The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh, has said that the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, NIIA, has a critical role to play for Nigeria to fully harness the potentials of the Blue Economy.

Delivering a paper titled 'Opportunities and Challenges in Harnessing the Blue Economy' at a seminar organized by the NIIA with the theme 'Safety, Security and Development in Nigeria's Maritime Domain: Problems, Strategies and Prospects', Jamoh noted that collaboration amongst all organs of Government in Nigeria and the organized private sector will accelerate harnessing of the Blue Economy in Nigeria citing the successes of the Deep Blue Project which is hinged on collaboration.

He, however, added: "Our task at NIMASA is to explore how Nigeria can maximize the benefits derivable from our Blue Economy. This concept of Blue Economy which gained prominence some few years ago requires local, regional and international collaboration to manage critical factors.

"The Nigerian Institute of International Affairs should play a role in advising government on policies which would facilitate the realization of the Blue Economy".

On his part, the Director-General of the NIIA, Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, while acknowledging the progress made in securing the Nigerian Maritime domain and the Gulf of Guinea, highlighted the importance of the Blue Economy globally while calling for sustainable use of ocean resources to be considered when shaping government policies.

In his words, "When considered in economic terms, the global Blue Economy would be the seventh largest in the world which highlights its importance. As such, sustainable use of the Blue Economy for economic growth should be at the core of any policy formulation by government"