For Nigeria to benefit from the $21 trillion worth blue economy, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has said that its legal framework must be implemented, in order to sustain the concept.
Blue economy refers to the economic activities derived from the maritime sector.
The Director-General, NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, said, “The Blue economy lacks legal framework and investments to sustain it.
“If we are able to tackle these problems, we will be able to sustain the concept of the Blue Economy. We need to put a suitable policy in place to enable us to achieve all the potential in the Blue Economy.”
According to him, the Blue economy covers both aquatic and marine spaces including oceans, seas, coasts, lakes, rivers and underground waters.
Peterside said that there was a need to create an institutional framework or structure for coordinating the inter-ministerial commission for seabed resources to achieve the potential of Blue economy.
He pleaded with Nigerians to explore opportunities within the blue economy and called for the commitment by African nations toward providing investments to support and improve governance.
For the blue economy to flourish, he said, there was the need to achieve and maintain peace and security, which were paramount, apart from having to work on technological innovations to shape it.
He said that protection, conservation, preservation and sustainable use of aquatic biodiversity must be at the centre stage of the blue economy.
He explained that the harmonised development of the various sectors of the Blue Economy must be prioritised in order to tackle the conflicts within the sector.
