AMJON 2025 Conference Opens With Call to Fast-Track Nigeria’s Blue Economy Transformation

AMJON 2025 Conference Opens With Call to Fast-Track Nigeria’s Blue Economy Transformation.

Lucky Akra

The Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON) on Thursday, November 13, 2025, held its Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony at the Rockview Hotel, Apapa, with industry experts, policymakers, and stakeholders converging to examine Nigeria’s prospects within the emerging global Blue Economy.

Delivering the opening address, Chief (Dr.) Eugene Nweke, Head of Research at the Sea Empowerment & Research Centre (SEREC), and Chairman of the occasion, described the conference as a crucial platform for shaping discourse around maritime development. He praised AMJON for consistently providing constructive advocacy and informed reporting that strengthens the sector.

This year’s conference, themed “Harnessing Nigeria’s Blue Economy Potential, Boosting Export Trade and Multimodal Cargo Transport,” was described by Nweke as timely and aligned with the Federal Government’s economic diversification agenda. He noted that Nigeria’s maritime industry holds vast potential for job creation, industrial expansion, and regional competitiveness potentials he said can only be realized through stronger public-private collaboration, port automation, and enhanced intermodal transport links across road, rail, and inland waterways.

Nweke commended the presence of government representatives, maritime agencies, private sector operators, and guest speakers, saying their participation demonstrates a shared commitment to repositioning the sector for sustainable growth. He emphasized that the Blue Economy should not be treated as a slogan but as a transformative opportunity capable of turning Nigeria’s coasts into thriving commercial corridors and its ports into hubs of productivity.

Encouraging participants to approach the conference with openness and resolve, he urged them to make actionable commitments that will extend beyond the final communiqué.

With a formal declaration, Nweke announced the 2025 AMJON Conference and Award Ceremony open, expressing optimism that the deliberations would chart a new, prosperous direction for Nigeria’s marine and Blue Economy.