Nigeria has developed a national policy on marine and blue economy, validated in late 2024 and supported by policies approved in May 2025, aiming to achieve net zero shipping by 2050 through green technology adoption, port modernization, infrastructure development, and capacity building. The strategy involves transitioning from fossil fuel-powered vessels to alternative fuels like LNG and CNG, electrifying ports, implementing digitalization, and developing local capacity for green shipping technologies. Nigeria, classified as Category C by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), must balance environmental obligations with economic growth while addressing challenges in inland waterway development, skills gap, and funding access for maritime modernization.
Tuesday Live 12th May 2026Added:
[music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] Hello and welcome. This is NTA Tuesday live and I'm Siril Stober.
Nigeria is driving toward a sustainable maritime sector by 2050, aiming for a net zero shipping transition within its blue economy strategy validated in late 2024 and supported by policies approved in May 2025.
Now led by the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, this plan aims to turn coastal resources into a three trillion dollar economic boost through green technology and sustainable infrastructure.
Tonight, NTA Tuesday live will focus on blue economy, Nigeria's path to net zero shipping by 2050.
But before we go into the conversation, let's get to see this report from our correspondent Joel Puola.
The historic approval of the national policy on marine and blue economy has been a major enabler piloting Nigeria towards a green first policy. Experts say these ships aim to harmonize environmental stewardship with an ambitious blue economy roadmap transforming Nigeria from a passive observer into a regional architect of sustainable trade. We hope to reduce reliance on foreign flagged vessels in our coastal trade, improve retention of value within the domestic economy, create employment opportunities for Nigerian seiferas and stimulate growth. The key pillars of the policy which are infrastructure modernization, economic diversification and growth, private sectorled financing, environmental seers which seeks to protect the 853 kilometers of coastline from a legal unreported and unregulated fishing are some of the changes the policy intends to achieve. We were able to win back our seat in category C and this was based on a lot of IMO doesn't give it to you like that and to if you nominate you have a lot of boxes to tick and I believe the paper we presented at the IMO gathering prior to the election and the NAP national action plan you know that has been put together by the by the country has shown indicated a very positive way >> with regards to the cleanliness of the environment. Now the waterways are safer for them to fish. It's safer for them to make a living other than not being able to get what they require. If the pollutants are much in the in the waterway, the fishes will flee. But when the areas are in order now, it gives room for them to fish the the the marine area is convenient and this the fishes come close and they fish.
>> One of the keys to unlocking the vast potential of the maritime sector is investments in ports and their papa port which has been approved for a facelift is an indication that Nigeria is on course. This and security of Nigeria's coastlines experts believe will attract the needed investments. The road map to 2050 is paved with both risk and massive economic opportunities. Stakeholders unanimously agreed that by aggressively pursuing a net zero future, Nigeria is not just saving the planet, it is saving its economy.
[music] All right, that report sets the tone for tonight's discussion. Uh let's start off by introducing our guests. would like to welcome to this program Dr. Omar Oodili, director Marine Environment Management Department of Namasa. Thanks for being with us tonight.
>> Thank you for having me.
>> All right. We're also joined here in the studio by Dr. Ani Aduayo, president, Women's International Shipping and Trading Association. Thanks for being here.
>> Thanks for having me.
Right. Joining us from our Kaduna studio is Dr. Sheru Usman Gatu. He's a maritime expert is director academic planning Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology, Zarya. Good evening. Thanks for being with us.
All right.
And uh also joining us is Captain Caleb Denladi, a maritime expert with specialization and port modernization.
>> He joins us via Zoom from Port Hark.
Captain Kaleb Aladd, good to see you.
Thanks for being with us tonight.
>> Good to see you. It's my pleasure.
>> All right. Okay.
Well, as it is with Tuesday live, at some point in time, the program gets interactive, but when it's that time, we'll remind you of the process and the pro procedure. For now, let's get to the main issue tonight, which is the blue economy, Nigeria's path to net zero shipping by 2050. Perhaps a very good place to start is to put into context what net zero shipping actually is and for that let's turn to the director marin marine environment management department of nimasa Dr. Thank you sir. This is a good place to start. It is extremely important that we understand the concept of net zero. When you say net zero, it simply means what are you emitting? Balancing out your emission. What it means that is what you emit you should be able to remove equal amount from the environment. And when you say what you emit, it means the greenhouse gases you emit from your various activities.
And so um when you talk about shipping, it cuts across sectors actually. But when we narrow it down to shipping, we [snorts] are now looking at a framework, a target, a goal set by IMO to achieve energy transition strategy.
That is what it means. And within the net zero framework to get to that point there are a lot of stages that the shipping industry must pass to be able to balance out their emission.
>> All right. So I suppose this presupposes that the shipping industry emits huge amounts of green uh greenhouse gases and of course can the shipping industry can be regarded as a massive polluter for people who live in the hinterland who are really not conversant with shipping activities which are mostly in the coastal areas that they're wondering just how much of this greenhouse gases uh are emitted from shipping activities. So perhaps that could also help to make people understand that.
>> Yeah, thank you Seriel. When you look at the research work and outputs we have there the studies you will it it says that shipping is about the least emitter of greenhouse gases. But regardless when you look at it IMO is not resting on its ass because of this pronouncement.
Why it is expected that shipping emission will increase with increase in activities across the waters. Okay. And so they are putting strategy in place to ensure that before we get to that stage, we already harmonized issues that will lead us to achieving that.
>> All right. Thank you so much. Let's hear from Dr. >> who is president of women's international shipping and trading association. So >> yeah, greenhouse gas emission just like Dr. Omar has set the tone. DMO is very concerned because you know the aquatic environment when there are pollutants it kills them. That's number one. Number two like if you go to Gon land pollution from ships look at what it has done. It devastates the environment and then there's the pollution on this on the road like you see a vehicle that is moving for example for example and the exhaust is emitting smoke. It's the same thing in the maritime environment. The the the the vessels when they move as they move they discharge all sorts of things into the environment and I mean if we don't take care of the environment in the next 50 years we will have nothing to look after our people.
Some of us might be gone by then. So and that is why the IMO under their various conventions and under the various committees of which I'm sure Dr. Delay is probably one of them. Uh they have come up with this and they're looking towards 2050 to eradicate Nigeria is supposed to sign on to it and be a part of it. We are on the way to that and I'm sure we will get there as we aware we're already in category C. And once you get into such category, you have become like one of the big players.
>> Okay.
>> Yes. And you make the laws.
>> And you must ensure that you also abide.
>> Let's understand the categories we in category C. So how many categories I suppose? A B C. And so which >> you talked about you're getting to be a big player. So which is the least player? Is it A or >> No. A or the higher or the bigger? They are the they are the biggest. You have the America, you have Brit Britain, >> then you have the B.
>> Then you have the B >> and >> then you have C.
>> Nigeria is in C >> and we're lucky to be there.
>> So that means um we're not one of those big players who are responsible for most of the environment crisis that we're facing in the world. which also ties in with um a lot of other issues with climate change and where we say the biggest nations who are the biggest polluters should be taking much more responsibility than they are >> but okay thank you serial maybe I'll just chime in there >> yes >> um it's important to understand that IMU has a principle it's certain >> and that is no favorable treatment.
>> Okay.
>> Whatever is applicable to us, UK is applicable to Nigeria. Regardless of the fact that you are a a developing country or the least polluttor, it's only one regulation that binds the entire member states.
And because of that you cannot look at yourself as not being a a big player.
That is also what is affecting the transition to the net zero framework.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> All right. Okay. Let's go over to our Kaduna studio and link up with Dr. Shahu Usman Gatu and ask his perspective on uh the issue tonight. I just pass to net zero shipping. Uh I believe you can hear me clearly. Um so let's let's let's hear your thoughts on this issue.
Okay. Thank you. um serial.
