Given the myriad ways the ocean benefits humanity globally and in diverse economic sectors, stakeholders are of the view that concerted efforts should be made to protect and revitalize it.

This was the consensus opinion at the Word Ocean Day 2022 Awareness Lecture with the theme: ‘Revitalization and Collective Action for the Ocean’ on Wednesday, June 8, 2022 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Keynote Speaker at the event and National Vice President of the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr Emi Membere-Otaji stated that the benefits of the ocean include climate regulation, transportation and trade, access to food and other resources, habitat for plant and animal life, power generation, leisure, offshore energy production and freshwater production.

Dr Membere-Otaji, who is also the Chairman/CEO of Elschon Nigeria Ltd, red-flagged human activities that negatively impact the ocean including marine debris, overfishing, ocean acidification and other effects of climate change on the oceans as existential threats to the wellbeing of the ocean.  

He proposed that relevant stakeholders including regulatory institutions such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the United Nations (UN) and global partners to do a proper mapping of the advantages inherent in the world oceans, initiate policies and actions to reverse and counter threats to the ocean in national, regional and international structures.

Speaking, the United Nations Focal Person on Ocean Literacy in Nigeria, Solari Inko-Taria delivered the message of the UN Secretary on the occasion, calling for concerted action by relevant stakeholders to revitalize the oceans, restore its freshness and amplify its ongoing value to humanity.

In Opening Remarks, Chairman of the occasion and General Manager of the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation (RSNC), Chief Ernest Chinwo emphasised the need for Journalists in the Niger Delta and Rivers State in particular to take charge of the coverage of the Maritime, Oil and Gas sector and refuse to play second fiddle.

“We have not taken advantage of the environment, the oil and gas sector. We need to be on top of the game in reporting the sector. There is also the need for websites to feed the world with the activities in the Maritime, Oil and Gas sector; the ocean and its resources. We can earn a lot of money from it. Let it not end here; the world is waiting for our coverage.”

Also speaking, Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State Council, Stanley Job Stanley urged the Media to hold regulators accountable in the charge of their duties, stressing that the Media owes society the responsibility of exposing threats to the environment, especially, the ocean.

He pointed out that Energy and Maritime Reporters should take the lead in highlighting the wealth in the oceans and how to adequately harness such wealth, noting that this has the potential of helping to reduce unemployment in the society, adding that “Journalism is the oxygen of democracy”.

In his Welcome Address, Chairman of the Energy and Maritime Reporters Corps (EMR), Martins Giadom stated that the EMR was “our own attempt to create specialization in Journalism practice,” informing that the event was aimed at providing a crosspollination avenue between “maritime reporter and other journalists in Port Harcourt to interact with industry players to set an agenda for maritime sector reporting”.

He called for support from stakeholders and partners in the area of training and equipment to explore the sector and bring the positives to the people, asserting that “EMR is ready and primed to serve as watchdog in the sector and help stakeholders to voice their challenges and mainstream their issues.

On his part, the Executive Director, Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC), Fyneface Fyneface acknowledged the universality of the ocean but raised concerns that industrial activities of the international oil and gas companies (IOCs) and illegal artisanal refining by youths were contributing to the decimation of the ocean.

“Ocean is at our backyard but we all know that industrial activities by the international oil and gas companies and illegal artisanal refining by youths contribute to decimation of the Ocean. These activities undermine capability of ocean to regulate oxygen and cause other harms to the ocean.”

He called on stakeholders, especially, EMR and the UN, among others, to initiate collective action on how to manage the ocean and the environment, lamenting that criminals were using the waterways to enrich themselves due to the failure of government to police the nation’s waterways, which has opened the waterways as channels of importation of small arms and light weapons into the country.

Chairman of the Organizing Committee and Publisher of Silver News, Ignatius Chukwu praised the stakeholders for converging on the need for urgent concerted action on saving the world’s oceans, expressing the hope that a new dawn has birthed for amplifying issues affecting the environment, especially, the ocean.

In attendance at the event were the Vice Chairman of Energy and Maritime Reporters Corps (EMR), Monica Ogwa, a representative of the Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Prince Isobo George, and Head of Communications at the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Joe Itah, amongst other dignitaries.