The Concept of a Littoral State
By
The sea has been described as the power base of nations, continents and empires of old, the energy store of emergent and prospective world
powers. With its vast lengths, limitless resources and hidden secrets, it constitutes a singular reservoir and testimony of the sheer power that nature
wields. It is with this power that many a nation-state is blessed and enamoured, by the accident of the seas or oceans proceeding from its limits. It is
this power that defines the concept of a littoral state.
'Littoral' has variously been defined as being of, on, along or belonging to the shore, as of seas and great lakes; a coastal region, especially the area
of high and low tide levels; or, bordering the ocean, sea or lake. Fused with the concept of Statehood, a littoral State then becomes a people bound
together in one body politic, exercising independent sovereignty over and within its territory, and bounded at its land limits by ocean or sea waters.
Two-thirds of the earth's surface is water; water is therefore the most extensive and cheapest means of transport available. The importance of the
littoral State is the more underscored by the fact that about half of the nations of the world are landlocked States, for whom the littoral States are an
invaluable link in the transportation chain. The littoral States therefore are availed with the advantage of exploiting the opportunities of their
positioning for economic gain and political leverage.
The waters over which the littoral state exercises rights include the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and the
continental shelf. These rights, existing under the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea, guarantee the enjoyment by the littoral state, of a
measure of economic control over these areas, and comparative advantage over other nations, as far as those waters are concerned.
The rights exercisable over the territorial sea exist by the sheer virtue of the waters being part of the territory of the littoral state. Full rights of
exploitation and arrest therefore exist here, so long as they are done within the ambit of municipal and international law. The Contiguous zone
immediately follows, functioning mainly as a security zone for patrol of customs and the greater protection of the waters of the littoral state.
The exclusive economic zone is the area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea, not extending beyond two hundred nautical miles of the baseline. Here
the littoral state exercises sovereign rights of exploration, exploitation, conservation and management of natural resources superjacent to the seabed, of
the seabed and its subsoil. It equally has the prerogative of establishing artificial islands. structures and installations, and conducting marine and
scientific research.
Other states, including landlocked and geographically disadvantaged states, can however exercise rights of navigation, overflight, laying submarine
cables, and pipelines, though with due regard to the rights, laws and regulations of the littoral state in accordance with the provisions of the United
Nations Convention on the Law- of the Sea. Of particular interest how-ever is the right of the landlocked and geographically disadvantaged states to
participate on an equitable basis in exploration of the surplus of living resources of the Exclusive Economic Zone of the littoral states of the same
region or sub-region. The further exception to this is that developed landlocked states can only seek such equitable participation in the Exclusive
Economic Zone of equally developed littoral states.
Littoral states are therefore evidently positioned to maximally exploit to their benefit, the opportunities offered by their location. To what extent they
have, or have not explored this, is another matter. It may not be surprising that the world's bigger powers are littoral states. It is however not a
matter of celebration that Nigeria has not achieved appreciable exploitation of its locational circumstance. Granted, oil has been, and is still being
exploited, and is indeed sustaining the economy. But the beauty of the seas lies in its near limitless potentials; it is these we have been availed of on
a golden platter. Fishing rights alone could rid the need for importation of fish and associated sea food, creating an industry for fishing management,
and control, apart from making for coordinated conservation practices.
Much more exploration of mineral resources than is currently undertaken could be carried out, given the sheer expanse of explorable area. The contiguous
zones could be put to much greater use in patrolling Nigeria's waters than is currently done. Science and technology development could be maximally
pursued with the expansive research and experimental grounds offered by the sea, free of charge. The Navy is equally afforded operational area for
manpower development, for purposes of national defense. Beyond these, the littoral nation can cut for itself, good international deals under reciprocity
arrangements with other littoral states, and by that remain economically and politically relevant in many respects.
Quite interestingly, the constituent states within Nigeria which lie along the coast have engaged the Federal Government in a battle of who owns what.
Their contention: revenue accruing from offshore exploration should be attributable to their areas under the derivation principle. Of course the Federal
Government thinks otherwise, and has posed the question to the Supreme Court - what is the seaward boundary of a littoral state for the purpose of
determining the revenue accruable to the Federation account?
Without going into the politics and jurisprudence of what the case is worth, it suffices to point out that the seas are an international resource,
regulated by Conventions between nations - nations in their sovereign capacity. It may therefore seem right that the exploitation rights accruing there
from, and more importantly, ownership of the aquatic territory, reside in the sovereign government that has right to enter into such treaties. Existing
legislation do not do much good for the states. The Exclusive Economic Zones Act confers on the Federal Government, sovereign and exclusive rights to
explore and exploit natural resources of the seabed, subsoil and superjacent waters of the zone. The Territorial Waters Act empowers the Federal
Government to make laws for any part of the nation's territorial waters. The Petroleum Act vests in the Federal Government, ownership of all petroleum in
Nigeria. It is obvious therefore that ownership of the aquatic territory is not conceded to the states (even though it doesn't expressly vest in the
Federal Government).
Fine and dicey as the legal and jurisprudential questions may be, the substantial fact to be condensed from all is that ownership of the aquatic resources
of the littoral state lies in the sovereign power, in this case being the Federal Government. To that extent, the rights accruing from our littoral
circumstance may have to inhere for the benefit of all. Smaller nations have become world powers by the sheer circumstance of a littoral location. It may
well be that ours may still take time. But it will come.