The National Boundary Commission has held a joint technical meeting with its Ghana counterparts to continue talks on the process of the delimitation of the common maritime boundary between the two countries.
The joint technical meeting was led by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubair Dada.
Discussions at the meeting primarily focused on ways to amicably resolve the definition of the maritime boundary between Nigeria and Ghana to forestall any possible future crisis that may arise from the shared aquatic resources and other maritime issues.
A statement signed by Mrs Efe Ovuakporie, the Head of Information, NBC made this known on Wednesday in Abuja.
Declaring the meeting open, Dada, who was represented by Amb. Yahaya Faruk urged officials of both countries to come up with enduring solutions that would further strengthen the already existing cordial relationship between Nigeria and Ghana.
Dada said that nature had bequeathed both countries with shared culture and values as well as a common boundary in the sea despite geographically being separated by other two countries, Togo and Benin republic.
The minister lauded the concrete steps taken by both countries geared toward addressing concerns that might affect diplomatic ties whilst fostering unity between both countries.
Dada said that it was the responsibility of the Federal Government to ensure a healthy relationship amongst its neighbouring countries.
He therefore enjoined the meeting to come up with practical strategies that would ensure that the maritime boundary definition was economically and mutually beneficial to the two countries.
The delegation from Ghana was led by the National Coordinator, Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Kotia.
The United Nations and the International Law of the Sea allows a country to move its boundary up to 200 nautical miles into the sea.
Efforts by both countries to resolve the maritime boundary issues in the past have not yielded desired result.
After deliberations, the meeting constituted a Joint Technical Sub Committee to consider the details of the delimitation of the maritime boundary.
The next meeting is scheduled to hold in the first quarter of 2022 in Ghana
