BY GODWIN OBI
The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh has restated the Agency’s commitment to human capacity development as the basic catalyst to grow the maritime sector in Nigeria.
Jamoh stated this Monday in Benin City when he led a team from the Agency on a courtesy visit to Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State in the government house. The Edo State Governor said the Benin River Port project is critical and strategic to Nigeria’s economy, noting that the State Government is willing to partner with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA) to bring the project to reality.
He said Edo State is very unique in its ecology. “Edo state is a nexus for Nigeria hence the strategic role the Benin River port would play in the transportation of goods to other parts of the country. You can connect the east and west from Edo within two hours so that means in six hours goods from Apapa in Lagos will be everywhere in the country.”
“We are locating this port in a place that is perhaps Nigeria’s largest and richest onshore gas reserve. You can imagine that this energy exists to drive whatever amount of industrialization that needs to be.”
While commending NIMASA Management for the blue economy initiative, Governor Obaseki stated that the economy of Nigeria must be diversified.
Earlier, NIMASA DG, Dr. Jamoh acknowledged that the Benin River Port project is a testament that Edo understands the benefits of shipping and expressed readiness to ensure the state explores the opportunities of the blue economy.
He noted that the Agency was ready to sponsor indigenes of the State who are below 25 years of age to Greece on fully-funded scholarship to study Maritime related courses. The NIMASA DG stressed the fact that human and infrastructural capacity development is key to the growth of the maritime industry in Nigeria. He noted that the Agency’s drive to develop the blue economy in partnership with littoral states in the country is aimed at achieving a diversified economy for the country.
“Shipping is the alternative to oil and the shipping sector in Nigeria can produce three quarter of the nation’s earnings from the oil sector.
To achieve this, we at NIMASA are engaging the littoral states in Nigeria to develop strategies that would lead to maximizing the potentials of the sector within the next ten years when countries are targeting to end the use of fossil fuel”.
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The unveiling ceremony featured presentation of goodwill messages from stakeholders.
Senator Uche Ekwunife who is the senate committee chairman on Science, Technology and Innovation commended the initiative and charged the team to make it work.
She advised the government and stakeholders in the health sector to make primary health care a priority and ensure that health care cents are workable even as she noted that the essence of governance is for Nigerians to gain from government programs and innovations.
Others who presented goodwill messages include; the Director-General, NIPRD, Dr. Obi Adigwe, Vice Chancellor, Nile University, President, Nigeria Academy of Science, Prof. Eka Braide among others.
Earlier in his address of welcome, the Vice Chancellor, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof. Charles Esimone welcomed participants to the unveiling ceremony and expressed hope that it will achieve it set objectives.
It will be recalled that in April 2020, WHO awarded a grant to Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka and School of Public Health, University of Ghana (both new generation hubs) to collaborate with Makarere University (a first generation hub) to disseminate social innovation in health in Africa, to crowd source for social innovation in health in the university and across the whole country.
To achieve this, the team is partnering with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and with other key health actors and innovators, non-governmental organizations, public and private sectors in Nigeria throughout the process of identifying and promoting social innovations in health.
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