By Hauwa Ali
Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to International Seabed Authority (ISA) and the High Commissioner of Nigeria to Jamaica, Dr Maureen Tamuno, has tasked Nigeria on collaboration with private sector in the exploration and exploitation of deep sea resources to boost it’s blue economy.
Tamuno stated this at the end of the 3-days African Deep Sea Resources (ADSR) Conference in Abuja which was attended by officials of the Ministry of Transport, National Boundary Commission and other maritime stakeholders; and organised by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in collaboration with the Federal Government, African Union (AU) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD).
According to her, there is a lot for Nigeria to benefit.
“We brought this workshop to create awareness, engineer participation of Nigerians, especially collaboration between the private sector and government so that they will be able to get into the exploration stage.
” This is what other countries are doing that contracts are being given out, unfortunately, no African country has been able to get one.
“That is because of lack of awareness. What we are simply doing is to create the awareness and stimulate the appetite because, this an emerging economy; after the exploration phase, we will be going into exploitation.
“You know, the mineral resources that are underneath the water, are used for energy in those cars you see that are being driven without a fuel and all of that,” Tamuno said.
Also speaking after the conference, the Director-General of National Boundary Commission (NBC), Mr Adamu Adaji, said the conference was able to properly sensitise and provide solutions on sea minerals exploration to African countries.
“We now know the potentials in the area, and what we, the Africans need to do to be able to tap from the resources within the sea area.
“So, the essence is the development of the seabed resources and promotion of the blue economy as a project.
“We are going to look at where we have shortfalls in terms of technical know how and partner with other African countries to see how we can benefit from this God given resources within the area,” Adaji said.
The General Secretary of ISA, Mr Michael Lodge, said the workshop was rich with amazing technical content about deep sea exploration, deep sea resource potentials in terms of mineral resources, marine environment protection, technology and capacity development.
“We had a series of roundtables involving all the participants, both from Nigeria, as well as eight African countries with a set of recommendations and proposals as to how Africa can engage more in deep sea scientific research.
“I am very positive for the future engagement of Africa in the deep sea resources that will boost it’s blue economy.
“This project is aimed at the whole of Africa, of course, Nigeria has expressed a very strong interest.
“So I think there’s going to be particular benefit for Nigeria, but the idea of the project as a whole is that we will go to different locations in Africa.
In view of the $1.5trillion contributed by the United Nations Blue economy contributes to the global economy, Nigeria stands to reap from this huge opportunity for Africa if effectively and sustainably managed.
To actualise the deliberate economic visionary approach aimed at growing its revenue base, the federal government has geared up key ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to participate in a coordinated drive to explore and exploit the untapped resources in the country’s vast deep seabed.
To this end, the government consequently facilitated an international workshop to involve the MDAs and relevant non-governmental organisations (NGOs)) with interest in maritime resources and environmental concerns.
Osinbajo calls for cooperation among African states to Boost continent’s Blue Economy.
Speaking at the conference, Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, called on African states, non-governmental organisations, private organisations and other stakeholders to join efforts at harnessing seabed resources to boost the continent’s Blue Economy.
Osinbajo, represented at the event by the Minister of State for Transportation, Mr Ademola Adewole Adegoroye, said that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provided for all nations to explore and exploit mineral resources on the seabed beyond national jurisdiction for benefit of mankind.
“Notably, various nations have drawn benefits from exploration and exploitation of minerals in the area.
“Countries such as Germany, India, Korea, China, Japan, UK, Jamaica and many others have signed various contracts for the explorations of minerals with ISA.
“Unfortunately, no African country has either as a state or through its private contractors made any move in this direction. This is what gave impetus to the idea of the African Deep Seabed Resources Workshop.
“This is to also enlighten African countries on mineral exploitation opportunities which abound not only on their continental shelves but beyond these boundaries.
“In this regard, there is a need for Nigeria and indeed African industrial stakeholders, private organisations, entities and NGOs to synergies efforts towards strengthening the engagement of African states in activities in the international seabed area.
“This will significantly improve data awareness and sharing, advance technical capacity and technically enhance the decision making in Nigeria and African maritime domain,” Osinbajo said.