The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola has said that Nigeria waste huge sum of foreign exchange in fish importation while the nation Blue economy i begging to be tapped into. He lamented the humongous amount of money spent on fish importation just last year alone. Oyetola, said this in Lagos after a working visit to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA. he said that Nigerian youths should be encouraged to go into aquaculture, adding that if a fishing line business was created, billions spent on fish importation could be eliminated. He however commended NIMASA for securing the nation’s waterways, saying his administration would maintain the positive tempo.
He said “On the issue of fishing, it is something that we should engage our youths to do. We should encourage them by ensuring that we have a fishing line where we can invest in trawlers. I understand from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, data that billions of dollars was spent last year importing fish. The irony of it is that most of these things including shrimps are harvested from our waters, taken to another neighbouring country, brought back to us and sold as imported fish. “This is the time for us to ensure that we take control of our waterways and ensure that we are able to harness the potential that is available.” Commending NIMASA, he said “I have been to their facilities, I have been to the head office, training school among others. I am impressed with what I have seen so far and I think we are really ready for a marine and blue economy.
“Where we have issues, we will look at them with a view of ensuring that we prepare the ministry for the challenges ahead. “Nigerians are looking forward to the ministry to harness all the potential. Nigeria has 853 kilometres of the coastline in Africa. The first thing will be ensuring the security of our waterways so that people will be willing to use the waterways for transportation. Again, we need to invite investors. I want us to be able to encourage investors to come and invest by ensuring that the security of our waterways is guaranteed. I must commend NIMASA for the efforts they put into ensuring the security of our waterways, they have done very well. I have seen that they have reduced piracy to zero and I think we should sustain that. If we are able to encourage people to come and invest in our coastline, we will get the maximum benefits that other nations of the world get,” he said.
