Dakuku Peterside, director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has called for the development of coastal and maritime tourism in Nigeria especially coastal states.
According to him, harnessing the maritime sector can contribute greatly to the development of the economy.
Peterside made this statement while receiving an award at the second edition of the National Tourism and Transport Summit held in Abuja, with the theme, “Tourism and Transportation Inter-dependencies for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development.”
He charged stakeholders and investors to tap into the huge opportunities in maritime tourism, which is a crucial part of the Blue Economy. He also assured potential investors that NIMASA would help to create an enabling environment for their businesses to thrive.
He however urged coastal states to follow the example of Lagos in making conscious efforts to harnessing their maritime potential.
Peterside, who was represented by Bashir Jamoh, executive director, Finance and Administration, said with Nigeria’s maritime endowments, maritime tourism could be a major revenue earner and huge contributor to the government’s economic diversification agenda.
“While the tourism potential in other aspects of the economy are being maximised to a reasonable extent, the potential of coastal and maritime tourism in Nigeria remains grossly under-tapped,” he stated.
“It is the only Lagos state that has shown substantial commitment towards developing maritime tourism as a critical pillar of its economic development.”
According to him, with a coastline of about 852 kilometres and inland waterways of over 8, 000 kilometres, Nigeria has the natural habitat to grow its maritime tourism to be one of the biggest in the sub-region.
The Institute of Tourism Professionals (ITP), organisers of the National Tourism and Transport Summit, said they presented the award of Outstanding Maritime Regulator of the Year (Sea and Offshore) to NIMASA in recognistion of the Agency’s commitment and strategic initiatives towards the development of the sector.
AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE
