy framework.
"Furthermore, hydrography is an expensive business characterised by costly equipment, manpower development and operations.
"Consequently, it has become increasingly difficult to adequately support the hydrographic department from the NN vote in the face of competing needs and dwindling budgetary allocations.
"However, in order to stem this lacuna, the NN as the sole agency responsible for hydrographic survey of the nation's maritime space, is presently in the verge of repositioning the department to becoming the national hydropgraphic centre," Ibrahim, who was represented by the Chief of Training and Operations, Dele Ezeoba, said.
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The essence of a hydrographic study is to properly catalogue our lakes, rivers and estuaries, and other waters with reference to their usefulness for purposes of navigation and commerce. This is Webster's definition of the science of Hydrography. If this is the case, can anyone please tell me what the Navy means by "NN Vote"? Isn't this arm of the Military capable of requesting for a "Special Appropriations in the Federal Budget" whereby issues pertaining to the proper mapping of our waterways, especially the creeks and the communities around them could be included when the overall geography of Nigeria is described?
It is because of the Federal Government's lack of interest and commitment in the development of the hydrography of the Niger Delta that they are having difficulty identifying which areas of the Delta to focus on in pursuit of the militants. To those in the North or the West, certain names coming out of the Niger Delta sound like Greek names to them, and therefore, their interests in developing such areas seemed alien to the overall budgetary considerations of the nation. It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to be inclusive in their overall plans to develop and improve the lives and lots of the people of the Nigerian Nation. The lack interests they had shown before is primarily responsible for the agitation for "Fiscal Federalism" whereby each individual State or region would use the yields from their particular areas to develop their infrastructure, since the Federal Government appeared not have interest in the affairs of their particular region or State.
How can a Government properly allocate funds for its Regional Development if it has no idea about its true geography? We probably lost the Bakassi Peninsula because we thought its relative proximity to the Camaroun was reason enough to cede it to them. The Nigerian Nation missed so many golden opportunities during the 1960's under the NCNC political party wherein the party under Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe sought to unify Southern Camaroun into the administrative fold of Nigeria. The entire Southern Camaroun which was refered to as British Camaroun had a linguistic culture similar to Nigeria. Perhaps, had we moved hastily to conduct a study which would have identified the need for the development of the hydrography of Southern Camarouns which did not at that time, include the Bakassi Peninsula because this Peninsula was considered a part of Nigeria at that time, the arguments which were made at the ICJ never would have had any merits. But, we were reluctant to allocate funds for such projects because the ONLY viable revenue yielding sources Nigeria had at the time was Groundnut and Cocoa. These revenue sources sought to develop areas where these products came from. Crude Oil had not been viewed as commercially attractive at the time since the exploratory exercises were at their infancy. For the younger generation who may want to know what NCNC means, it is important to note that it was the " National Council of Nigeria and Camarouns". Under this banner, Southern Camaroun was administered from Enugu which was the Eastern Regions Administrative HQ's.
It is a good thing that 51-years later, the Nigerian Navy is finally attempting to commit itself to the development of hydrography in the country. Actually, if the Nigerian Nation should officially constitute a Coast Guard, it may be necessary that the Navy may not be over-burdened with the responsibility of conducting these studies. But the responsibility of allocating appropriate funds for properly cataloguing our rivers, waterways, streams, lakes and any other body of water in Nigeria is the sole responsibility of the Federal Government.