The National Development Program for the establishment of industrial fishing and associated seafood production in Nigeria is set to take off through a joint venture with a group of local and international partners.
A delegation of the Federal Government is set to depart for Greece and Costa Rica on a facility inspection as part of the implementation of the project.
The project is in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 27th November 2017 to establish an industrial fishing and processing company in a joint venture of a consortium of Greek and Nigerian Partners through the Presidential Amnesty Program.
The delegation is made up of the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta (OSAPND), the Office of the Vice President (OVP), the Economic Recovery Growth Plan (EGRP), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), House Committee on Niger Delta, Africa Atlantic Gulf of Guinea Fisheries Limited (AGGF) and Concept Amadeus Limited (CAL).
Speaking on the progress of the project, the Special Adviser to the President on the Niger Delta, Prof. Charles Dokubo, expressed satisfaction that the project is in line with a deliberate effort by the government to promote diversification of the economy beyond oil.
“In this regard, 2,500 Delegates will be trained here in Nigeria by the University of Patras, a Greek University specializing in Fisheries and Aquaculture Technology.
At the end of the 3 months Training, they will be awarded the European Union (EU) Certificates in Fishing. Furthermore, the Greek Partners will build the Boats locally as directed by the ERGP during consultations. In effect, a Boat Building Yard would be set up in the Niger Delta for a 25 year period”.
“At the end of the Training, 2,000 of the successful Trainees will be employed fulltime and exited from the program thereby reducing the stipend outlay by N1.9Billion per annum.”
He disclosed that the project was designed to acquaint the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) Beneficiaries with modern day fishing using Trawlers.
The fishery industry has potentials to improve nutrition, security and provides jobs, particularly for Nigeria citizens in seashore areas as fish products account for 18 per cent of animal protein intake globally.
Currently, Nigeria spends an estimated 1 billion dollars importing fish and fish products into the country annually. This project is expected to lead to a considerable reduction in this expenditure.
The Nigeria delegation will visit the Boat Building Yard, University of Patras, Greece and other technical partners while in Costa Rica.
