Blue Economy is not about Taking Pictures, Amiwero Cautions Oyetola

…Says nothing is being done by the Ministry

By DAPO OLAWUNI

Frontline maritime expert and 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 as created by President Bola Tinubu is still lacking direction, even as he cautioned the Minister, Adegboyega Oyetola that the concept of the Blue Economy goes beyond gallivanting around and taking pictures.

Amiwero stated this on Tuesday 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.

Amiwero who is the Chief Executive Officer of Eyis Resources, said “Blue economy is not about ports, its about the sea, oceans, lakes, canals and all you can derive from it.

“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 said

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 said