L-R: Dr(Mrs. Felicia Chinwe Mogo, Founder and President. AFMESI & Barr.
Mrs Adesuwa Ladoja ,Vice Chair AFMESI Advisory Council.
Managing Director/CEO Free Zone (LFZ)
By Professor Kwesi Adio of Ghana:
A high level Panel has been formed by a Conglomerate of some maritime nations, with Ghana as a member state, with an agenda to ensure that the oceans within their domains are managed in a more sustainable way.
This was disclosed by ooo while presenting a paper at the just concluded fourth Annual Symposium and Workshop organised by African Marine Environment Sustainability Initiative, AFMESI, in Lagos, with the theme “Achieving Blue Growth In A Changing Climate, Integrating the Coastal Communities”.
In his paper presentation on ways for achieving sustainable Ocean economy, Professor Adio spoke about a transformation agenda and the basic Standards Operating Procedure, SOPs, of Panel, which if religiously put forward by the members of the high level Ocean Panel, in their countries, would create a better impact and make a difference even as he highlighted the attributes of a sustainable Ocean plan, for a sustainable Ocean economy.
Otherwise called “Ocean Harvest”, he said the Panel was established in 2018 and was made up of seven world Leaders from eighteen coastal countries, until recently when United Arab Emirates joined the group tomake nineteen countries.
” These coastal countries are generating momentum for a sustainable Ocean economy by which effective protection, sustainable production and tangible prosperity go hand in hand.
The Ocean Panel aims to identify old and new things which bring about ocean health and ocean wealth and the whole idea is to ascerlarate responsive action worldwide, and the whole ambition is to ensure that they protect the ocean and reduce, in a successful way, threats to safer ocean while at the same time enjoying the prosperity of the ocean resources which are to be shared in an equitable way”.
According to the Professor, the transformation agenda for sustainable Ocean economy was launched in 2020 by the Heads of State of the Coastal countries and it announced a shared vision for sustainable development of the ocean where effective protection and sustainability production as well as equitable prosperity would go hand in hand.
The Maritime Expert however explained that the transformation Agenda stands on the tripods of three Ps – Protection, Production and Prosperity from a well managed and maintained ocean.
As part of the shared vision, Professor Adio, said that the Ocean Panel members had made a proposition to sustainabily managed hundred percent of the ocean areas under their jurisdiction and that management is guided by a sustainable Ocean Plan , noting that Ghana and the rest of the countries are developing a sellable ocean plan range of seventy percent of the ocean by the year 2025.
He explained that Nigeria needs to join the bandwagon and to align with the developmental strides of members of Panel for definite actions for a safer ocean for the prospects of collective prosperity of the sub regional oceans.
This, he noted is a task which must be done by all Heads of State of the coastal countries of the west and central African region for equitable ocean prosperity.
… JOHN OBOT, FRCN Lagos.
