Apart from oil and gas, Nigeria’s other highest income earner is the maritime industry, otherwise known as the blue economy. Blue economy refers to the sum of all economic activities associated with oceans, seas, harbours, ports and the coastal zones. At the wharfs located at Apapa, Onne, Warri, Port Harcourt, Koko, Tin Can and others, about 80 per cent of our country’s trade are carried out. However, vital to these maritime activities is hydrography, which is the measurement and description of the features of the sea and coastal areas for the primary purpose of navigation. But the sad news is that as critical as hydrography is, Nigeria is not taking it seriously at all. The result: Not only do all the ship owners of the world charge exorbitant freight for goods coming to Nigeria, most of them bring only their oldest and rickety ships because they consider our uncharted waters very dangerous for navigation. The Nigerian waters were last charted in 1933 by our colonial masters.
Friday, June 21, 2013, was the United Nations World Hydrography Day and this year’s theme, “Hydrography – Underpinning the Blue Economy”, centres on how hydrography supports the blue economy. The seas and oceans take up 71 per cent of the Earth’s surface area, and many countries of the world have a large chunk of their trade transacted via these channels. The world recognised the importance of this sector and the need for global cooperation in hydrographic matters by establishing the International Hydrographic Organisation in 1921 and the United Nations set apart June 21 of every year to be commemorated as the World Hydrography Day since 1996. Nigeria kept losing out at elections of officers of the IHO because there was hardly any hydrography practice in the country. But last year, Providence smiled on us and our own Olumide Omotosho, a hydrographer with the Nigerian Ports Authority and Vice-President of the Nigerian Hydrographic Society, was appointed the Vice-Chairman of the IHO. It remains to be seen how this will impact on our moribund Hydrographic sub-sector.
It is apparent that the major problem with hydrography in Nigeria is that the practice is entirely left for the Navy. At the moment, the Nigerian Navy Hydrographic office is the fulcrum of hydrographic services in the country, but it is obvious that the Navy cannot fund hydrographic activities from its allocation because it is expensive to run in terms of training, equipment, and platforms like survey boats, survey ships and launches. Granted, there are several countries such as South Africa, India and Australia whose hydrographic operations are carried out by the Navy, these countries however place the funding of the hydrographic activities under the government purse. Hydrographic services are very strategic to any country. Consider for a moment the fact that Nigeria still buys its hydrographic charts from the United Kingdom to operate in our waters, and juxtapose it to a hypothetic situation where there is strategic military demand that we keep our naval operations distant from British interests.
Indisputably, hydrography is a matter of economic importance and national sovereignty put together. Take, for instance, in Australia – a country which has 90 per cent of its trade done by sea, and has strong ties with the British Empire – hydrographic activities is taken seriously. From super tankers and cruise liners to local traders and mariners, all rely on the fortnightly Notices to the Mariners or NtM Services provided by the Navy’s Australian Hydrographic Service, in order to support safety of life at sea, protect the maritime environment and support Australia’s critically important blue economy. In any case, even the Nigerian Navy has cried out over the appalling condition of the nation’s hydrographic practice. During last year’s World Hydrographic Day, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, said that there was the need for a national body on hydrograph to work out the strategy for adequate funding of hydrographical activities in the country, as the Hydrographic Office has hitherto been solely funded by the Nigerian Navy. He maintained that it was difficult to fund hydrographic activities from the Navy’s budgetary allocation considering the huge financial requirement and the enormity of surveying Nigeria’s vast maritime domain.
The contribution of Commodore Joseph Abulu (retd), the first Military Administrator of Anambra State, to the Nigerian hydrographic service is commendable. He commanded the Nigerian Navy Hydrographic ship before being appointed Hydrographer of the Navy (1986-1991). In this role, he coordinated the formation of the Nigerian Hydrographic Society, promoted sustainable maritime environment policies and was even responsible for developing a National Oil Spill Contingency Plan. In several world fora, he had stood out as a shining light from Nigeria in every environmental matter. In August 2007, he warned that the government’s failure to carry out any hydrographic survey since 1933 had pushed up the cost of cargo freight. Maybe, now that we seem to have come of age in international hydrography by virtue of a Nigerian in the IHO, we can take Abulu’s advice seriously, and include hydrographic best practices among the other maritime burning issues like the Cabotage Act etc.
However, there are four things we can do as a nation. First, let the Federal Government upgrade the Nigerian Navy Hydrographic Office to a National Office to separate hydrographic services from the administration of the Navy. In a country like ours, where budgetary concerns are thorny issues, it will take care of the issue of funding for hydrography once and for all. Moreover, it will create order and engender cohesion among the operatives who render the services, including civilians. Nigeria has an obligation to fulfil in the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, and this cannot be achieved through haphazard efforts. Second, the Federal Government has to commence plans to chart the Nigerian waters hydrographically. This should be considered as important as the population census and the general elections. I believe that the government has not yet realised the all-encompassing importance of hydrography to national development. But it is instructive to note that blue economy is more than the traditional core activities of fishing, maritime trade and passenger ships. It also involves aquaculture, biomedicine, boat and ship-building, cable and pipelines, shoreline development, port operations and defence and security among others.
Third, the Federal Government should establish a hydrography institute instead of sending prospective students abroad. Nigeria is blessed with maritime and human resources to make the country the maritime trade hub of the whole African region and beyond. The IHO in 2008 labelled Africa as the least surveyed waters in the country, adding that because of this, shipowners charged higher freight for good coming to Nigeria – because there are no maps and charts of the waterways, a ship could be lost. Therefore, this is a job-creating and money-making industry waiting to be exploited. Fourth, our lawmakers should make laws to add local content in hydrographical jobs and entrench a holistic policy to guide the practice. Many existing hydrographical work right now, especially the ones necessitated by oil exploration activities, are outsourced to foreign firms and individuals. And for emphasis, let it be known that the existing hydrographic office and the laws that set it up are now outdated; making sanctioning of offenders difficult, and hampering the general hydrographic practice in Nigeria.