The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has said that with adequate infrastructure, Nigeria can harness $2.5 trillion and 350 million jobs opportunities embedded in the world blue economy. 

Jamoh said this while speaking at the opening ceremony of a five-day training for journalists on maritime security reporting organised by the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in collaboration with Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and NIMASA in Lagos.

Jamoh said that globally, the blue economy is worth $2.5 trillion annually with over 350 million jobs, the need for Nigeria to key into it and take its share of the benefits.

However,  he also pointed out that maritime security has a major role to play in the development of the nation’s blue economy, adding that Nigeria will continue to maintain the maritime security of its territorial waters and the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).

He also called on journalists to be conscious of the impact of negative reports on maritime trades within and around the GoG region, saying there is a need for journalists to change the narrative.

“NIMASA and the Nigerian Navy have done a lot to change the narrative of security in the nation’s maritime domain and across the Gulf of Guinea. We are at a stage where our efforts are geared towards maintaining the peace in the region. We should be able to tell our success stories as journalists,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Director, of the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research, KAIPTC, Prof. Kwesi Aning said that the training course on Maritime Security Reporting is the third of the series of courses on Maritime Security Reporting in the Gulf of Guinea.

“The first and second courses were successfully piloted in Takoradi (for Ghanaian nationals only) and then at the KAIPTC (for a multinational audience) in May and October of this year. This course also forms part of the capacity-building outputs of the ‘Integrated Responses to Threats to Maritime Safety and Security in the GoG Domain’ a five-year project generously supported by the Government of Denmark,” he said.

He stated that the goal of the project is to establish collaborative platform among stakeholders in the Gulf of Guinea maritime sector, enhance comprehension of the dynamic maritime security landscape, promote better coordination and cooperation, and leverage both individual and collective efforts to improve maritime security in the GoG.