Founder, African Marine Environment Sustainable Initiative AFMESI, Dr Felicia Mogo

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Minister of State for Transport, Senator Gbemisola Saraki have accepted to grace the 3rd edition of the African Marine Environment Sustainable Initiative AFMESI symposium, barring any last minute change in the scheme of things.

Both ministers will lead the discourse at the annual event, which promises to be a gathering of top maritime stakeholders and industry experts slated for Thursday, October 7, 2021 at the Four Points by Sheraton, Victoria Island, Lagos at 10am, with the theme: “African Blue World: Which Way to go?”

A statement by the Founder of AFMESI, Dr Felicia Mogo, said while Akpabio will be the chairman of the day, Saraki will be the keynote speaker at the event which will also be attended by the Chairman, House Committee on Maritime and Education, Hon Linda Ikpeazu, who will be the Special Guest of Honour.

Similarly, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh would be the Chief Host while Chairman of Starz Group, Engr. Greg Ogbeifun has been slated as a Guest of Honour.

According to Mogo, the one-day event would also feature several pertinent maritime topics such as; Impact of Security and Piracy in Maritime Business; Integrated Ocean Management, Science and Governance; Ocean Science and Governance In Marine Environment; Accounting for the Values and Wealth Of the Maritime; and Africa’s position within various ocean-related international laws (int’l).

It was gathered that these topics would be discussed by high profile panelists, including; Dr. Pierre Failer, a professor of Economics at the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom and Director, Centre for Blue Governance; Prof. Susan Kholeif, a Marine Geologist, Oceanographer and Ecologist at the National Institute of Oceanography & Fisheries, Egypt; Prof. Rasheed Sumaila, Professor, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Economics Research Unit , Ocean Canada Partnership; AMaj-Gen India Garba (Rtd), a trained Combatant, Strategist Logistician,  Administrator and Member of AFMESI Advisory Board; Prof. Kelly Hoareau, Director, Blue Economy Research Institute,Seychelles.

Others include; the Kenyan High Commissioner to Nigeria, His Excellency Wilfred Machage; Nigeria’s Co-Champion for AfCFTA on Transport, Madam Funmi Folorunsho. the President of African Women in Maritime WIMAFRICA and Principal Counsel, Jean-Chiazor&Co (Ofianyi Chambers), Mrs. Jean-Chiazor Anishere SAN.

AFMESI, a non-profit organisation, had in its previous annual conferences, availed the maritime sector of robust platforms for holistic deliberations on sustainable approaches in managing the nation’s marine environment for optimum value.

It would also be recall that at the last event, the Federal Government of Nigeria and other African nations were urged to address the menace of plastic pollution on the marine environment from the producing companies.

Mogo, who retired as the Director of Marine Environment Management (MEM) at NIMASA,  is a seasoned technocrat with over three decades experience in the Nigerian public sector, having started as one of the pioneer staffers of the then Federal Environmental Protection Agency FEPA that metamorphosed into Federal Ministry Environment. From Federal Ministry of Environment, she was invited to Bureau for Public Service Reforms (BPSR) then under the Presidency as one of the reform champions to kick start the bureau after undergoing trainings. After two years, she returned to the Federal Ministry of Environment until NIMASA requested for her services.

As a veteran, she has been a member of Nigeria’s delegation to the International Maritime Organisation IMO and United Nations meetings, which has given her immense visibility that has earned the country recognition.She had chaired sessions at IMO, developed four IMO documents to the credit of Nigeria and was a Member of United Nations Group of Experts on scientific aspects of marine Environment Protection GESAMP.

She currently secured the Chair of the correspondence group on marine litter management of the scientific groups meetings on London Convention and Protocol of IMO for Nigeria. She is a negotiation team member of Abidjan Convention Secretariat on the Management of Coastal and Marine Environment of the Regional Seas of West and Central African for the Region.

Mogo is also fondly remembered at NIMASA where she championed a number of industry developments on marine evironment management such as the blue economy agenda, the Marine Litter Action Plan, Ballast Water control, Carbon capture utilisation and Storage (CCUS), among others.