The Rivers State Government has been advised to as a matter of ugency create a Ministry of Blue Economy to position it to harness the enormous opportunities in the sector being championed by the federal government through the new ministry.
The government has also been called upon to leverage on the ongoing Ogoni cleanup project to launch appeals for total cleanup of the state by conducting environmental audit of the entire state.
These were the key resolutions at the World Ocean Day celebration by the Energy and Maritime Reporters (EMR) of Nigeria, which took place at the Rivers State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Port Harcourt.
Stakeholders regretted that Rivers State, a key coastal state, did not seem not aware and ready to take advantage of low hanging fruits in the dawn of the Blue Economy, and called on the state government to set up a dedicated ministry to this and develop a blue print to explore the sector the way the Federal Government has already done.
They said if such a Ministry had been set up, that EMR members and other stakeholders would be engaging with it to render support and ideas to make Rivers State a leading state in the Blue Economy sector.
On cleanup, the stakeholders also observed that Rivers State stood at huge advantage to leverage Ogoni Cleanup to get the experts and resource persons that audited Ogoni environment to also audit the state and invite oil majors, the Federal Government, and the international community to support cleanup of other polluted areas of the state.
Experts said such would have laid a drive for other states to latch on the Rivers blue print to push for the cleanup of the entire Niger Delta.
In his statement at the World Ocean Day celebration, Dr Suka Monta, an energy expert, once again affirmed that his firm has found a way to clean up pollution faster, better, and cheaper.
He explained that his nano method is a one-phase process while the exiting technology runs a three-phase procedure to complete a circle of site remediation adding that some oil companies and agencies of government have tested and certified his nano technology to be true.
He said his firm was expecting to land its first cleanup project.
Dr Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, Executive Director, Youth and Environment Centre (YEAC) Nigeria, joined the call for total cleanup of the Niger Delta, saying modular refineries would have since made pipeline vandalism and artisanal refining a thing of the past.
He noted that the 2026 theme; “Reimagine: Beyond the world we know, a new relationship with our ocean”, challenges us to move from seeing the ocean as a distant resource to recognizing it as the life source we depend on daily.
“For Niger Delta coastal communities, this reimagining is urgent because our Atlantic coastlines, creeks, and estuaries face daily threats from oil spills, gas flaring, plastic wastes, and illegal fishing that destroy marine biodiversity and coastal livelihoods”, he said.
“Besides a major, subsisting threat YEAC-Nigeria must also highlight on this important day is the impact of pollution from illegal and artisanal crude oil refineries – locally called “kpo-fire”. These crude operations, though reducing, dump unburnt crude, toxic sludge, soot, and heavy metals directly into creeks, rivers, and coastal waters”, he stated.
He added that the impact was severe as it contributes to causing; Marine death zones, water contamination, climate and soot crisis, all of which contribute to and accelerates climate warming and the attendant environmental degradation and health challenges.
“We urge all citizens, civil society organizations, and the media to use today to #Reimagine our relationship with the ocean. Protecting the ocean is protecting our future” Dumnamene urged.
Comrade Paul Bazia-Nsane, the state NUJ Chairman, commended the EMR and called it a unique beat association. He pledged total support to the group to help give voice to the energy and maritime sub sectors in the Niger Delta.
He was supported by Dr Ijeoma Tubosia, state secretary of the NUJ, who urged the EMR members to continue to dish out accurate information to the rest of the society, and to carry the cries and woes of the communities to the government.
Ignatius Chukwu, the EMR Leader, harped on the harms from the ocean due to harms done to the ocean by humans. He mentioned micro and nano plastics pollution now threatening humanity through poisoned fish stock from the seas and oceans.
He also appealed to Indorama Nigeria to as part of corporate social responsibility, help set up plastics recycling centres starting from the Niger Delta.
Comrade Martins Giadom, national chairman of EMR, traced the years of efforts of the association to set agenda for reporting the energy and maritime sectors, saying there is need for training of Reporters to do better. He also called for linkup to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to help guide activities of the EMR.
Goodwill messages were rendered by experts including Wonne Afronelly, Initiator, My Environment My Wealth Nigeria, who encouraged Journalists to continue to fight for the environment despite numerous setbacks and apparent conspiracies.
