Blue economy is not about ports only - Amiwero

By Abiodun OBA

The newly created Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy as created by President Bola Tinubu is said not to be solely for ports, but all encompassing.

President of National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Mr Lucky Amiwero, has said that the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy involves the sea, oceans, lakes, canals and all you can derive from it.

The frontline maritime expert while addressing press men on the latest activities of the association which included impartation of knowledge on clearing agents about the new Nigeria Customs Act, as well as the Blue economy concept, assured that his group will be pushing out a lot of documents to the government, as “we have taken time to study this government and realised that we need to give them direction”.

Amiwero who is the Chief Executive Officer of Eyis Resources, said, “The blue economy is not about seating down and taking pictures, the year is going and nothing is being done by the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, from next week, we would be pushing out a lot of documents to the government, we have take time to study this government and realise that we need to give them direction.

“We have not developed our fisheries which is one of the important part of Blue economy, it is about what you find inside the seas and you must develop technicalities, it is not for one Ministry, it must be for the whole natonal government.

“We have a lot of resources far down inside the oceans, it is not just about the trade on the waterways” he declared.

The maritime expert and resource person also opined that the land border closure by President Muhamadu Buhari in 2019 was the worst decision made by the Federal Government.

He lamented that President Bola Tinubu is presently making the same mistake with the ongoing closure of the Nigerian borders against Niger Republic following the military junta in the country.

According to him, the land border closure in 2019 created 40percent poverty, and a lot of people lost their lives.

“Nigeria is a blind country, you cannot see America closing down its borders even with all the influx, they still manage it because it is an international agreement.

“The closure of the border against Niger Republic is also affecting the inflows of traditional trading outlets between both countries.

“These people have moved on, they have forgotten about Nigeria and the sanctions, they have gotten other means to continue their trade. Meanwhile the coup is not against Nigeria, so the border closure is of no effect.

“If care is not taken, ECOWAS would collapse with the exit of the francophone countries. The closure is working against the seven states sharing borders with Niger,” he warned.