WIMA Nigeria Donates Fishing Boats, Nets to Lagos Riverine Community

 WIMA Nigeria Donates Fishing Boats, Nets to Lagos Riverine Community

LAGOS — Women in Maritime Africa (WIMA) Nigeria has donated two fishing boats and fishing nets to fishermen in the Tomoro, Araromi Onisiwo riverine community as part of efforts to empower coastal communities and promote inclusive participation in Nigeria’s Blue Economy.

The donation was made during a community empowerment outreach led by the President of WIMA Nigeria, Mrs. Theodora Nwaeze, who said the intervention was aimed at strengthening livelihoods and creating economic opportunities for women and youths whose activities depend largely on the waterways.

Nwaeze said the initiative aligned with the organisation’s four strategic pillars of empowerment, innovation, collaboration and national visibility.

She urged the beneficiaries to treat the boats and fishing equipment as productive assets and use them responsibly to build sustainable livelihoods.

“We believe that when we empower a woman, we strengthen a family; when we strengthen a community, we strengthen the nation,” Nwaeze said.

The keynote guest, Chief (Mrs.) Jean Chiazor Anishere, SAN, former Continental President of WIMA Africa and inaugural President of WIMA Nigeria, described the intervention as an investment in people and economic development.

Anishere, who is also President of the Maritime Arbitrators Association of Nigeria, said empowerment should be viewed as an economic development strategy rather than charity.

“Empowerment is not charity; empowerment is economic development,” she said.

She pledged support for further development initiatives in the riverine community and called for interventions in fishing technology, safety, affordable finance, insurance, fish processing, storage and market access.

Anishere also urged the government and maritime stakeholders to improve infrastructure and living conditions in fishing communities through better landing facilities, roads, electricity, water supply, healthcare and security.

She stressed that Nigeria’s Blue Economy agenda must extend beyond ports and government institutions to communities whose livelihoods depend directly on the country’s rivers, creeks, waterways and coastal areas.

Also speaking, the President of the Modern Crayfish Fishermen Cooperative Multipurpose Society Limited, Hon. Ben Mosan, commended WIMA Nigeria for the initiative and expressed the cooperative’s readiness to deepen collaboration with the organisation.

Mosan identified skills development, entrepreneurship, financial support, business training, health education, leadership development and advocacy as areas requiring greater attention to improve the economic position of women in fishing communities.

He said equipping women with relevant skills and economic opportunities would strengthen families and contribute to building more resilient communities.

WIMA Nigeria reaffirmed its commitment to collaborating with communities, government agencies, private-sector organisations and other stakeholders to promote sustainable livelihoods, responsible use of marine resources and increased participation of women in Nigeria’s Blue Economy.

The organisation maintained that sustainable development of Nigeria’s maritime sector must be inclusive of communities whose daily lives and economic activities are directly connected to the nation’s waterways.

— WIMA Nigeria