Maritime expert, Dr. Charles Okorefe, has challenged maritime journalists to move beyond routine news reporting and press conference coverage, urging them to embrace innovative and investigative approaches capable of holding industry operators and regulators accountable.
Okorefe made the call while delivering the keynote address at the 2026 Maritime Training Summit of the Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON), held in Lagos, on Friday.
Speaking on the theme, “The Power of Innovation in a Future-Ready Maritime Training Agenda,” he said innovation had become imperative if Nigeria’s maritime sector is to overcome existing challenges and compete effectively with leading maritime nations.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive of Kamany Marine Services Limited, also charged journalists to deploy their professional platforms to interrogate policies, practices and developments in the industry, stressing that their role should go beyond reporting events to influencing positive change.
“Simply churning out news reports and covering press conferences is no longer sufficient to actualise the change we are talking about.”
Okorefe urged members of AMJON to ask difficult and uncomfortable questions within the bounds of professional journalism, while maintaining objectivity, candour, efficient reportage and courage.
“You must begin to ask the very difficult and uncomfortable questions within the ambit of your professional calling, laced with objectivity, candour, efficient reportage and courage.”
According to him, journalists have a major responsibility to keep key industry players and operators on their toes and ensure that their activities contribute to the overall growth and development of the maritime sector.
He described scoops as the cutting edge of journalism, urging maritime correspondents to adopt innovative approaches that would enable them to uncover stories and developments beyond what is routinely presented at official events.
“Scoops are always very difficult to come by, yet they represent the cutting-edge of journalism. Be innovative so that you can be scoop compliant.”
Turning to the wider maritime industry, Okorefe said Nigeria’s position as a major player in West and Central African shipping and maritime trade placed a greater responsibility on the country to pursue global competitiveness.
He noted that Nigeria commands a significant share of international shipping and maritime trade in the West and Central African sub-region, while also playing an important role in maritime security within the Gulf of Guinea.
He, however, questioned whether the country was doing enough to take advantage of its maritime resources and respond proactively to rapid technological and digital disruptions transforming the global industry.
Okorefe said the emergence of the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy had raised expectations about the ability of Nigeria to harness its extensive coastline, inland waterways and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for sustainable economic development.
He identified fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, maritime transport, shipping and port operations, renewable energy, biotechnology and coastal infrastructure as areas offering opportunities within the Blue Economy.
The maritime expert further urged stakeholders to pay closer attention to international conventions, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), MARPOL, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which he said could provide frameworks for unlocking new opportunities in the maritime economy.
He said Nigeria’s maritime future would increasingly depend on its ability to embrace disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, blockchain, the Internet of Things, robotics and big data, alongside greater investment in infrastructure, research and human capital.
Okorefe said the old ways of doing things can no longer provide the solutions required to address the challenges confronting the maritime industry, stressing that the time to act was now.
