The event on 8 June was organised principally by Fish Party and ably moderated by Prof. Stella Williams, Vice-President of Mundus maris. Students from the Lagos State University (LASU) had been explicitly invited as main speakers to underscore the importance of engaging young people under this year’s UN motto ‘Revitalization. Collective Action for the Ocean.’

The extensive introduction was delivered by Hunyin Boldowu of Fish Party. He reminded the participants of the immense importance of the ocean for the living conditions on our planet, including the economic benefits millions of people in Nigeria and the world draw from it.

He said: “This year, I will briefly discuss the revitalization of the collective actions of Fisheries and Aquaculture
students as it is the bonding point between us all.”

He insisted that the urgency at hand was the reason why youths in Nigeria in this conference must act now to ensure that together we save this suffering ocean that has helped us so much up to now. We can do this in several ways.

Firstly, join actively Fish Party’s innovation to see a changed and ocean-oriented world. This is very important because that helps to change status quo and ensure safety.

Secondly, and most importantly be a dogged advocate for the ocean. This advocacy may be go in various forms of actions, WhatsApp talk, door-to-door, ocean/beach clean-up and other engaging method to cause change. The emphasis is always on seeking the highest public impact so that increasingly effective collective action is taken for the ocean.

Let’s pay back to the ocean!

Among the youthful speakers addressing the audience was Ololade Akingbola a student of fisheries at the Lagos State University (LASU) and Vice-President of the National Association of Fisheries Students, who has been active for many years in various initiatives on environmental issues and has a track record as a promoter of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of Agenda 2030.

Ogundare Taye Tobi has made a name for himself has a great participant in debates about the big issues of the day and also serve as a judge of quality debates so as to promote a culture of respectful debate supporting change for the better.

Akanbi Adeyembi Micheal is an undergraduate student of fisheries at LASU with an already remarkable record of academic and social engagements, who has already won recognition for his work inside and outside the university, always focused on achieving impact. He underlined the importance of involving young people and also gave some advice on how to overcome obstacles for the participation in collective action for the ocean, including bridging the digital divide and striving for good education.

Adeshola Kukoyi of the IGLE Training Network also contributed to the panel presentations.

Stella Williams then moderated the lively Question and Answer Session after the presentations which was indicative of the interest kindled by the speakers. The technical conditions were at times challenging when not all participants had stable network connections, but that did not dampen the enthusiasm.