The Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) has called on the Federal Government to put an end to the economic recession in Nigeria by developing and utilizing the enormous potentials in the maritime sector.
President of the MARAN, Mrs Ifeyinwa Obi gave this charge in her acceptance speech at the inauguration of the new executive council of the association at the Rockview Hotel in Apapa, Lagos on Wednesday.
The Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) has called on the Federal Government to put an end to the economic recession in Nigeria by developing and utilizing the enormous potentials in the maritime sector.
President of the MARAN, Mrs Ifeyinwa Obi gave this charge in her acceptance speech at the inauguration of the new executive council of the association at the Rockview Hotel in Apapa, Lagos on Wednesday.
Obi noted that in the face of the current dwindling revenue due to the drop in the global price of crude oil, the Nigerian government should focus it's attention on developing the maritime sector which according to her can yield more revenue than even the oil and gas sector.
The MARAN President also charged the government to develop and fix the decayed facilities in the port system, especially the port access roads. This according to her is affecting the easy transportation of cargoes from the port to the final consumers.
Speaking, she urged government to "Develope the Apapa-Oshodi expressway and all the Federal roads around Lagos ports, government should do everything positible to fix the problems affecting the ports and maritime industry in general expecially at this time of dwindling revenue from oil"
"Maritime is the most viable alternative to the oil and can even yield greater revenue than the oil and gas sector if properly harnessed" she stated
She assured that MARAN under her watch will not deviate from its vision of objective and professional journalism practice, even as she declared the association's readiness to always work with industry stakeholders.
Mrs Obi emerged President in a keenly contested election of the association recently to emerge the first female president of MARAN in its twenty six years of existence.
Other executives of the association includes; Mr. Funsho Olojo of Halmark Newspaper as Vice President, Mr. John Obot of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) as General Secretary, Mr. Obiajulu Agu of Maritime Matters Online as Assistant Secretary and Mr. Kemi Dauda of The Nation Newspapers as Treasurer.
Others are Mrs Aisha Cole of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) as Financial Secretary and Mr. Gboyega Oni as Image Maker.
The MARAN inauguration ceremony was chaired by the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Barrister Hassan Bello, ably represented by the Director of Corporate Planning and Research of the Council, Mr. Godian Ihuoma.
The event also attracted port industry stakeholders including the Apapa Port Manager of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) Mr. Nasir Muhammed, President of Shippers Association of Lagos State, Rev. Jonathan Nicole, Founder of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) Dr. Boniface Aniebonam and Controllers of Customs at Apapa Port, Mr. Charles Edike and Mrs Frances Enweruzo from KLT.
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