My contribution to this issue actually uh lies on the fact that um when we approach uh the best way to achieve Nigeria's path to net zero shipping, we need to look at issues that relates to how we can improve uh smart technology and then embibe green shipping and also be able to create skills uh that such jobs can match with the current uh status of our shipping industry. such that we should be able to provide efficiency because uh the blue economy is all about jobs, efficiency and competition particularly to make our shipping industry competitive in the light of uh current global uh energy uh uh energy crisis. Um um fueling uh the fossil fuel is getting too expensive across the world and uh shipping has been trying for a long time to create alternative fueling system and energy for the ships. But uh for Nigeria I think uh we need to have a we already have a shortcut uh use of liquidfied natural gas uh compressed natural gas all these with the current effort towards building newer models of ships and boats that can cruise within the Nigerian cabage route. I think uh that is very important to ensure that um we localize our ship building particularly and also we make sure that um we utilize um natural gas in place of the heavy fuel oils that we have been using on vessels. And also to some extent we can uh develop or build ships that can run on solar systems particularly across our waterways.
uh because within the Nigerian waterways too, we need to uh re-examine the level of participation of uh indigenous companies in shipping in Nigeria. And the quickest way to ensure their adequate and efficient participation is through developing the local capacity.
through developing our carotage system, through ensuring that the new version of Cabotage we are trying to come up with is green in nature and gradually we can also uh towards the effort of uh eliminating the kind of rickety boards we currently use within our waterways.
We need to come up with models that are either hybrid or that are purely uh uh green energy rather than um um the the the the heavy oil that pollute the uh I mean the environment and also we have to be very smart about it. Um in today's technology we have varied aspects of technologies that can give us uh adequate uh uh uh uh chances to be able to launch our vessels and move them uh away from the heavy fuel oils particularly within the domestic uh uh routes. So uh and gradually I think by developing the local capacity in a green form we can be able to now launch into the application of such green energy for powering our ships that also move across the world. And also we need to dedicate that towards rebuilding [music] uh efficient shipyards that can give us the chance to be able to come up with these models of vessels that can be uh environmentally compliant that can actually uh assist us in performing efficient services of shipping along particularly our domestic routes. We need to start from there. Obviously that is the best way to develop shipping in this country. We cannot leaprog and go into international shipping in that large scale or in that kind of uh uh uh uh scale that you need 20,000 dead weight t carriers, 40,000 dead weight carriers. Let's start from our domestic smaller vessels from 5,000 to 10,000 dead weight tons. uh populate our roots within the local uh kabotage market with indigenous vessels and from there we can learn the techniques of uh adopting uh different uh or hybrid hybrid fueling system for these boats and vessels and gradually we can be able to develop such in a grand scale and that is how we can uh uh attack uh or adopt the green technology for fueling our vessels actually and which will lead us to that uh net zero shipping by 2050 which we seriously aspire to. Even we need to get to that level before 2050 as we have air marked 2030 and is already here and uh the uh steps we need to achieve by 2030 are almost around here. Let's leap frog through local indigenous capacity. Let's start inwards. Let's tackle our domestic vessels, boats and ships that lie within our roots or within the coastal sub regional roots. Okay. And make them look greener and gradually we can launch our large scale green shipping technology.
Thank you.
>> All right. I was going to say a moment ago say well this is one area where uh perhaps for the first time I'm hearing that uh we cannot leapfrog. I thought that was the general idea in almost everything but again uh you've come back to say we can still leaprog albeit in small at a lower level before we can get to be the big big players that we aspire to be in the international scene. But let's go on to Captain Caleb Enladi and uh we've described you as um a maritime expert with specialization in port modernization and of course Nigeria is embarking on the modernization of its sports. I believe it's safe for us to say when that comes to fruition then our our level of play in the industry will be much higher than it is now and therefore uh tonight's topic becomes even more relevant. So take us through your thoughts on this.
>> Okay, thank you very much uh for this important question.
uh when we talk about uh the journey to net zero, I first of all want to congratulate Nigerian government for taking these huge steps by collaborating with IMU and developing the national action plan. It shows a huge step in the right direction. So when we talk about ports, it's not all about shipping. uh ships emits uh various greenhouse gases and according to studies they emit between 2 to 3%.
But it's not limited to ships alone. In ports also ports also contribute to these greenhouse gases. We have to go back to bases to look at what are the causes of greenhouse gases in ports. For instance, now the major contribution of greenhouse gases in port have to do with maritan traffic which is shipping in and out of ports. Then we also have to look at the cargo handling equipment. Then also the logistic the inland logistic those are the major contributors of greenhouse gases in ports. Now let's go through the challenges we are having today in port. Most of the challenges we are having before port modernization have to do with obsolate cargo handling equipment. Most of the cargo handling equipment are being run on diesel which contribute to greenhouse gases being emitted to the atmosphere. And we are talking about the journey to net zero on 2050. And one of the strategy that is going to put in place is about port modernization. And I'm very happy we discussed about port modernization last month here and Nigeria has taken a huge step to modernize port especially Apapa and Tinkan ports. So how do we modernize this port? We have to move away from the fossil fuel. We have to embibbe green technology in such a way that the ports themselves have to be electrified.
Electrification of port is very important. We have to look at models in an other country, other advanced countries have been developed and are evolving. For instance, if you go to the port of Long Beach, they have adopted the green technology today and then all the ship shore handling equipment, all the cargo handling equipment are all run by electricity. So I strongly believe that if we modernize our ports, we develop new technology that runs on alternative fs like hydrogen, LNG and metanol. I think we are going to address the issue of this decarbonization. We are going to reduce the emission.
Another important thing that we have to look into when it comes to port modernization has to do with port digitalization.
Most of times ships spend longer times in port because of administrative hurdles and administrative delays. But by digitalizing these ports is going to improve the turnaround time of ships.
When you improve the turnaround time of ships, the ideal time of ships in ports is being reduced. That simply means the ships are emitting less sulfur and less nitrogen ox into the atmosphere which is important and crucial. The most important point we have to look into if we really want to modernize the port, we have to look into shore power. We have to provide alternative means of power so that when these ships comes to port and they build import, they will be able to switch from their main heavy foot oil or loss of dying oil to shore power. That simply means they are not emitting anything into the atmosphere and we are also complying with the decarbonization strategy which is important. However, we have to ask ourselves questions. Are we ready? Yes, we are ready because the country is on the right path. However, there we need to develop infrastructure.
What I mean by infrastructure, we mean green infrastructure that have to address the issue of alternative oiling system. We are moving away from the traditional fossil fuel into the cleaner energy. Now we have to address the challenges of supplying those foil. Are we ready? Do we have enough infrastructure to accumulate those fuel which I strongly believe that is on the action plan which we are going to develop. Another challenge again has to do with manpower development because the labor the maritime labor market is changing as a result of decarbonization.
What it means now we need to train local capacity when it comes to retrofitting of ships because a lot of ships that comes to port now will need to be retrofitted. those one that use the old engines they need to retrofit it to make sure that they are efficient. So we need to train people when it comes to retrofitting of ships that simply means there will be a lot of employment opportunity like Dr. said there will be employment opportunity for marine engineers. There will be employment opportunity for naval architectures. There will also be employment opportunity for electrical engineers that will be involved in electrification of port and also battery engineers that will be converting the grid to shore power which is important.
That simply means that by adopting the carbonization strategy will be able to address the issue that have to do with unemployment of youth which is crucial.
However, is very important for us to address certain issues. Those issues have to do with the local capacity development, which is important. We need to begin to train our people so that by the time we get to certain target, 2030, 2040, we should be able to have specialists that will be able to handle those alternative supply. We should be able to have specialists that will be able to account for carbon. We are talking about decarbonization.
One of the pathway to decarbonization is for you to be able to account for the amount of carbon that is being emitted.
