INTRODUCTION
It is believed that perhaps
unlike any other industry, the maritime industry on a global level provides a
horde of opportunities for investment[1] and
globalization at an expeditious rate. First and foremost it has served to
stimulate import and export trade by way of providing surface transport through
which goods are moved by sea on a massive scale.
Since the arrival of
John D’averino, the Portuguese explorer at the Benin River in 1485, trading
contact by sea has been established between the Europeans and the West African
sub region (Nigeria in particular). The obnoxious trade in Africa, (slave
trade) would have been impossible on the scale it was carried out but for the
usage of the sea routes. Shipping trade also made it possible for the
Colonialists to establish firm holds on settler economies such as South Africa
where in 1627, the Dutch explorer Jan Van Riebek and his successors ensured
that the natives continued to serve as cheap labor in mines and plantations[2].
Maritime (shipping)
trade has played a major role in Nigerian economic development. It accounts for
about 95% of the vehicular means of Nigeria’s international trade. It has also
acted as a cardinal force in Nigeria’s attempt to correct her trade imbalances
with the industrialized nations of the world. Indeed since becoming a signatory
to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Code for Liner Conference
in 1975, a number of bilateral and multilateral maritime agreements have been
entered into by the Nigerian Government and this to a large extent has aided
the sector in the movement of cargo in and out of the Nigerian shores.
The maritime sector
has diversified Nigeria’s economy and has continued to provide employment
opportunities to Nigerians as crew staff, mariners and dock workers in addition
to various practitioners and experts in the field[3]. For
as long as it existed, the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL) served as a
pool or training ground for the majority of the master mariners and other experienced
professionals in Nigeria’s maritime sector up till today. Maritime transport has
also provided opportunity for inland waterway transport, coastal and high sea
trading and has also made it possible for Nigerians to develop the skill for
fish and shrimps trawling enterprise. In a word, maritime transport has
engendered employment for a sizeable number of Nigerians in various maritime
related occupations. It has accounted in part for the urbanization and
industrialization of the nation as well as giving a boost to Nigerian’s trade
and commercial relation with the outside world.
However, a coastal
nation without security consciousness is susceptible to attack from and through
the seas and the recent happenings and civil unrest in the country have given
rise to incessant worries and concerns as to the lives, property and stability of
the country. The crime rate and violence in the country has risen to an all
time high in the last few years from acts of kidnapping, to theft, armed
robbery, and even terrorist attacks and insurgencies. The efforts of security
agencies and personnel to curb these events have all been to no avail. These
men of the dark world have mastered and created networks and channels for the
advancement of their criminal acts thereby executing them right under the
carpets of the government security agencies.
Many shipping containers
pass through the world’s ports everyday and only a fraction can be inspected.
Ship owners and even customs officers often just have to take it on trust that
what is inside the container is what it says on the cargo documents. People
have successfully transported harmful goods and substances from one region to
the other illegally without suspicion from authorities. More worrisome in the
present day is the illegal trafficking of persons, drugs, and arms; the latter
being the main focus of this dissertation.
In analyzing the
problem, chapter one will touch on the history of firearms trafficking and
their illicit manufacturing with analysis on the present happenings in the
international plane in correlation to the different regional networks that have
been formed through this grievous crime. Furthermore, the situation in the West
African region and particularly Nigeria will be discussed and issues of grave
concern shall be brought to light.
Chapter
two will dwell solely on the transnational organized crime factor and the
United Nations resulting solutions to ameliorate the problems through the
auspices of the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, the applicable
conventions and a major highlight on the Firearms Protocol.
In chapter
three, Legislative and judicial frameworks made in the past to address the
issue of illicit arms trade shall be discussed with major emphasis on regional
efforts and State efforts.
Chapter
four then goes further to mentions salient features of the UNODC’s Firearms
Protocol in comparison with the major legal frameworks adopted by the Nigerian
government to protect and ensure a safe maritime environment.
[2] The Importance of Shipping to the Economic Development
of Nigeria 1976-2006 Seen at https://lazokoroji.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/the-importance-of-shipping-to-the-economic-development-of-nigeria-1976-2006/
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