Coming on the heels of his tours of the Western and Eastern Ports, the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr Abubakar Dantsoho will at the 7th edition of the annual conference of the Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON), on Thursday, ex-ray the state of the infrastructure of the Nigerian ports.
This is as the NPA boss had earlier during his tour of the Lagos Ports announced an ambitious plan to increase container traffic from the current two million containers per year to over seven million, as part of a broader modernisation effort which would cost the Authority tens of millions of dollars.
The 2024 edition of the AMJON annual lecture is scheduled to commence at 10: 00am at the Rockview Hotel Apapa, Lagos. The conference is aimed at digging deep into the untapped Nigerian Blue Economy which is estimated at about $1.9 trillion.
The conference with the theme: “Nigeria’s Maritime/Blue Economy Industry under the Renewed Hope Agenda: What is New”, will spark fresh national conversations on what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and creation of the Marine and Blue Economy ministry holds for Nigeria.
Minister of Marine & Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, will be the special guest of honour, while the Secretary General of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA) who will be inducted on that day as a Patron of AMJON, will chair the event.
The event is also billed to have the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Barr Pius Akutah, Managing Director of Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), and other maritime CEOs as guests and participants.
The Patron of AMJON, Chief Tony Nwabunike, along with other Notable drivers and stakeholders in the maritime sector will be on hand to chart this new course for AMJON and induct the new Patron.
Speaking, the outgoing president of the association, Paul Ogbuokiri, disclosed that the event will bring together influential voices for collaborative dialogue and development of the maritime industry, assuring that the association is ready for the big event.
Leveraging on the theme of the lecture, Ogbuokiri revealed that it will educate participants and stakeholders on the activities of government and its agencies in actualising the potentials, prospects and opportunities which abound in the Blue Economy sector.
“Stakeholders and investors shall be educated on the available opportunities and the conducive environment provided by government for investments to grow and yield tangible returns on investments, ROI, in the sector,” Ogbuokiri said
According to Ogbuokiri, the 2024 AMJON annual lecture will be unique as it will feature installation of patrons and presentation of awards to deserving Nigerians and inauguration of the newly elected executives, led by Mr. Kelvin Kagbare; which shall pilot the affairs of the foremost maritime journalists association for the next three years.