That simply means you have to train people when it comes to technical expertise which is important and which is crucial. Now there's a global emphasis when it comes to environmental sustainability and governance that will also provide employment opportunity for most of the people in port. However, we have to begin to train people when it comes to ESG so that they can be ESG auditors. We have to train people when it comes to carbon footprint, when it comes to collecting and analyzing data in carbons in compliance with international maritime regulation. The good news now is Nigeria is on IMO category C. We are right in the table.
We sit when decisions are being taken which is very important. But for us to move further we need to address the issue of infrastructure when it comes to alternative fuel. Now we are talking about electrification of port. We are talking about the green port strategy.
All this comes with finance. We also need to address the issue of finance which is important. Then we have to develop strategies that will be able to invite local uh international investors so that they will have confident in us that we are on the right path. Investors now I've seen over in the past 2 three weeks uh the Nimasa have done remarkably well the IMO have come and they have discussed about green voyage 2050 which is uh very important. So we just need to keep the pace. We need to modernize our port so that we can keep pace with development.
>> All right. I I'll just stay with you for a moment longer because from what you're saying, just one or two things I'd like you to clarify for us if you can. You're aiming for uh net zero by 2050. And you have raised a number of questions yourself uh to deal with capacity and the infrastructure.
So currently if we might ask for you to attain the levels you're looking at uh 2050 if I might ask for now what is the level of carbon emissions that you generated even as category C and so I asked this because let's have an idea of what we are doing right now so it tells the general public it tells us just how much work needs to be done between now and uh your deadline.
>> When it comes to uh carbon generation, I actually don't have the exact data of what has been emitted. However, if you look at the efforts that have been made by the federal government, if you look at the CGs that have been rolled out the compressed natural gas, most of the trucks now that move in and out of port, they are being run by CG. That simply means there are strategies that have been put in place to address the issue of decarbonization and the journey towards net zero in 2050.
But the most important part like I mentioned earlier is for us to have a clear decarbonization strategy which I strongly believe that the national action plan is going to address that.
When it comes to emission of greenhouse gases, most of our equipments today run on fossil fuel. But I strongly believe that with the port modernization agenda that has just been rolled out is going to address most of these challenges. We are once we modernize our ports, our ports are going to be efficient. The average turnaround times of vessel is going to increase. The average waiting time of vessel is going to increase and the average cargo dwell time of vessel is going to increase. That simply means the time that the vessels spend iding in ports burning fuel and also emitting these greenhouse gases are going to reduce which is very important and crucial. Digitalization is very important because it aid trade facilitation and now Nigeria has also signed up into the maritime single window system. It simply means that there are going to be trade facilitation. It simply means that there's going to be synergy between all the agencies because you are submitting all document at the same place. That mean the turnar around time of vessel will increase and the average waiting time of will increase which is important and I strongly believe that in the port modernization strategy there are also provision for electrification of port and for green age because we are in 21st century which is crucial.
>> All right thank you very much. We'll return to some of those other issues and uh explore them in further detail. But in addition to the conversation, we also have a number of reports. Uh let's get to see this one from Port Hark.
Nigeria's target of turning coastal resources into $3 trillion economic boost through green technology and sustainable infrastructure in the next 10 years could be a catch for the Niger Delta region given its massive coastal environment and biodiversity. Industry players are convinced that the region could provide the country with enormous exportable coastal resources if well announced.
>> I am told most of the trailers we had in rivers and bases have been sold. What are they using for? Are they not using it for business and it's being dominated by Indians and the rest they catch this fish export it go and use it to do other bring it back to us. So most of our state government should the state ministry of transport who were having this they should even create a department or a ministry of blue economy. There is a lot for instance this is this sand is a seabed sand from part of our ocean in Bayasa.
If I tell you what this sand, this sand has about about 18 to 21 minerals including zinc and the rest.
>> In line with framework for the blue economy, the Ninja Delta River basin authority initiated clean up the ocean exercise through the water solitary core deep sea fishing industry in Biosa state in addition to the establishment of the Phineima Marine District in River State.
The most important of it all is that our our partners are coming to train our people. That local training that component of training our people is there to us because our people are our fishermen are aging.
>> However, the facilities for sustainable blue economy in the ninja delta coastal domain remain a challenge especially at the eastern ports.
>> We should start from the foundation and the foundation is the infrastructure. If the port infrastructure is not right, we cannot get in investors to come in. Why do I say this? Which port in Nigeria is connected by rail lines? Lagos is said to be connected. Is it functional? Are we carrying cargo from Lagos to Kaduna or from Legos to Cano or from Legos to Aba or from Legos to Ni, it's nothing.
Then we also come by road. We talk about the road network. How visible are the road network? Is the road still good?
Port is there. It's it's it's crying for attention. Then how can we talk about sustainability without looking into the infrastructure and government is generating revenue.
>> While the issue of water waste security is relatively low, the need to establish the bony and a deep sea ports have continued to draw attention to the blue economy. Technologically based coastal safety and security measures, local capacity building and investment in maritime activities are what the people expect the blue economy framework to drive.
All right, from report in Port Hakot, let's get to see this other one from Calaba.
The national action plan aims to drive economic growth, strengthen trade competitiveness and create sustainable jobs as the approach prioritizes environmental sustainability, economic growth, inclusive development to ensuring the transition does not disproportionately burden developing nations. At the 84th session of the maritime environment protection committee mech 84 of the international maritime organization IMO Nigeria's minister of marine and blue economy Dr. Adigo Otoah stressed that achieving net zero emissions by 2050 must align with sustainable development goals. The African uh continental free trade agreement is uh bringing so much money into the African trade zone. This need to have port because without port you can't key into that amazing market a huge market >> each day passing informal trade activities going on in our waterfront and our borders. So it is very important because people are not aware they don't have an idea about how these things works. They don't even know the right thing to be done in order to cel or permanently remove informal thread or formalize it in order to make it official.
>> Carries out advocacy and support business systems.
We are very interested in ensuring um enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
This stance reflects Nigeria's broader strategy to balance climate obligations with economic growth as seen in its national action plan on maritime decarbonization and its commitment to the IMO's 2023 GSG strategy. The country aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while safeguarding its economic interests and those of other developing nations.
>> [music] >> Well, those two reports raising a number of issues, but before we come to them, let's uh [snorts] uh let's get to talk about uh the immediate economic and uh environmental gains uh Nigeria stands to get from this transitioning uh to net zero shipping.
Yeah, Nigeria has quite a lot to gain in this transition. In fact, this is an opportunity for Nigeria to boost its economy the further. However, when you look at the concept of transitioning to a net zero future, it is complex. It's not as simple as everyone is talking it.
Reasons being that there are two parts to it.
The nexus between blue economy and shipping cannot be overstressed. They work hand in hand. Why? Ships fly on waters. And whilst this is happening, there are so many issues that needs to be addressed. You cannot separate shipping from IMO regulations.
Yeah, IMO is not just looking at only international shipping. Now for it to be able to account for it emissions. There must be a holistic synergy between your domestic emissions and the international emission.
And as such for transition blue economy Nigeria to benefit, you first of all look at where is Nigeria on issues of IMO regulations as regards emission.
It is important to note that in the concept of net zero framework there is going to be a fund and that fund mandates vessels that don't meet their emission tra threshold to pay.
>> Okay. And now if that is such where is Nigeria as a nation well it's not peculiar to Nigeria it cuts across Africa we don't have the vessels and even the ones we have are not efficient which >> well I'm I'm not cutting it short but do we even have the statistics >> oh well um yeah we have the statistics here and there some research work say about 2% of the global fleet is what Africa has.
So when you look at this thing and look at the net zero fund that is proposed, what it means is most of our vessels or let me just say Africa because if I keep calling Nigeria is not peculiar to Nigeria. You can't separate the continent on this issue.
And now you realize that in that framework, it will be the vessels that are not compliant that will continue to pay into the fund.
You must balance out your deficit so that you become compliant.
And most of the vessels up there are all compliant or at least almost there. But when you come down to the global north, you realize that we have not started.
