News
Expert laments insufficient supply of fish, urges FG to provide tight security to protect aquatic resources.
MRS. Mojisola Funmilayo Siyanbola,
an expert in the area of Aquaculture, has urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to provide effective and efficient proactive security measures to protect aquatic resources in order to tackle the problem of inadequate supply of fish in the country.
Lamenting the shortage of fish supply, she maintained that the problem of insecurity is a major problem facing aquatic resources especially the marine resources.
The Senior Lecturer at the Department of Biology, The Polytechnic Ibadan on Wednesday while delivering the 11th Inaugural lecture of the institution titled ‘Nigeria’s fish supply deficit: Bridging the gap through sustainable aquaculture’ posited that there is a need to transform aquaculture from subsistence to commercial level due to the inadequate supply of fish especially in the country.
She decried, “from all indications, fish production in the country has been deficient for many years in meeting the projected domestic demand. This trend seems to be unrelenting due to the ever widening gap between demand and supply”.
“The activities of the artisans and industrial fisheries have been the backbone of fish production in Nigeria, but over the years, their contributions have been unable to meet up with the annual demand.
“The problem of insecurity which is a serious problem to our aquatic resources especially the marine resources should be tackled. There must be an effective and efficient proactive security measures to protect our aquatic resources. Of recent, there were reported cases of the incursion of foreign trawlers in the fishery segment of the marine industry which made Nigeria to lose about N300 billion as a result of inadequate protection of our waters. Also recently, because of the incessant attacks on fishing crews, the Nigeria Trawler Owners Association (NTOA) reportedly called its fleet of over 200 trawlers and 20,000 workers back to the shore thus leading to a shortfall in fish supply.
“There is need to transform aquaculture from subsistence to commercial level which is very vital for the development of the nation in the areas of food security, livelihood and infrastructural development.
“For now, the unsatisfied demand is met through importation. The domestic fish production has not been able to reduce the dependency on imported fish”, Mrs.
Siyanbola continued.
Soliciting for provision of soft loans and grants to young Nigerians to enable them embark on commercial fish production, Siyanbola appealed to the government to shift from its cosmetic and elitist policies but go back to the drawing board to work out strategies to attract prospective young farmers to involve in fishing business.
“The Federal Government should make it a policy for financial institution to provide soft loans and grants to young Nigerians to enable them embark on commercial fish production.
“The Nigerian government approach to fish culture is at best cosmetic and elitist. The Federal Government must go to the drawing board to work out strategies to attract young Nigerians into the fish farming subsector as one pragmatic panacea to the disturbing menace of youth unemployment which constitutes grave threat to our national security which can be seen from the involvement of younger citizens in crimes of kidnapping for ransom payment, terrorism, pipelines vandalism and other organized crimes.
“The Federal Government should organize regular training for potential fish farmers especially in the rural areas where the resources for aquaculture production are available.
“Private, investors should be encouraged to partake in the running of government owned ponds ans reservoirs in form of Public, Private Partnership (PPP)”, she submitted.
Similarly, the Scholar suggests among others the need to checkmate piracy so as to make fish culture subsector beneficial to the national economy, regular capacity building and training/workshops for extension officers in Aquaculture at both Federal, state and local levels, introduction of Aqua-Entreprenureship as one of the vocations in entrepreneurship education curriculum among others.
The headquarters of Heritage Bank at Victoria Island, Lagos, was besieged on Thursday by members of the labour union, protesting the recent dismissal of 1,000 support workers.
The National President of the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees, Comrade Anthony Abakpa, led the demonstration, condemning the bank’s management for what he deemed a lack of adherence to due process in the termination of employment contracts.
Speaking during the protest, Comrade Abakpa asserted that the leadership of Heritage Bank failed to follow established protocols before executing the mass layoffs.
He emphasised the union’s commitment to pursuing justice for the affected workers, vowing to escalate their demands until the bank’s management rectifies the situation.
“We will intensify our demands for justice,” declared Comrade Abakpa, urging the bank’s management to take corrective action to address the grievances of the dismissed workers.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, clarified that Nigeria is not utilising its foreign reserves to bolster the naira, despite recent fluctuations in reserve levels.
Speaking from Washington DC, where he is attending the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings, Cardoso highlighted the influx of $600 million into Nigeria’s reserves account within the past two days.
While the naira has experienced a notable appreciation against the dollar in recent weeks, climbing over 40% from approximately N1,900/$ to about N1,000/$1, Nigeria’s foreign reserves have been dwindling. As of April 15, reserves dropped to approximately $32.29 billion, marking the lowest level in over six years.
Cardoso emphasised that the shifts in reserves are typical for any country, where various financial obligations, such as debt repayments, necessitate withdrawals.
He stated, “What you’ve seen with respect to the shift in our reserves is normal in any country’s reserves where, for example, debts are due and certain payments need to be made. They are made because that is also part of keeping your credibility.”
Continuing, Cardoso underscored the dynamic nature of the market, advocating for a system driven by willing buyers, willing sellers, and price discovery.
He emphasised, “The shift in our reserves has really little or nothing to do with defending the naira, and that is certainly not our objective.”
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has made headlines by announcing a further reduction in the price of diesel, dropping it from ₦1200 to ₦1000 naira per litre.
The refinery’s decision comes on the heels of its recent supply at a significantly reduced price of ₦1200 per litre, which was introduced three weeks ago, signifying a remarkable 30 per cent decrease from the previous market price of approximately ₦1600 per litre.
This substantial reduction in diesel prices at Dangote Petroleum Refinery is expected to reiterate positively throughout various sectors of the economy, potentially serving as a catalyst in alleviating the persistently high inflation rate in the country.
In a statement last week, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest individual and the owner of the refinery, expressed his optimism regarding the potential impact of the price reduction on inflation in Nigeria.
“I believe that we are on the right track. I believe Nigerians have been patient, and I also believe that a lot of goodies will now come through. There’s quite a lot of improvement because if you look at it, one of the major issues that we’ve had was the naira devaluation that has gone very aggressively up to about ₦1900,” he remarked.
As anticipation builds around the implications of this move by Dangote Petroleum Refinery, stakeholders and consumers alike remain hopeful for the positive effects it could bring to the Nigerian economy in the coming months.
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