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| Head of Service, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita |
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, has identified human capacity as an area where Nigeria has a huge comparative advantage in the global maritime community, stating that this unique human asset was significant in the effort to sustainably harness the country’s marine biodiversity.
Represented by the Permanent
Secretary, Common Services, Office of the Head of the Civil Service, Dr. Bakare
Wadinga, Oyo-Ita commended the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety
Agency (NIMASA) for its initiatives to enhance human capital in the maritime
sector and increase the industry’s contribution to the national economy.
She stated, “Nigeria has
enormous potential for economic growth and prosperity by enhancing its economy
through significant increase of economic activities around fisheries, aqua
culture, marine tourism, development of ports and terminals, intra-city
water-borne transportation, which would help create jobs, reduce poverty, and
diversify our economic base.”
Oyo-Ita added, “We need to
create awareness on the potentials of the sea and ocean resources to catalyse
our economic growth to enable us meet our sustainable development goals to
conserve and sustainably use the seas and oceans to promote the restoration of
our marine ecosystem.”
On his part, the Director
General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, stated that the 2019 celebration
provided an opportunity to deliberate on the exploration of the enormous
resources in Africa’s seas and oceans.
Dakuku stated, “Marine
biodiversity, as you are aware, consists of the different species, their
richness and abundance in the world’s oceans and seas. The sustainability of these
diverse species, which are abounding in African seas and oceans, is not only
important to us as Africans but also of a direct economic benefit to us as a
nation.”
He disclosed that NIMASA was
working with the different arms of government to formulate and implement
relevant policies towards sustainable management of the marine environment.
“Let me inform you that NIMASA
has concluded and forwarded to the executive arm of government: the Hong Kong
Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009; the
Protocol on Limitation of Liability for maritime Claims (LLMC) and four other
IMO instruments on marine environment management, for ratification,” he said.
The event featured paper
presentations by President, Women’s International Shipping and Trading
Association (WISTA), Ghana, Jemilat Mahamah; Secretary-General of Abuja
Memorandum of Understanding (Abuja MoU), Mrs. Mfon Usoro; environmental
consultant, Professor Babajide Alo; and President, Chartered Institute of
Logistics and Transport, Nigeria, Mr. Ibrahim Jibril.
The keynote paper by Mahamah
was titled “Mainstreaming Gender For Sustainable Seas and Oceans Development:
The African Agenda.”
The African Day of the Seas and
Oceans was instituted by the African Union in 2015.
It seeks to draw attention to
the need for proper management of the marine resources for the development of
the African continent.