And this fund is meant to also address certain issues. For instance, the green ports that is being talked about.
One of the major reasons why the ports must be sparked is because of vessels.
These vessels if they call to the ports and there are no shorebased powers they switch off their main engine. It means as they are steaming their auxiliary engine they are emitting and their compliance level keeps decreasing. I will not want to go into the technical aspect of this but the truth remains once your compliance level is low you are going to pay into the funds. So are we going to keep paying into the funds monies that will be used to balance out the burden of energy transition coming and and it's important to know that when this funds will be disbbured it is not only coming to Nigeria African countries you have the seats you have the LDC's is and so by the time they spread the funds across board what it means that is we are shortch changing ourselves you are the one paying most you're not going to get back all what you have paid. So the best thing for us is to start at this point is never too late to put our house in order. We have everything going on but there's need to bring it together into a form of framework that will catalyze actions that will lead us to being where we should be in energy transition. And I must say that um Neasa is not resting on its ass.
The trajectory leading to energy transition did not start today.
By 2011, the only gas that was not regulated was carbon.
IMO has been regulating gases, the sulfur, the the the the nitrous oxides. These are I mean you are hearing decarbonization, decarbonization. It's not about decarbonization alone. There's been the sulfurization, the nitrification. [snorts] Why carbon has become a problem is if you go to research works, you realize that carbon is the smallest existing gas in the atmosphere.
But because it persists, that is why the effect is so heavy on the environment.
Gases like sulfur, uh, nitrogen, all the other greenhouse gases will not persist a longer because they have short lifespan.
But carbon dioxides remain there, keep piling and getting to that level where the global temperature is a threat to mankind.
And so, IMO also has been following this. And Nigeria as a member state is also following the sequence through NIMASA.
Nigeria ratify map and A6 in 2015.
Long before then, Nigeria as a nation has been doing a lot to ensure that we meet our obligations under IMO.
Being on category C does not just mean that you're there to you know be one of the uh law makingaking nations.
You must show that you are capable of handling issues that you're dishing out to others to abide by. And so I I am very confidently saying here that Nimasa has been doing a lot in fact proactively to achieve this long before now.
>> Okay. And that is why we have regulations guiding the activities of vessels.
We have also relationships with the MPA on port.
If a vessel is calling to your port and there's no shorebased power for you to switch off your engine and reduce your emission, you pay not even only to the funds. We also have enforcement regulations that will make you pay for certain levels of emissions.
>> Okay. But well, you have those but when you do not have the infrastructure, so can you enforce that?
Yes, Nigeria ratified map and X6 and because we have ratify that convention, it is an obligation that we implement it >> now.
Yes, we may not be there but definitely we are working towards being there. It's not pecular to Nigeria. In fact, whenever I go on workshops, conferences and we have to interact and talk, you realize that Nigeria is far ahead most of the African countries.
>> That's right.
>> And the only thing is for us to start putting our house in order. It's no longer an issue of we are not transiting. It's an issue of what do we do not to be left behind.
>> A good place for Dr. No, I have to come in uh because what to Fily has reeled out here uh you are the shipping and trading association and uh you use the vessels. Yes.
>> Which cause all these issues and uh again we go back to the question of uh ports infrastructure where uh the more you emit the more you pay. But if you are in an environment that has not been modernized as to prod provide alternative power for instance, it means that your ships will continue to run on those fuels and uh they continue to pay. So how how do you balance this out?
>> Yeah, thank you very much. Um the good news is um recently the president of Nigeria and a team of experts including investment man they went to the UK an agreement was signed for the renovation of the infrastructures at the Lagos port that is the papa port and the tinkan island ports and all I've I've looked at everything about what was said including steel including everything that we've talked about today digitization and all of that they are going to do it and we are signed the agreement is going to be midwifed by city bank and some other consortiums. So we are we are optimistic that we are on the right path because like we said the journey usually said journey of a,000 miles begins with a step and the federal government has taken the right step by going into the agreement. What we need now is implementation. When the implementation is done, you discover that our ports will be more be more compliant and our people will you at a point you were talking about funding. Yes, you talked about funding. The the the the issue of green gas emission, the kind of billions that's been voted for it, it's a lot and Nigeria can take advantage of it. The only thing is you as an individual cannot go there. You have to go through your system. So there's the green green bonds which we can take advantage of. Then if [snorts] you go there's the climate fund as well which you can also take advantage of. Then the African Development Bank is also giving loans to that effect. So that some of the vessels that people are using in Africa because Dr. Fil has established that the problem is not generic. So it's not peculiar rather it's not peculiar to Nigeria.
It's a global thing for us in Africa because we are developing countries and so most of our vessels our people don't have capacity. It is not their fault.
They don't have the infrastructures are not there. They don't have the market and they don't have the funding. So since these funds are there backed by the government if they assess it they'll be able to somebody talked about retrofitting. Yes I think the captain from Kaduna talked about retrofitting they'll be able to retrofit their vessels and it will emiss less gas and so they don't have to pay so much into that fund that she was talking about. So and then uh there are other development partners. You can go into PPP private partnership with other uh countries people have vessels and then they will help you for us uh as women in shipping and trading. Um what we just want is for government to continue to support us especially with the capital vessel financing funds so that our women can compete.
>> Exactly. That's what we're going to say.
what is your strength and uh where is it here? We we're looking at uh a huge funding base here. What is your current strength and how do you fit into key into benefiting from these funds here?
>> Thank you very much. Surprisingly the women in the maritime sector they are strong women. We have women who own vessels. Yes. the we I mean late Margaret Orusi I don't I don't know if you heard about her I mean she was one of the biggest in when it comes to fishing she had fishing trollers and all of that and um what we are trying to do now is to see for to assess the CVFF which is the capital vessel financing fund which has been launched and is now about becoming operational people already submitting application and all that we're trying to form our women into a cluster like let me not use the cooperative but let's come together so that we can assess the fund. So when we assess the fund, we run it jointly. I mean like a business. And another thing I want to talk about is going forward, you know, there's ESG that everybody is talking about now. The companies that are compliant are the ones that will get more investment. So one of the things we are talking to our women about is to say see follow the steps be environmental friendly socially compliant and in terms of governance make sure you are doing well once you do this you discover that getting funding will be very easy for your companies. So, we're just trying to not just advocate, we are trying to mediate and make sure that we're balancing it. Crossing our eyes and dotting our crossing our tees and dotting our eyes. That's what we're doing with the women.
>> Okay. Yes.
>> Sorry. Just trying to take from what she has said. Um the funding out there quite enormous but to assess the fund is not a straightforward process.
That is why Nigeria has to start developing a strategy towards innovative insights at bringing up bankable projects because even the IMO fund when it becomes operational you do not just go because you're a developing country they will dish out the fund to you. You must have bankable projects that are verifiable and the women coming together, they are coming together to pull these projects together. It must be a project that is sustainable and it must be a project that is green. I mean it's leading towards the transition goals. It's not a project that you just get a vessel, you start running a business. So between now and 2028 when the fund probably will be adopted and it starts working, it is extremely important that Nigeria puts its house in order. And this could be done by designating an authority that will be in charge of putting together the projects that already existing.
So that before the fund I mean we should adopt the early bed strategy where we already have our books ready waiting for the funds to come in and we start making our presentations and a designated authority devoid of bureaucratic bottleneck will be very good towards achieving this. I mean we we we we have a lot of bankable projects. We have inland waterways that are yet to be harnessed. In fact, from the records, they say that 3,800 kilometer inland waterways in Nigeria is what is functional and navigable now. But also research work is telling us that about 10,000 kilometer of inland waterways in Nigeria are yet to be harnessed.
>> So you have potential potential. So these are potential 2,000 >> projects that will be put together [snorts] to attract this fund when comes operational and without you know taking much of the time I would also like to say like uh Dr. Anise said there are so many funders out there waiting for projects to come up to mop up the funds.
