LAGOS JULY 9TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Maritime Expert and Head of Research Sea Empowerment and Research Center (SEREC), Dr Eugene Nweke has charged the Nigeria investigative maritime journalists on critical reporting of activities in the maritime sector.
Nweke made the charge during the 2026 Annual General Meeting, Lecture and Awards Ceremony of the Congress of Maritime Media Practitioners (CONMMEP) held recently at Presken Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.
He argued that if the media is truly to become a force multiplier in the fight against smuggling, illicit trade, corruption and insecurity they must honestly interrogate areas where maritime investigative journalism has either fallen short, been constrained, or failed to sufficiently pursue matters of significant public interest.
Nweke said his statement is not an indictment of the media profession, but rather, it is a call for introspection and renewal.
“This is not an indictment of the media profession. Rather, it is a call for introspection and renewal. The future of maritime journalism cannot be built solely around press conferences, courtesy visits, ceremonial events, and institutional press releases. The true measure of journalism is not in reporting what powerful institutions say about themselves, but in uncovering what the public deserves to know about those institutions,” he argued.
Nweke highlighted some unfinished assignments of maritime investigative journalism adding that every year, billions of naira are appropriated to maritime agencies for infrastructure development, channel management, security architecture, ICT modernization, dredging, training, and operational improvements.
“The questions deserving sustained investigation include:How much was budgeted,
how much was released, how much was utilized, which projects were completed
and hich projects exist only on paper?, he queried, adding that the maritime sector deserves a culture of project tracking journalism from appropriation to commissioning.
Speaking on port charges investigation Nweke explained that for years, stakeholders have raised concerns regarding excessive demurrage, storage charges, container deposit regimes, congestion surcharges, emergency surcharges, administrative fees,
exchange rate manipulations and unilateral tariff increments argued that the media must ask difficult questions relating to what is the basis for these charges, who approves them, are they globally benchmarked, what consumer protections exist and what is the cumulative impact on the Nigerian economy ?
“Smuggling Networks and Their Financial Beneficiaries. Most media reports focus on seizures. Very few investigations focus on identifying financiers, beneficial
