Stakeholders seek media partnerships to grow maritime sector

 

The Maritime stakeholders have called on the media to become advocates for positive growth in their reportage of the sector.

The maritime stakeholders made the call during a one-day training for maritime reporters in Lagos on Wednesday.

Speaking at the event, Mrs Funke Agbor, SAN, President, Nigeria Maritime Law Association (NMLA), urged the media to echo the challenges and opportunities in the Marine and Blue Economy to realise the sector’s immense potentials

According to her, there is a need for strong political will, competency, and purposeful intention to grow the Marine and Blue Economy.

“I have a trust issue with the maritime sector; Lome has been declared a hub for West Africa in shipping oil.
“We are not acting like the big country because we lack strong political will,” Agbor said.

She called on maritime experts and the media to ensure they put their best forward to enable the Marine and Blue Economy sector to harness its potentials.

Agbor encouraged maritime media to use their platforms to educate the public on the need for positive changes in the maritime sector.

She said that all the maritime agencies should be streamlined, including the state-owned water transportation agencies.

Agbor said that inter-agency coordination would be used in translating government policies into action.

In his presentation, Rear Admiral Francis Akpan (rtd) said that Nigeria is a maritime state, as trade from the sector accounts for more than 90 per cent of Nigeria’s international trade.

Akpan said the paradigm of Marine and Blue Economy constituted a sustainable development framework for developing countries.

He explained that the blue economy also has templates for the sharing of benefits from marine resources, offering scope for reinvestment in human development.

“There is a need to enhance transparency, accountability, and reduce the number of multiple agencies in the ports to reduce congestion.

“It stands to reason that oil pipelines are criminally vandalised to scoop crude oil on a continuous basis. This results in a loss of revenue and a reduction in the export OPEC quota of crude oil,” Akpan said.

He urged the media to use their medium in reporting maritime-related issues and challenges to give the government strong political will to harness its potentials.

The convener and President, Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics (CITL), Mrs Mfon Usoro, urged the media to use the knowledge acquired to project issues of Marine and Blue Economy.

Also, the Director General, International Maritime Institute of Nigeria (IMION), Rear Admiral Christopher Udofar (rtd), urged the media to include advocacy among its responsibilities of informing and influencing maritime policy.

He urged them to tell a balanced story affecting the maritime domain, adding that he looked forward to seeing powerful narratives for reporting the Marine and Blue Economy.

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