>> Okay. And so it has become really very important that we look at that angle and get ready for what is to come or what is already available.
>> Okay.
>> Thank you.
>> But again you say yes all this is available there and as you say you must put your house in order. So let's go to Dr. Gadu in Kaduna. Putting your house in order. you probably watched uh two reports and so all the issues that were raised and I I I come back to the question two of those issues the infrastructure and then the capacity capacity building which uh was spoken about in those two reports and you had there are funds to be assessed but it's not that straightforward. You've got to put your house in order. An example is inland waterways you doing about 2,000 something uh kilometers while research says you have potential for 10,000 plus how do you begin to put your house in order >> yeah thank you for this question Siri you see um in the Nigerian shipping or transport or the maritime industry and I mean uh most of all the current uh focus towards the blue economy.
uh we are seriously um lacking in relevant data to take many and most decisions and I'm sure uh that is one important thing that we have to start looking at uh because for example now Nigeria being in category C of the IMO is not a certificate of performance per se rather it's a certificate of challenge because uh being in category C is even more challenging than being in category A or B uh because of the relevance of uh or the diversity of focus of each of these categories. If category A is emphasizing on countries with uh the highest investment in shipping and category C is looking at those countries with highest investment in international trade and freight and then category C then becomes the country that is expected to comply with all IMO's IMO rules to that effect in order to move ahead towards actually being within either category B or A. So now to do all this and to do anything that has to do with IMO facts, figures and inferences are very important particularly when it comes to the blue economy. The blue economy is very [snorts] very scientific in nature or tackling issues relating to the blue economy is quite scientific and uh you cannot just approach it with uh either um uh uh your willful uh thinking or a kind of discretionary decisions and all that.
No, it has to be backed by adequate uh relevant and sufficient data that can give a proof and also a kind of uh data that can uh show the direction towards which uh shipping and issues of emissions, issues of alternative energy and all that. we have to have the real statistics to actually direct us rather than we I mean dictating how the statistics will look like and uh that's why more or less in that regard I actually say kudos to the federal government for recently giving approval to the establishment of the smart national transport data bank which we are now expecting it to have a very good impact in in the area of developing enough statistical data that can be used to take those scientific decisions that actually should carry on with uh a vibrant uh blue economy. But particularly looking at the blue economy as a whole, I think as far as Nigeria is concerned, the shipping aspect that relies on the ports that works along with the ports that also generates those freight and facilitate international trade are the key things Nigeria should focus on in terms of developing the blue economy because that's where the commerce lies. That's why the employment is generated. That's why the mantra of efficiency is more regarded as due. And because of all this, I think uh we have to redouble our focus towards generating those required data. Today if you ask a Nigerian I mean data in terms of the roads the length of our waterways we are all saying 100 I mean 10,000 kilometers here 3,000 kilometers there when when was that updated last in the same way all those opportunities we are listing within the um the blue economy generating power from ocean waves um uh uh adopting the map uh uh uh uh uh um uh stipulations on how to cope, you know, uh pollution within our oceans.
All these are issues and policies that you cannot put figures to them and unless we are able to map out count out uh uh survey and then give adequate reports of what is really on ground. We cannot confidently take decisions on all this. So by the way again I almost mention the importance of the uh smart national transport data bank. It will be a very important vehicle that can drive all this that can drive Nigeria towards acquiring the relevant data that can assist us in making all decisions relating to our blue economy as well as the entire uh segments of the maritime industry and can lead us to the aspired uh path to the net zero shipping by 2050.
issues dealing with the [snorts] blue economy and Niger's path to net zero shipping by 2050. And hopefully uh we'll get contributions from those who are watching tonight's program uh because then our phone lines will be open uh to hear comments and questions from those who know about the subject matter or those who wish to know more about it. So stay with us. We'll be right back.
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>> [music] >> NTA Tuesday live, a network issue oriented innovation talk show.
Thanks for staying with us. It's all about the blue economy and Niger's path to net zero shipping by 2050.
Well, this segment is when we open the phone lines and that means you can get to join in the conversation in the studio. Uh the numbers to call will be on your screens. We ask you take advantage of those and call in with your questions or comments. And as we do every Tuesday, we say this, if you're calling in and your call gets through to the studio, do us a favor, turn down the volume of your TV set uh to avoid the echo or the hurl back. And as we always say, do not bother too much about the greetings. Just a simple hello. And uh again, one way of knowing that your call has been passed through to the studio is you'll see your name on screen. Once you see that it means your call is already through to the studio and just go ahead with your comment or your question and uh whatever issues you raise our guests will be willing to address them as they come.
Right. We start off with another of our reports. This one from Inugu.
>> The Southeast is the hub of manufacturing, exportation and importation of goods and services. The customs department is licensing bonded warehouses and inland terminals across Aba Onicha, Enugu, Eony and Imo states. This has lifted the spirit of manufacturers in Unwi, traders in Onicha and Aba industrial operators in clearing cargos closer to home base.
Due to lack of seap ports in the southeastern part of Nigeria, manufacturers go through a lot of hazards to get their goods in and out of the production base. Respondents have called for the dredging of the river Niger with road network connectivity around on ease the maritime bottlenecks associated with cargo businesses. Adada River in Osoka also needs to be dredged for activities to take place.
>> We need maritime facilities in the southeast. We have river river Niger is there. They should drain um d it so that we begin to have goods coming from outside down to the southeast. Southeast is the hub of businessmen in Nigeria. Importation is resided in the southeast but we cannot offload them in the southeast >> and it is good that federal governments have started saying about revamping seap ports in the south unless also be included >> revive in eastern ports cuts logistics through eastern inland terminals manufacturers in Aba Enugu on and will give a sign of relief when their caros bet in their own nearest sea ports with inland license terminals fully operational.
All right, the phones are already active and uh even while that report was on, we had a caller on the line. I believe he's still there from Delta. Hello.
If I from Delta, if you're there, go ahead.
>> Hello.
>> Hello.
>> Hello.
>> Yes, I we just said this. Your name is on screen, so go right ahead.
>> Can you hear me?
>> Yes, we can. Go ahead.
Can you hear me?
>> If I just said you sir.
>> Good. Go ahead.
>> Is backst.
>> All right. We'll just move ahead. Uh we'll say this again. We've said that a tip to know your call is through is your name appears on screen. Once your name is on screen, just go ahead and we can hear you. Otherwise, you would we would not put your name on screen. It means your call has been passed through and we're waiting for you to make your contribution. So, uh let's just repeat that one more time for those who will be calling in. When your call gets passed to the studio, your name will be placed on screen. Once you see your name on screen, it means your call is through.
So, just go right ahead. Okay. Um if I may want to call back, other callers may be on the line. Let's go straight on to um our other guest who is uh in Port Harot, Captain Caleb Daddy. Yes, there you are.
And uh you've watched all three reports now and we've started talking about these huge challenges what must be done uh for Nigeria to catch up. Uh one of our guests here says it's not a matter of uh uh going there, no going back. is how quickly we could catch up with other countries who are been compliant.
Okay, just before you answer the question, we have another caller on the line, Muhammad from Bowi. Muhammad, go ahead. Muhammad, go ahead.
All right, fine.
Captain Kaleb and just go ahead.
>> Okay. Okay. uh it's very important like uh Dr. Gidu has said the very important thing is data. Data is very crucial and is very important. Why do I say so?
Because it's going to make you to have some informed way of doing decisions.
But based on the videos we just watched and the report about inland waterways, Nigeria have a huge potential when it comes to inland waterways. We have over 853 km of coastline and over 10,000 kilometer of inland waterways out of which 3,000 are navigable. So very important for us to achieve trade facilitation on inland waterways. One of the most important thing and the first step to do is to carry out continuous dredging and not just an emergency dredging. We need to constantly dredge the channels. However, before we dredge the channels, we have to carry out an environmental impact assessment which is crucial and that will guide our decisions. Once the channels are concentrated ded most of these containers that are being brought to Lagos can be safely navigated using badges to Onishia and also to loco and all the inland ports which is important above bridging. Another thing that need to be done is to ensure that most of the navigable channels are being bought that will improve the safety of navigation because if the channel is not being bought will have a lot of incidents which is important.
