Littoral states must be made to work on targets and milestones with timelines toward realizing a blue economy. The task of getting the states to do this should be the responsibility of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.
This strategy was suggested by an expert whose advocacy was believed to have led to the creation of the Blue Economy project by the present administration.
Soji Adeleye, founder and CEO of Alfe City Institution, an advocacy organization on the national economy, told BusinessDay in an exclusive interview in Port Harcourt that the major starting step in the Blue Economy is to get the coastal states cracking.
Adeleye, who spoke at the end of the four-day Blue Economy Ecosystem Conference in Port Harcourt also demanded that laws that block access of the littoral states to the Blue Economy must be reviewed and removed. He mentioned such policies and laws as the one on the waterways blocking states from regulating waterways traffic. He also talked about laws limited the state high courts from hearing cases concerning the Blue Economy or maritime cases.
Adeleye, who said Alfe City Institution is about trying to see what they can do to change the dynamics of the socio-economic condition of Nigeria, said they campaign on issues they think can change the trajectory of Nigeria.
He said the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy should be able to lead the coastal states to targets and timelines to achieve particular things that would form the building blocks of the Blue Economy, saying it was a good strategy to achieve faster results because the states have many things to do. He said it is at the states that most activities reside especially close to the oceans and along the maritime corridor.
The CEO said admitted that the quest for a Blue Economy seems to be Nigeria’s new obsession, yet, nothing seems on ground to show that Nigeria has started. The investment banker and financial engineer also insisted on the setting up of what may be called the Nigerian Blue Economy Commission to regulate the ecosystem and give all agencies targets and timeline.
Adeleye also said insecurity has been the bane of the Nigerian economy and that most of this oozes from the coastal line. He said without a robust policy and action on insecurity, the economy would not change and that Nigeria’s situation would not change.
He condemned the situation along the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway where some militants and non-state actors allegedly cause stoppage of work or change of route of the highway on the action of such non-state actors. He said it is pure threat to the sovereignty of the nation. “It is dangerous for mobs and militants to make decisions for Nigeria.”
On the state of preparedness of Nigeria in the Blue Economy, the expert said Nigeria does not seem to have started. He said the nation is still at advocacy levels.
He also warned that the Blue Economy would Nigeria’s next economy and an opportunity for Nigeria to jumpstart a new economy and escape disaster.
He called for serious planning starting with creation of the Blue Economy Commission.
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