Driving Nigeria’s Economic Fortune Through the Blue Economy – Amiwero

By Aminat Damilola, Assistant Editor

The President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), and the Managing Director, Eyis Resources Limited, Lucky Amiwero, has stressed the need for Nigerians to support the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr. Adegboyega Oyetola and  key into President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision of the Blue Economy as a catalyst for unlocking the nation’s economic growth.

Amiwero made the call at the weekend while delivering a lecture at the TransQuest 21st Anniversary held in Ikeja, Lagos

He spoke on the theme: “Re-Appraising Nigeria’s Blue Economy: Charting A Part to Sustainable Growth.”

According to one of the leading voices and advocates for licensed customs agents and freight forwarders, the Blue Economy presents an opportunity that can transform Nigeria’s economy into an engine of prosperity through strategic investment, strong governance, and sustainable practices.

Amiwero, who is a prominent Nigerian maritime expert noted that the 21st century had opened new frontiers of economic growth, with the Blue Economy standing out as one of the most promising.

Describing blue economy as the sustainable use of ocean and water resources for growth, job creation, and improved livelihoods while preserving aquatic ecosystems, Amiwero said Nigeria was strategically positioned to benefit.

“‎Recognising the immense potential ocean and freshwater resources have for sustainable development, has necessitated the need to protect and conserve oceans and fresh water system such as rivers and lakes, and extensive ocean resources, ensuring they remain healthy and productive, has become one of the most important tenets of the blue economy.”

‎The concept, Amiwero said, “seeks to promote economic growth, social inclusion, and the preservation or improvement of livelihoods, while at the same time ensuring environmental sustainability of the oceans areas, at its core, it refers to the decoupling of socioeconomic ‎development through oceans-related sectors and activities from environmental and ecosystem degradation.
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‎”A sustainable blue economy is a marine-based economy that, provides social economic benefit for current and future generations by contributing to foods security and poverty eradication.”

The Nigerian blue economy, Amiwero said, “can constitute a major source of wealth and catapult the country’s fortune

He added that the blue economy “therefore conceptualises oceans, seas, lakes, coasts, and freshwater bodies as development spaces where socio-economic development is decoupled from environmental degradation.
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The concept, Amiwero said, “must recognise the critical need for sustainable use of ocean, lake, and freshwater resources through an integrated and coherent policy across multiple levels of governance—sub-national, national, regional, and international—in a coordinated way”