We have had issues where we have a lot of wrecks. So wreck removal is also another strategy which is very important and I'm very happy that the national policy on marine and blue economy which has a 10-year road map has a lot of potentials to address these issues.
Above all it's not about bridging. You can dredge the channels and move these goods from Lagos to Onisha. However we need to have a multimodal means of transportation which is important. We need to have rail that is being linked between these inland waterways to the end users because if we bring in these goods using badges to onisha port we must have rail that will be able to evacuate this good to final users. Some of these goods are born for potaco. Some of these boats are born to enu and some of these goods might be bound to far north. That is another area that we are addressing the issue of port congestion because as soon as the goods comes to Lagos you move these goods through badges to onisha port is going to address this issue. Another issue that we need also to address about building capacity. I know we have a lot of well-trained engineer well trained hydrographers but we need to continuously training them so that we have a sustainable plan which is very very important. Now we talk about inland waterways. We have to adapt innovation.
Innovation is very important and innovation is a key. We are talking about modernizing our inland waterways.
We also have to look into decarbonization. How do we decarbonize these inland ports? We have to develop local talent. We are talking about the green funding. Now the green funding definitely we have a lot of funds but the processes that to get those funds however it's very important for us to have local capacity people who can be able to develop local grids like local solar power panel which is important then we have to move into what we call private public partnership which is very important to attract investors. How do we attract investors? We can attract investors by giving them tax relief. We can attract investors by at least giving them some waiverss when it comes to import duties and excise duties. Very important also our inland waterways must be safe. The good news is through the deep blue project that was implemented by Nimas, we have not had the issue of paracy in the last 3 years which is very important. So we must continue sustaining this momentum. Now we talk about modernization. Modernization can actually improve surveillance which is important by modernizing these ports by modernizing the inland waterways by constantly dredging them and also have a surveillance on the way. We are going to address the issue of maritime security which is important. All right.
>> Another issue we have.
>> Let let me ask you to pause a while here um from the point of uh uh maritime security, but let's take this call and then we'll return to you in just a moment. Naseru who's calling in from Abuja if you're there. Just go ahead please. My good evening.
>> Yes.
Hello. Good evening.
>> Yes. Go ahead please. My question is I want to know the uh the the former the project that the former president started that uh ding of that that ding d [music] and uh is it state I want to know what is happening about that project now I'm sure >> not been hearing anything about that project that dying so please this is my question Please.
>> Okay. Um, would you be refer by any chance be referring to the Baru port or something?
>> Hello.
>> Hello. Would that be the Baru port you're referring to?
>> Yes. Yes. Bar.
>> Okay. Fine. Thank you. All right.
>> Okay. Thanks for calling.
Straightforward question. Anyhow, uh let's go back to Captain uh Caleb Dad. Yes. You uh you were speaking on Dan. Well, you had this last caller.
>> Okay. So, I talk about dredging, then I move into securing the inland waterways, which is very important. But when it comes to securing the inland waterways because the inland waterways stretch over a lot of communities, one of the most important thing we need to do is to have a stakeholders engagement with these communities so that they will have a sense of ownership because there's no way you dredging the channel today and people will go and still pour back a lot of seals into the inland waterways or also dump some of the refuge. So we have to have a sort of stakeholders engagement to engage them so that they have a sense of ownership. We have to have constant patrol because if we install the navigation boys that are going to give us safety of navigation and they are being taken away is going to result in maritime accident which is important. So surveillance is very important. Community engagement is a key so that the communities would have a sense of ownership which is very important when it comes to the inland waterways infrastructure. We have to take sense of ownership particularly when it comes to the local communities because most of this inland water we are talking about 3,000 kilometers. You cannot put martial on 3,000 kilometers.
What we need to do we need to adapt modernization when it comes to using drones for surveillance. when it comes to using artificial intelligence, internet of things to gather more information which is important. The good news is we have AIS today which can be able to track the movement of goods from origin to destination which is very important. So I strongly believe that by modernizing our inland waterways we are going to address the long issue of port congestion that we are having. We are going to address the long issue of delay in delivering goods because some of these companies in Nigeria depends on just in time goods. So when we dread this channel the trade facilitation is going to improve but we also have to have it in mind that decarbonization we have a target of 2050. So as we are modernizing this port, I strongly believe that modernization is going to go a long way and Nigerian government has also shown a political will. If you look at from the inception, the creation of the ministry of marine and blue economy to harness the potentials of the blue economy is the right step in the right direction and also the 10-year road map to address these long outstanding challenges. I think the government has done enough.
>> Okay. All right. Well, uh, speaking of which, uh, the development of the inland waterways and all that, uh, brings us to the question, uh, posed by Nasiu who called in from Abuja. Well, I'm afraid I I believe that it's newer that will be able to tell us the status of the Baruk port. Um, I I I doubt if any of our guests here would be in a position to know. Does anyone know >> anything about that?
perview of NA would be the one to be able to state >> what the status of the bar port is. Um we can only say from reports that we have gathered there's uh nothing is happening to that place and uh it's not in use. That's as best as we can say but the status would have to be given by newer that's not represented of this. Uh but let's uh go to uh Kaduna and speak with uh Dr. Shman Gatu once again.
Okay, we have a caller on the line calling in from Jagawa.
Hello.
Okay, let's start on that call.
>> Or any other port is necessarily uh functional only if it is uh connected with other modes of transport.
Uh the bar port typically is a project that was actually fully completed but find itself in a situation whereby the ministry of works has to provide the roads that will link to the port. Uh the Ministry of Transport have to ginger the railway to revive the railway line or modernize it to a standard uh uh gauge track which is what is desirable for a seap port of I mean a river port of that nature by virtue of the kind of gaggo that can uh move in and out of the port.
So basically bar port can only function when other responsibilities of providing linkage by road and by rail has been achieved and which is naturally for example today the ministry of marine and blue economy uh can only canvas for that for either roads or rail to connect baro port but uh definitely may not be the source all developer of that road rail line to link bar port right now become a port that is within a multi- uh uh faceted responsibilities and when it comes to >> yes I was just saying isn't that a reflection of what the state of affairs because you're looking you you yourself said earlier on that we needed a holistic approach towards this in developing the infrastructure finding a way to decongest the ports, which is all tied to what we're talking about. And so there are other aspects, other areas that need to also key into this. Isn't this a reflection of the state of affairs?
Dredging also people look at dredging as just a once off thing or just continuous dredging. No, it is not. The bank of that river has to be protected from runoff water into that river again when it is to be dredged and be made navigable and also the river itself has to be trained in such a way that it will maintain a particular depth and a particular shape. In some segments, canels have to be created to either take off water or to inject water into the channel. So all these are some of the things that makes a dred channel navigable for a long time. And especially in addition also there should be the maintenance ding on a continuous basis. Even in ports, some ports have maintenance ding on daily basis, on weekly basis, etc. Talk less of a river channel. A river channel is more like uh building a road in a desert with sand dunes coming up to cover the water. I mean the roads at any point in time because of the continuous wind. So as this wind move to obliterate roads built in desert that's how siltation also uh make nonsense of any dredging at any point in time because it keeps on uh I mean uh uh uh I mean uh uh uh reducing the the the the the depth of the water by pouring in sand through siltation over this dredged area. So there are several things involved in a dredging that is expected to uh be uh of a long-term use or that can be real considered as a dredged channel. Uh uh sometimes even creating new channels is far better than dredging existing one that is creating new canals because the the width of our rivers in Nigeria are more than what you need to maintain through simple dredging. You have to train the river in in one case by reducing its own width and also because some of these rivers are as wide as half to 1 kilometer. Which segment of the river will you want to use and which one are you? So in most cases these rivers have to be trained to become a little bit narrower than what they are today and also to be dredged deeper and also the banks have to be protected and and tempted from runoff water that can further lead to siltation from ashore the river.
