By Steve Agbota
As part of its mandate to safety and environmental management, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, has supported the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) with several safety kits and waste management equipment to sustain the Cleaner Lagos Initiative campaign.
The equipment and safety items donated by NIMASA include 1000 branded coveralls, 1000 pieces of traffic cones, as well as 1000 nose masks. The safety equipment will help to boost the government’s efforts in keeping cities of Lagos clean.
While presenting the items to the management of LAWMA in Lagos during the weekend, NIMASA’s Director, Internal Audit, Mrs. Olamide Odunsanya, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Internal Audit, Samuel Muyiwa, said that the decision of the agency to present the items to the LAWMA management was also in line with the agency’s robust Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) support system, through which it has reached out to several organisations and communities nationwide.
According to her, the agency’s CSR programmes, which are basically environmentally- based, are designed on the basis of the need and peculiarity of the Nigerian people, and are also aimed at affecting the society positively.
However, she said that these programmes and interventions are borne out of the understanding and belief that only cleaner environments will translate into cleaner oceans in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals SGDs.
“The current Director General of the agency, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, has carved a niche for himself as a maritime administrator who believes, not only in enforcement, but also promotion of safety and security, peace, and progress in the maritime domain.
“The DG’s three-point agenda of Maritime Safety, Maritime Security, and Shipping Development; also called Tipple S Strategy has been pursued through a multidimensional approach involving networking, sharing experiences, and learning from stakeholders. “I must say that I am most delighted and proud to be associated with the management of LAWMA through this august visit. We are here to touch base with fellow citizens and contemporaries. We are here to share in the plight of the Government of Lagos State, and to offer glad tidings from the management and the entire members of staff of NIMASA,” she said.
While receiving the items, the Managing Director of LAWMA, Mr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, commended and appreciate the NIMASA for bringing in LAWMA into its CSR programme.
As Nigeria’s Maritime Administration, he added that NIMASA’s activities spread not only in the country but also across the globe, which makes the gesture to the LAWMA quite strategic and highly appreciated.
According to him, as an agency whose responsibility partly covers environmental management has shared objectives with the LAWMA, especially in terms of maintaining the cleanliness of oceans and waterway.
He noted that some of the plastic wastes generated on land still find their way into the oceans.
He thanked the management of NIMASA for the kind gesture, saying that there was need for more collaborative efforts between both organisation in line with the initiative to rid the city of wastes, adding that the items would be optimally deployed for the benefit of the Nigerian nation and its people.