The Federal Government, on Monday, in Abuja, approved Nigeria’s implementation of six international maritime organizations’ conventions, treaties and protocols to boost the country’s maritime economy.

The Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, disclosed this while briefing journalists after an extraordinary meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the State House, Abuja.

Adegoroye said although Nigeria had been a signatory to the six treaties of the IMO, it was yet to fully implement them in the country.

The Minister said: “The FEC approved that memo and also directed the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice to present the treaties and conventions, all six of them, before Mr. President for eventual execution.”

Adegoroye also revealed that the council approved N1.3bn as furniture costs for the newly-acquired 10-storey building to house the headquarters of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Meanwhile, the FG has approved the sum of N19.24bn for the training of 50,000 non-graduate N-power beneficiaries and the procurement of taxiway lighting system in the Port Harcourt, Lagos and Abuja airports.

The sum also covers consultancy services for the Dadin Kowa 40MW power project in Gombe State.

The Ministers of Humanitarian Affairs, Social Development and Disaster Management, Sadiya Farouk, and her counterparts in the Ministries of Aviation, Education and Water Resources, revealed this at the FEC press briefing.

The council also approved another memo to regularise an ongoing lease arrangement with a concessionaire under the auspices of the Upper Niger River Basin Development Authority.

The approval extends the initial 10-year lease period of lands to farmers in the River Basin and Gurara, Niger State, to 25 years.

Also speaking was the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who revealed that the FG approved the establishment of 37 new private universities nationwide.

Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan,
Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Minister of State for Transportation
May 16, 2023