>> All right.
>> So all these are problems that has to be taken into shape in order to have a navigable dre channel. So my understanding is that these are projects which are contri will will or should contribute to the success of the overall that we're talking about and these projects are suffering perhaps we we let's turn to Dr. for >> it's interesting I mean at the onset we started talking about bankable projects >> right >> we also talked about a lot of funding out there for people to access >> right >> but the truth is no fun will come in and take on a project without putting the d-risk factors into consideration now even the IMO fund we are talking about is not going to help you with your project 100%.
They must also factor in the D risk.
And so before a project is carried out, part of the questions that will be asked is there must be a physibility study.
With the feasibility study, you'll be able to assertain if that product is doable, viable or sustainable.
You don't just jump into a bogus project without having an adequate EIA if it is where is needed feasibility studies and if possible a mini pilot project to assertain if it is a project that can fly.
So and and and and when we talk about putting our house in order and we have a lot of projects out there that can attract funding, these are the sequence.
These are things they look at. For instance, it's a good project to dredge the inland waterways. You've started dredging. You got stock and you bring in an investor. He will look at all these things before putting in his money. Is it worth it? And so it we we need to do a lot. I had said earlier there's need to designate an authority that will specially take care of looking at the holistically all the projects viable projects that can attract funding into the country and see how we can be aligned properly to address the requirements of the funds.
>> Okay, we have another caller. Let's hope this gets through calling in from is >> Hello Malaysia.
>> Yesumi from Oungo ahead.
So my cont my contribution to yes I want to ask a little bit about the the dwelling of the rivers in the south eastern.
Can it be possible? And what what will be the economy that the for the benefit of all Nigerians?
>> Okay. The line is seasoned and it's not clear. The only thing I could decipher from what you're saying is what would be the economic benefit >> of the treasure to Nigeria.
Well, Mr. Gumband, thank you for your question. Uh, when the rivers inland waterways are ded and there's economic activities on them, there's a multiplier effect. It will affect the community. You have more goods moving.
Traders will be able to trade more. We have more people coming into the community. You even have more employment. So, it's multifaceted. So it's it's just going to be like from one sector of the economy to the other. The market woman maybe used to take her like two hours to move her things from Iraqi to ei in the inland waterways and she doesn't have to go on the road and spend 2 hours. Number one, she gets to where she's going on time. Number two, our goose does not get to spoil and then she's able to quickly, you know, turn over and come back and buy another one and sell. And so, >> you know, it's it's a multiplier, it's multifaceted, he affects everybody. The man that is um assuming there's a boat, for example, an engine boat, there's someone that is driving it, that is propelling it, there's someone that is helping people to load and passengers are on board. So money is coming that way. So it just brings economic advancement.
>> That is what it does.
>> And also addresses the issue of emission reduction.
>> It addresses the issue going back to our topic for today.
>> So that by the time you shifting all those uh >> you reduce the emissions even coming from the vehicles vehicles are not on the road. So it reduces that. Well, let's go to some other area and this is a little bit tricky now and that has to do with the skills gap particularly the workforce and uh how ready Nigeria is to address that this transition because bridging the skills gap is not going to be a thing of uh 3 days or one week or two weeks and that is there's a huge deficit there as in many other places. Yeah, it's actually um there's need for a lot of capacity building and improvement in having uh institution develop their green curriculum.
>> For instance, the seafarers Nigeria is one of the countries that produced a lot of seafarers more than other African countries. I know that Nimasa in the past years has done quite a lot and um the problem remains that the seaf farers being turned out don't have enough sea time to be on board vessels and now the vessels coming are going to be improved version of vessels with new engines with running on different alternative ative.
So there's need to reskill the seaf farer >> digitally many aspects.
>> Yeah. To to match to match the the the energy transition the green future we are talking about and the beauty of it is one of the items on IMO green fund is capacity building reskilling the seaf farer. We already have the basis. We have the the the schools you have manoron and so you know training seaf farers. So by the time we begin to assess this I think we will close that gap to a reasonable extent. And also of course in schools there should be an introduction of some of these new skills that we expect to dominate the maritime industry in the future.
the the ports engineers, the those that can handle the new um um digital equipment that will be coming and and likewise even in secondary schools is it's important to start catching them young and with that we begin to to to clip the gaps gradually till we get there. Thank you.
>> Let's go to Kaduna and talk to the academic who is here now. director academic planning of uh uh the institute of transport technology uh Dr. Gadu once more we are talking about the skills gap those who have been churned out and you find that with all these going on the vessels that are coming will be more modern digital equipment you know and all those and you need to retrain and train and uh Dr. of has just talked about curriculum in schools, institutions, training institutions. So let's hear from you.
I've started saying in Syrial because um uh there are two things about skills in this country today is uh it's not about certificate, it's about how to do what you are trained to do. uh most people go to school go to uh training or retraining just to either get the time or get the certificates that is very very wrong. Then on the path of uh trainers again issue of curriculum is far far very very important than any other thing and developing a curriculum does is not just about sitting down doing it. You have to be in consultation with um sponsors of trainers, trainees and the industry at large. training or skill development should match industry needs for such skills. And in that case there must be uh the training needs assessment first by all institutions providing this uh training programs and certificates of competence. You have to identify the very skills that will meet the needs of the industry. develop curriculum that aligns with such uh uh skills needs and then get these programs accredited by regulators and authorities that vet training programs either in degrees in diplomas or in form of cert professional certificates. So uh curriculum development is first thing we have to review, look at and update all the curriculum we dispense to trainees to make sure that this uh curriculum aligns with the basic training needs of either the industry or the specific area of specialization that these skills needs to be developed in and then also continuous review of these programs. uh uh you find some institutions that have curriculum that's almost 10 15 years old which needs to be reviewed but are still being dished out to trainees and which doesn't serve and that is the main cause why also trainees come to obtain certificates rather than the knowledge some of them might have known most of these things instead of coming to get updates they still find the same thing and they never come back neither will they ask others to come. So it is very important develop appropriate curriculum continuously review this curriculum ensure they are being accredited and ensure that they have the integrity to command patronage of uh participants and also most of all ensure that it gets back a feedback to the industry in terms of impact. Any skill that can can that cannot make an impact in the industry is not uh a genuine skill and most of all every aspect of the blue economy today needs new curriculums that can be effective in dispensing that skill that is needed to drive the blue economy. The same thing with the our effort towards attaining net zero shipping. We need to have programs and curriculums in our training institutions that spans around uh content that can give direct direct skills that are relevant to those areas or issues that we want trainees to go and work in because training must match skill and skill must match the job function. So it is very important to first of all define all the job functions we need within the maritime and blue economy and then look at those job functions and then identify the uh exact skill that should be dispensed to trainees who will subsequently become the workers that will handle such uh functions. So this approach is quite uh fed in. I wouldn't say it's not there but it is a little bit fed in but we have to uh wake up look at those areas and then completely develop new curriculum that can give the desired skill for every Nigerian. I bet you most of our curriculum or our diets for education today in this country needs to be reviewed, needs to be updated. We are in the digital era. We are looking forward towards a green environment, a green system, green transportation and all that. Where is the skill that can ginger that? It's not about just hearing what green transportation is, how it works and all this. There must be a deliberate training program that can build in those kind of skills into our personnel so that it becomes part and parcel of their way of doing things. If you see somebody doing things, guessing or doing it with discretion, he does not have the required technical skills to handle it.
And that is what is actually dealing with this country in terms of having low efficiency in doing things or taking uh less appropriate uh decisions or policy measures and all that. So I think we need to now start looking at training as a key uh path towards developing skills that can subsequently be applied into the industry and prop or or or or or dispense the job responsibilities that are in that particular sector without skills. We continue to be gazing. we continue to use discretions and we continue to be less efficient and less impactful in what we do. So it is very important because by and large what we are discussing today is really skill intensive issue without the skill we cannot make this kind of discussions materialize really. Thank you.
