The Acting Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and
Safety Agency (NIMASA),Mr. Haruna Baba Jauro has reiterated the commitment
of the Agency towards stamping out the activities of unscrupulous elements
who are bent on disrupting the peace in its areas of operation.
Speaking as a special guest of honour at the opening ceremony of the
Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information (NASPRI) media
workshop in Lagos on Monday, the DG said that NIMASA had committed itself
to ensuring the success of the working agreements with the Nigerian
military in order to keep the Nigerian maritime environment safe from
criminal activities.
He commended the Nigerian military for its dogged war against insurgency,
explaining that he had a first-hand experience of the security challenges
of the northeast region being an indigene of Yobe State who had lived in
the Maiduguri/Damaturu axis since 1985 until 2012 when he took up the
NIMASA assignment.
The DG said: “We, the civilian populace, our hearts are now better at
peace when we noticed the renewed commitment and motivation demonstrated
by our armed forces. Peace is needed for every activity to progress. We
raise our thumps up for our military seeing what is happening. And we want
to say ‘kudos’ to you.”
Mr Jauro urged the media to always ensure that they balance their business
goals with national interest. He charged participants, who are made up of
military officers and defence correspondents, to use the workshop to add
to the gamut of knowledge in the Armed Forces.
He praised the media for downplaying the issue of insurgency, which has
further frustrated the murderous activities of the terror group. “The
media is an important stakeholder in all phases of military operations,
particularly in the ongoing fight against insurgency,” he further said.
The Commandant of NASPRI, Colonel John Agim commended the NIMASA helmsman
for his passion, dedication to duty and love for the military and the
country.
He revealed that his communication with the NIMASA DG was purely official
having not met him before the event, “yet he accepted to grace the
occasion despite his tight schedules.”
The Managing Director of New Telegraph newspapers, Mrs Funke Egbemode,
represented and delivered a paper on “Publicity: A Tool for Enhancing
Terrorists Self Esteem” on behalf of President’s Special Adviser on Media
and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina.