Key stakeholders in the maritime sector gathered at the new secretariat of League of Maritime Editors to commission the association Secretariat with a Roundtable on Thursday, September 14, 2023. at the Round Table vital issues were discussed among which centered primarily on Blue Economy. During the discuss, participants enunciated fresh measures to be adopted, to ensure that the Blue Economy contributes tremendously, to the development of the Nigerian society. The stakeholders, include the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh ably represented by the Agency’s Director of External Affairs, Chief Isichei Osamgbi, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Muhammed Bello Koko, represented by Jibril Buba, the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Hon Emmanuel Jime, represented by Chief Cajetan Agu and the Patron of the League of Maritime Editors, Prince Olayiwola Shittu, who is an ex-President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA). During the Roundtable, titled, “How to Achieve the Benefits of the Blue Economy,” Chief Osamgbi, said that the blue economy is already operational, but required the proper identification of comparative advantages, for the purpose of what is potentially advantageous and sustainable. “Today we are no longer talking about benefits of the blue economy, we have passed that conception stage, and current discussions should be how to tap into the various strata, the unfolding of the separate gold mines as already enshrined in the NIMASA Act. “We must come together and set the agenda for a functional blue economy and it is commendable that the League of Maritime Editors has been doing this, because however we look at it, today, the blue economy and the maritime domain holds the biggest prospect for achieving the required GDP. Also speaking, the representative of the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Jibril Buba, the Tin Can Island Port Manager, advocated enhanced capacities through deliberate policy and stakeholders’ actions necessary to drive the processes. While applauding LOME for providing the arena to brainstorm on the dynamics of the blue economy, he said the Authority has for a long time already prepared the grounds for its takeoff. He said, “We know where we are coming from, we remember the era of warfare in the port, we used to have women delivering babies in the port and all that. And NPA in its quest for excellence in 1993, said look, we cannot continue to remain like this. It was consciously or unconsciously the way of re-awakening the blue economy, it’s only that it didn’t get the name blue economy. The NPA boss commended LOME for the acquisition of its secretariat which has been designed to also serve as Centre for Media Advocacy, noting that the place will serve as catalyst for positive change in the industry. “I am particularly delighted by the fact that this Secretariat will serve as a hub for collaboration, information exchange, and the development of best practices. It will be a platform where stakeholders from various segments of the maritime industry can come together to address challenges, explore opportunities, and shape the future of our sector.” In his contribution, Chief Cajetan Agu, Director Consumer Affairs Department, Nigeria Shippers’ Council described blue economy, as having huge economic potentials that should be harnessed by all. Describing Nigeria as a blessed country in terms of the abundance of Blue Economy, he said what is needed is to harness the potential of the blue economy. He pointed out that the opportunities embedded in blue economy were so much that it has become the project of the entire African Union (AU). The NSC boss identified the potential of blue economy as shipping, fisheries, underwater mining, cruise transportation, tourism, among others. He said that realizing these potentials, the AU, sees blue economy as a project which no country will do alone because of the issue of security. He however acknowledged that Nigeria through NIMASA has been able to reduce drastically the issue of piracy in her territorial waters and Gulf of Guinea (GoG. Before the League’s Patron, cut the tape to inaugurate the Secretariat, the NIMASA DG; NPA MD, and the Shippers’ Council ES/ CEO, had identified the various benefits that would accrue to the League from having its own Secretariat and encouraged the members of the Association to tap into those benefits. They all, lauded the various contributions of the League members, to the development of the maritime sector, and urged the League to ensure that it uses the Secretariat to brainstorm to set agenda for the success of the Blue Economy, as well as the additional progress of the shipping sector. Prince Shittu, particularly charged the League, to consider building its own Secretariat being senior practitioners, and appealed to industry stakeholders to support the initiative whenever it comes on stream. “I am very delighted to be part of this epoch-making event, some of you l have known over the years, two, three decades. “I foresee a future where we will be moving out of this apartment and going to our own property. Despite their moderate critical reporting as senior practitioners, l think that it is good for the industry. “But generally, people should also be able to criticize certain reports, especially misleading reports. One of the mistakes we make is that we read stories and forget to read the commentaries or push out reactions. Earlier, in his speech, the President of the League, Chief Timothy Okorocha had told the guests that the Monthly Roundtable Parley of the Association, which was on hold is now back, assuring that the League would again be providing the missing nexus in the industry, with regards to developmental journalism, and the essential advocacy that nations depend upon to nurture their peculiar circumstances and to build their capacities. He expressed the League’s appreciation to all the stakeholders that have assisted the Association in one form or the other, noting that, since, the Secretariat that is being inaugurated, is the beginning of a new long journey, LOME will still need their support to make the Secretariat, a Center of Media Advocacy, as conceived by the body’s immediate past Executive.
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