>> Right. Let's come to you. How are you?
>> Yes.
>> Yeah. Thank you very much uh Dr. Dani.
uh you've talked about capacity building and I I I just want to say what we as women in shipping and trading what we are doing in the industry to make sure that there's no debt of maritime professionals because the the set that is in there now they are going out and we have a lot of jes coming out and the thing is um the time to catch them is when they're in secondary school not when they have already gone to invest is to say I want to study uh X Y Z let's put it that way. So what we is doing is we go to secondary school and we organize like uh let me say sometimes debates sometimes quiz competitions and sometimes we just do a talk. We have a talk with them. We tell them about the opportunities available in the maritime industry. The the subject combinations that you need to com to to do in secondary school and your a no your O levels in order to qualify and then we show them the pathway. We we tell them about the maritime academy honor. We tell them about the opportunity that Nimasa is giving to students, the NSTP program whereby Namasa sends them to school to study maritime related courses and when they come back they're able to go on board they do their seat time they get their h their uh certifications and then they become >> okay because I'm just reminded that a lot of them who have been turned out now don't get enough sea time. Yes, that's the truth.
>> Especially those that came out before now.
>> But what we know from what we know, the data that is available is the last sets that went uh the way it is being run now is such that there's an agreement between the mass the school and some others who are uh part development partners to make sure that they see them all the way through.
So we don't have to have them waiting for years after they come back they can't get on board that is not good because they just become rotten they forget everything and some of them will just foil into the society and what's the essence of trying to say why don't trying to build the capacity in the maritime sector these guys go abroad they come back and then they can't fit in so that I think from the last few years I'm not saying way back few years I mean few years >> a couple Yes, the cut off has been established. So what we are doing is to guide them to make sure that okay you know you can be a n architect, you can be a marine engineer, you can be in the deck, you can be in the engine, you can even be a nurse on board.
>> So you can find your space in the maritan sector. That is what is doing.
And that brings me if you don't mind to what we are doing again western Nigeria is hosting all the wester uh associations in Africa they call them NWAs national wester association so we are hosting the hate regional African conference in Lagos in June >> okay >> at the hotel 24th to 26 >> that's how far I will let you go thank you >> otherwise you need to speak to the marketing >> I understand that that's why I said if you don't mind you know but we want our people to come and participate especially the women to come and learn to come and unlearn and to come and see the opportunities available in the maritant sector for them. You can be a chandler you can there's so much that you can do in the maritan sector.
>> So let me stay a moment longer with you and say what are the opportunities for ship owners and operators to become more competitive globally through clean shipping and particularly the women too.
>> Especially the women if you don't mind.
>> Yes.
>> Yes. especially for our women. All I would say for now is number one, thank God for the uh uh uh Minister of Marian Blue Economy for that policy that has been signed by the federal government and is being implemented. One thing I will say is for every time that the minister of mar and blue economy has called people together stakeholders to explain to them about the policy western Nigeria and our women in the maritime sector we've all been fully represented.
We are we are we are part of the implementation strategy. So what we are doing like I said is we are forming ourselves into clusters so that we can put resources together. You know the more we have the more our strength will be. If I if she brings $10 million and I bring $5 million and you bring $2 billion and the matters is for you to get this CVF fund for example is you need 30 million. You discover that already we are like almost 80% gone. So all we have to do is maybe look for another person that we had for us and then we able to get our vessel and then we operate but under strict business conditions. That is why I started talking about ESG. We don't operate as if we are doing we we we no we operate as a business and then we get consultants to map out how it should be run. So the opportunities are there and we are trying to take advantage.
>> All right as we prepare to wind down let me come back to Dr. Fodi and u this is to find out the key milestones and benchmarks for 2030 and 2040. You said we've already started. So what are those indicators we're looking at? Say by 2030 we ought to have achieved this uh and by 2040 this is what we're looking at right. Well, where we at now, um, it may not be so easy to say, well, we ought to have, that's the language, attain a certain >> where we are, we are at the scoping stage >> as a nation.
>> So, there's a lot of work to do.
>> A lot of work to do. But that doesn't mean that we've not covered some milestones.
What it just means is the ones covered there's need to harmonize align it properly to begin to yield results.
So when when you look at even the milestones set by IMO, they are still going back to review some because as they are moving into the next, they realize that there is something in the initial one that needs to be >> okay >> reviewed for it to align properly. So it's just scooping stage for everyone practice. So can we based on that now say are you confident that this 2050 that we've set for net zero shipping is attainable?
>> Well confident it's a huge commitment. You're hoping, >> we are hopeful that by then >> it should be >> Nigeria should have [snorts] gotten to a stage where we can say we will not be left behind.
>> All right. Okay. So, we're winding down.
So, your closing comments on this?
>> Yeah. My closing comments will be to say to the women especially because uh and to the government uh our advocacy and uh all we are saying is give more opportunities to women. They always say if you want something to multiply give it to a woman you can see Dr. Fodil she's a marine environmentalist. I'm an accountant but I happen to lead the women but because I'm I'm leaving women who are involved in shipping in marine and everything how to go and start learning what they do so I understand their business and that's the only way I can serve them well so I want to say to the government please give us more opportunities we are ready to serve we always give our best go and check everything every organization that is being run by a woman, they always excel because women put in their best and we multitask very well. Thank you.
>> All right, Dr. Sherid, uh we have your closing comments as we wind down.
>> We need skills.
We have been assuming we have skills but really the new skills we are developing are not up to date to some extent. Just as I mentioned some of our curriculums in our training institutions are not good enough. And then also we need to do a very good needs assessment. Assess what kind of skills we need to do what.
Then we transform those assessments into reports that can lead to development of that appropriate curriculum that can deliver that skill that is needed by everyone every sector. Skill is skill is what we use to do things appropriately.
Uh knowledge is all about understanding but skill is about doing it. So we need to get down to identify all our skill gaps, all our skill needs and all areas that needed additional personnel with good skills to handle. Thank you.
>> All right. And uh Captain Caleb and Ladi, straight on to you.
For me, I strongly believe as a nation we need to prioritize pawn modernization.
We also need to prioritize clean energy.
Capacity building is very important and digitalization.
Now it's very important also before I go to say we need to prioritize women when it comes to seafaring because the number of women in seafaring is very low. If we must build capacity for seaf farers then we must increase the number of seaf farers. At the moment the participation of seaf farers is low. So my parting word is we must encourage female sears.
We must have more female CFLs and we must go back to basics to start teaching younger generation at primary school and secondary school level about STEM science technology engineering and mathematics because that is a foundation of decarbonization searing capacity building and digitalization. Thank you very much.
>> Well and I'm sure uh Dr. Dario or Dr. Fodil here would echo those words that you have said. the number we start.
>> All right. Oh, cool. Good enough. So, gentlemen, thank you so very much. Um, uh, Dr. Shusid, director of academic planning, Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology, Zarya, who joined us from our Kaduna Kaduna studio. Thank you so very much.
And, uh, Doc uh, Captain Caleb Eladi uh, the maritime expert who joined us via Zoom from Port Hakot. Thank you so very much, gentlemen. Thank you.
>> Right.
And back here, it's time to say a big thank you to the ladies in the house here. Uh Dr. Omar, director, Marine Environment Management Department, Dimasa. It's been interesting having you here.
>> Thank you.
>> And Dr. Ani Odo, president, Women's International Shipping and Trading Association. It's been a pleasure.
>> Thanks for having me.
>> Right.
>> Appreciate it. And that's our program today. We thank you for watching. Next week we'll be back with NTA Tuesday live. I'm Sirill Stoa. Bye for now.
>> [music] [music] [music] >> That was good.
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