The Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, has said that the reassurances that the deep blue project for which the federal government procured air, land and water assets for maritime security has made the industry safer and removed Nigeria from the list of countries with high incidence of attacks.
The Punch reported that he has urged stronger private sector involvement in the blue economy plan in order to maximize the benefits of the maritime sector. He made this statement while giving a paper in Lagos as a guest speaker at a lunchtime lecture series sponsored by the Academy for Maximum Achievement. He was speaking about the numerous unrealized potential in the marine sector.
He described the numerous potential in shipbuilding, ship repairs, and recycling as untapped markets that will help the economy by attracting firms along the value chain, generating jobs, and increasing foreign exchange revenues for both public and private entities.
According to a statement by the agency, 28 of the federation’s 36 states have navigable interior waters that carry enormous resources that might generate wealth. Jamoh gave an overview of Nigeria’s marine potential in the statement.
The NIMASA DG highlighted industries with opportunities for greater investment as ship brokerage, import and export, cargo handling, freight forwarding, haulage, fishing, maritime biology, marine geology, and underwater engineering.
He revealed that NIMASA wants to resurrect Nigeria’s attempt, abandoned roughly 20 years ago, to earn money via legal bunkering services.
Earlier, the group’s leader, Margaret Orakwusi, described the Corporate Think Tank as a knowledge-sharing platform.
“The Corporate Think-Tank was founded by the Academy for Maximum Achievement as an interdisciplinary platform to unite professionals and leaders from many walks of life to promote dialogue on crucial and urgent national socio-economic issues,” she said. and encourage research and professional contributions to the development and application of public policy. Orakwusi remarked
Chief Executive Officer of ENL Consortium, Vicky Haastrup, spoke at the event as well and praised Jamoh for his accomplishments as NIMASA DG.
She emphasized the importance of environmental sustainability in port regions and said that the government should pay attention to it.
She also advocated for greater female involvement in the marine sector of the economy, noting that just 18% of maritime industry jobs are held by women.
A former chairman of the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority, Dr. Chris Asoluka, praised the policies and measures implemented for a sustainable blue economy in Nigeria.
Asoluka noted that in order for the nation’s policies to fully materialize in practice, there needs to be greater action.
