Economy
REAR Adm. Francis Akpan (rtd) has said that good governance will enhance the future of blue economy in the country.
Akpan said this in a lecture he delivered at the Maritime Lecture for the 2023 Cadets graduation held at the Maritime Academy, Oron on Tuesday.
He spoke on the topic, “Emerging Challenges and Opportunities for Maritime Workforce in the Blue Economy”.
He said that the benefits and opportunities available at the blue economy could be achieved through good policy formulation, adequate funding and right legislation to ensure that policies were not abused.
He told the 157 graduating cadets that there were a lot of opportunities for them in the maritime industry.
According to him, the blue economy is an alternative to the oil industry as it could create jobs and generate income for the teeming youths.
Akpan, who was the Guest Lecturer at the event, said “the concept of blue economy provides a more holistic vision that embraces economic growth”.
He said that with the establishment of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, the country was in the right track to harness the enormous benefits of the blue economy sector.
He said that the maritime workforce is important to the blue economy because it is the critical contributor of the human capital that would make concept viable.
He further said that there were opportunities for the cadets in the areas of maritime services, such as ship brokering and charter services.
Others include insurance and underwriting, naval architecture, fleet management, marine risk management, Maritime law and arbitration and flight forwarding, among others.
“Fishing, trawling and fish farming will require a huge maritime workforce, considering the huge gap between demand and supply value chain in a blue economy.
“The cumulative effect of direct and indirect jobs from maritime tourism will help reduce the nation’s unemployment level,” Akpan said.
Another lecturer, Dr Kevin Okonna, said that “digitilisation is crucial for the maritime industry”.
Okonna’s lecture was captioned, “Digitilisation in the Maritime Industry and the Prospect/Challenges for Skilled Maritime Workforce”.
He said that digitisation is transforming analogue data to digital, such as converting paper document to pdf, while digitilisation is utilising technology to enhance corporate processes, such as using zoom to hold meetings.
Okonna, a former lecturer at the academy, urged the cadets to embrace digitisation to remain relevant in the industry.
He said that digitisation would ensure safety and efficiency of the maritime transport and smooth functioning of the global supply chains.
“Today’s customers’ expectations require reliable, flexible, transparent and cost efficient transport services.
“The support of digital technologies is essential to better manage sea transportation,” he said.
Okonna commended the Rector of the academy, Commodore Duja Effedua, who has ensured the digitisation of all departments in the institution.
He said that it was digitisation that made it possible for the academy to hold academic activities in the institution during COVID-19 pandemic as lectures and examinations were conducted virtually.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the 2023 lecture is “Evolving Career Opportunities in the Global Blue Economy.” (NAN)
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December 13, 2023 @ 8:39 GMT|
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