Published Paper Details:

Following the emergence of the Blue economy concept, there were growing suppositions on its potentials to diversify Nigeria's economy and be used as alternative source of revenue for national economic development. This paper qualitatively examined the prospect and challenges of the concept through reviews and practices by nations that have ventured into it. It unlocks the areas of opportunities and contributions of the exploitation of blue economy in strengthening the development of Nigeria. The study reveals that oil and gas sector has been and is still the major source of revenue for Nigeria's economic development in spite of the enormous potential offered by other sectors of the blue economy which can be harnessed to enhance the economic development of the country. It further revealed that blue economy can be developed to generate energy thereby solving the power generation, transmission and distribution challenges that bedeviled the country over the years, which could act as a catalyst for the economic development of the country. The study uncovered technical capacity building, weak institutional arrangement and misplaced priority as challenges militating against the development of blue economy growth in Nigeria. The need for a more innovative blue enterprise initiative of empowering stakeholders in the maritime industry in order to strengthen their capacity to fully harness the potentials of marine resources so as to boost the socio-economic development of Nigeria is suggested. The need for the nation to value the contribution of natural oceanic capital to the welfare of her citizenry with the intents of making right policy decisions including trade- off between the different sectors of the ocean resources are further suggested.