Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, has said that the country must take the leadership role in the blue economy within the Gulf of Guinea region
The Director General of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh, explained that with the strategic location of Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea, having 200 nautical miles of exclusive economic zone, the country should optimally harness the ocean economy and be at the top.
Jamoh while speaking as a panelist at the just concluded 2022 Navy Week in Onne, Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, stated that the blue economy can only be achieved through three key factors, namely infrastructure, good governance and maritime security.
He noted that the blue economy stood at the seventh position in the world, adding that there was nothing better for Nigeria than to diversify her economy from over-reliance on crude oil to other areas.
According to him, “Nigeria must take the leadership role within the Gulf of Guinea region; having being a country that sits on 853km of coastal line, 12 nautical miles of territorial waters, 200 nautical miles of exclusive economic zone.
“About 5,000 vessels entering into Nigerian waters annually, 70percent of these are coming from West and Central African region.
“Now with these, Nigeria must see how they can be able to harness the best they can in the blue economy.
“There is nothing better for Nigeria than to see how we can diversify our own economy from oil to other alternatives sources.”
