President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has invited countries worldwide, especially those on the African continent, to take advantage of the investment opportunities that abound in Nigeria\u2019s blue economy.<\/p>\n
The president \u00a0implored the Nigerian Navy and its African partners as well as other stakeholders to focus on achieving a secure and prosperous maritime future that is beneficial to all, saying Nigeria cannot afford to fail in its responsibilities to Africa and the world at large<\/p>\n
He made the call on Thursday when \u00a0while declaring open the 2024 International Maritime Conference held at the Naval Dockyard, Victoria Island,\u00a0Lagos.<\/p>\n
President Tunubu who was represented at the conference by his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, in a statement by his media aide, Stanley Nwkocha observed that while a flourishing blue economy is the bedrock of every vibrant nation, the only way to attain such an economy is through \u201ca progressive naval force.\u201d<\/p>\n
To this effect, he sought the commitment and devotion of officers of the Nigerian Navy and their international affiliates, describing them as \u201cthe lifeguards of our maritime environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his speech titled, \u201cIt\u2019s Time to Secure Our Maritime Future,\u201d which was read by VP Shettima, the President told the conferees: \u201cThis conference must inspire all stakeholders to see the big picture\u2014that we cannot afford to fail in our responsibilities to the continent and, indeed, the entire world.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>\u201cLet us work towards a maritime future that is secure, prosperous, sustainable, and beneficial to all our people and the generations to come. I urge you all to feel at home and take advantage of the investment opportunities that abound in Nigeria\u2019s blue economy.\u201d<\/p>\n Noting that the conferees have a role to play in the bid to maximise the potential of the blue economy which he pegged per year at $1.5 trillion globally and $300 billion continentally, President Tinubu said, \u201cThe wealth of Africa can never be realised unless we prioritise the protection and development of our maritime environment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe blue economy is estimated to be worth more than US $1.5 trillion per year globally and is projected to increase to US $15.5 trillion by 2050.<\/p>\n The \u201cAfrica Blue Economy Strategy\u201d estimates that the blue economy currently generates nearly US $300 billion for the continent, creating 49 million jobs in the process. The Africa Blue Economy is projected to hit US $405 billion by 2030,\u201d he further projected<\/p>\n He congratulated the Nigerian Navy on its 68th Anniversary, saying the nation remains immensely grateful for the service it has rendered in the past 68 years, \u201cserving as a critical pillar of our security,\u201d even as he applauded the marine forces for creating \u201ca sense of balance and stability\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n Specifically, the President commended the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle; the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, and the naval officers for \u201ccreating a safe and secure environment for economic growth and prosperity.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no greater incentive to ensure that the infrastructure and technologies at the disposal of the Nigerian Navy are of the highest sophistication than the successes we have witnessed in our anti-crude oil theft crusade since I assumed office in 2023. This has contributed immensely to the higher oil production levels we have seen,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Earlier in his welcome address, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ogalla, said the outcome of the 2024 International Maritime Conference organised to commemorate the 68 anniversary of the Nigerian Navy will go a long way in enhancing its capabilities and strengthening existing collaborations in safeguarding the nation\u2019s maritime environment.<\/p>\n He added that the forum will also offer a veritable platform to consolidate on the achievements of the combined maritime task force in support of the development of the blue economy on the continent, in the sub-region and the nation in particular.<\/p>\n On his part, the Minister of State for Defence, Matawalle, urged participants at the conference and partners of the Nigerian Navy to come up with innovative ways by which the navies in the sub-region can discharge their duties, and for Nigeria, in actualising the vision of President Tinubu for the safety and security of the nation\u2019s maritime environment.<\/p>\n VP Shettima, who represented the President afterwards proceeded to declare open the Regional Maritime Exercise and also inspected the ongoing Seaward Defence Boats project. This was just as he took time to visit the exhibition stand mounted by the Nigeria Navy at the event.<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has invited countries worldwide, especially those on the African continent, to take advantage of the investment opportunities that abound in Nigeria\u2019s blue economy. The president \u00a0implored the Nigerian Navy and its African partners as well as other stakeholders to focus on achieving a secure and prosperous maritime future that is beneficial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":33214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[966],"class_list":["post-33211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abuja-reports","tag-blue-economy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33211"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33234,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33211\/revisions\/33234"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}