The House of Representatives has begun moves to unlock the country’s oceanic resources, enhance professional standards and strengthen Nigeria’s competitiveness within the global blue economy.
Saturday PUNCH gathered that the repositioning efforts are contained in three reports presented to the Green Chamber by the Chairman of the House Committee on Oceans and Fisheries, Akarachi Amadi, on Thursday.
In a statement released by the committee’s media unit on Friday, Amadi said the proposed legislations aim to deepen research, expand technical capacity and boost innovation across critical segments of Nigeria’s maritime economy.
Nigeria, blessed with more than 850 kilometres of coastline, expansive continental shelves and some of West Africa’s richest marine ecosystems, holds enormous yet underutilised potential for fisheries development, aquaculture expansion, offshore services and blue-economy enterprise
Amadi noted that the three bills were crafted to tap into these opportunities while improving local expertise for global relevance.
According to him, “The first report seeks an amendment to the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria Act, Cap A12, Laws of the Federation 2004, to establish the Brackish Water Fisheries Research Institute in Ngo, Rivers State.”
The proposed institute, he explained, “will focus on research crucial to Nigeria’s brackish water and coastal fisheries—areas known to support some of the country’s most commercially viable aquatic species.”
