London Universities Maritime Law & Policy Group

Nigeria and Piracy: the Evolution of a Complex Problem; A seminar by Lisa Otto

Hosted by Lisa Otto

Biography

Lisa Otto holds a MA in International Peace and Security from King’s College London’s War Studies Department, which she achieved with Distinction, as well as BA and BA Honours degrees from the University of Johannesburg. She is now pursuing doctoral studies in Politics under the auspices of the SARChI Chair in African Diplomacy. and is currently conducting visiting research at the GMI. Her doctoral study investigates the evolution of maritime piracy in Nigeria.

Lisa’s research interests include non-traditional threats to security, particularly in Africa, as well as African foreign policy and engagement at the regional and international levels. Before returning to UJ to begin her doctorate, Lisa worked with the Institute for Security Studies and the South African Institute of International Affairs. She has also worked on projects with Transparency International, the African Union, Corruption Watch, and the European Commission, and has conducted field research in Finland, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique and Ethiopia.

Topic

Nigeria and Piracy: the Evolution of a Complex Problem

Abstract:

While piracy is certainly not a new predicament off West Africa’s coast, it is one that has certainly become more punctuated in recent years, particularly off the shores of Nigeria. Piracy there challenges our traditional understanding of the crime, taking on a more domestic nature, and one that tends to centre on the region’s thriving oil industry. It is with the legacy of this industry too that it finds its origins, which, enmeshed with defining features of the Nigerian state (corruption, neo-patrimonialism, poverty, and criminality), has come to pose a significant threat to economic and security imperatives in Nigeria and the sub-region. Actors tasked with tackling the phenomenon have been implicated in the crime itself, rendering it an exceedingly complex problem to solve. This presentation will unpack the nature of piracy in Nigeria (and by extension West Africa), offering insight into underlying causal factors of the crime, how it plays out on these troubled waters, and what efforts are being taken to bring it to an end.

For more information on getting to the venue click here

EU Maritime Day Public Seminar – People, Place and Fish: towards understanding the importance of inshore fishing to communities in the English Channel and southern North Sea

ABSTRACT
Fishing is important not just for economic livelihoods, but plays an important socio-cultural role in terms of heritage, sense of place, local identity and social cohesion. This presentation will report on work carried out in two EU Interreg funded projects GIFS (Geography of inshore fishing and sustainability) and CHARM III (Channel Integrated Approach for Marine Resource Management). In CHARM III sense of place was used as a framework to explore the cultural ecosystem services that marine fishing provides. In the GIFS project this work has been developed. Firstly, through a survey across fishing places in southern/eastern England, northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands, where people’s attachments to fishing places will be measured. Secondly, community, researcher and professional photography will be used to understand the diverse landscapes of fishing across the region and how these landscapes are shaping the practice of fishing and the character of those places. Alongside this sense of place research GIFS is now addressing numerous other ways that the importance of marine fishing can be felt in coastal communities. This presentation will include report on the role of women in fisheries and their contribution to the social cohesion of coastal communities focusing in particular on three countries: Belgium, England and the Netherlands.

Presented by Dr Tim Acott, Dr Julie Urquhart (School of Science) and Dr Minghua Zhao (Greenwich Maritime Institute), University of Greenwich

VENUE: Royal George Room (180), Queen Anne Court, University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London, SE10 9LS

TIME: 18:00

DATE: Monday 20th May 2013

There will be time for questions and answers and a drinks reception will follow.

FURTHER ENQUIRIES & BOOKINGS
Places are free but please book a place in advance by contacting:
Greenwich Maritime Institute, University of Greenwich
Email: (gmi@gre.ac.uk) Tel: 020 8331 7688

For more information about the London Universities Maritime Law and Policy Research Group please see our website: http://tinyurl.com/c73bs2w

The European Maritime Day is celebrated annually across Europe on 20 May.
It shows the importance of the sea and oceans for everyday life, both in coastal communities and in landlocked areas across Europe. It also highlights the opportunities and challenges currently facing maritime regions and sectors.

Maritime Law Seminar on Chartering Tankers at Difficult Times

‘Chartering tankers at difficult times: description and the Waller Test’

25th February 2013, 18:00, City Univeristy London

The speaker, Filippo Lorenzon, is one of the most prominent names of the current maritime circle. He is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Law at the Univeristy of Southampton and has been Director of tyhe Institute of Maritime Law since March 2010. He is an editor of ‘Shawcross and Beaumont on Air Law’ and he is a member of the following organisations: ICC (UK) Committee on Transport and Logistics; the Italian Maritime Law Association (AIDiM); the British Maritime Law Association (BMLA); the European Maritime Law Organisation (EMLO) and the International Bar Association (IBA).

His recent publications include:

Lorenzon, Filippo and Coles, Richard (eds.) (2012) The law of yachts and yachting, Zug, CH, Informa (Maritime Transport Library)
Lorenzon, Filippo; Baatz, Yvonne and Nicoll, Chris (eds.) (2011) Sassoon on CIF and FOB Contracts, Andover, GB, Sweet & Maxwell British Shipping Laws). (In Press).

Location: Room DLG08, Social Science Building, City University London, Whiskin Street, EC1R oJD

The seminars are free to attend and everyone interested is welcome to attend.

The London Universities Maritime Law and Policy Research Group (LUMLP) is a non-profit making collaborative network of London academic institutions with research interests in Maritime Law and Policy, to discuss, disseminate and develop research in Maritime Law and Policy. LUMLP members are drawn from a wide range of academic and research institutions, professional groups, commercial organisations and individuals sharing a common interest in maritime law and policy. The Directorate includes representatives from City University London, London Metropolitan University and the Greenwich Maritime Institute (University of Greenwich).