The Vice-Chancellor of Maduka University, Enugu State, Professor Charles Ogbulogo, has said Nigeria’s blue economy holds great potential for the country and can contribute $1.5tn to the global economy if properly utilised.

Ogbulogo, who was represented at the event by the Rector, CMA, Dr Musa Akinyemi, explained that the sector could create over 30 million jobs as well as supply vital sources of protein to over 3 billion people globally.

Delivering a paper recently as the guest lecturer at the 2023/2024 convocation, matriculation, and awards ceremony of Crown Maritime Academy, with the theme ‘Marine and Blue Economy Ministry: Catch-Alls and Caveats for the Tinubu Administration’, the Maduka University VC said that the world had transitioned from the emphasis on brick-and-mortar business to the era of knowledge economy.

Ogbulogo noted, “Humanity has desecrated the bond with nature and aquatic life is in grave danger.”

He explained that the blue economy is the “sustainable use of the ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of the ocean ecosystem”.

He said, “The blue economy is also called the ocean economy. The ocean economy is concerned with the use of ocean resources, with an emphasis on the empowerment of its economic system. Since the core focus of the blue economy is anchored on the receptacle of sustainability, it is a part of the green economy.

“The world has transitioned from the emphasis on brick-and-mortar business to the era of the knowledge economy, the care economy, the green economy, and the blue economy. And, therefore, there is the fear that, just as has been the case with previous paradigm shifts, many destitute nations would be left behind.”