Tag: Oyetola

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has reiterated Nigeria’s bid to return to Category C of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Council, describing it as a vital step toward strengthening the nation’s influence in global maritime governance.

Speaking in Lagos on Thursday at the 2025 World Maritime Day celebration, themed “Our Ocean, Our Obligation, Our Opportunity,” Oyetola said the move would reinforce Nigeria’s role in shaping maritime decisions worldwide while positioning the sector as a driver of economic diversification beyond oil and gas.

He stressed that the country is making bold commitments to ocean stewardship, modernising port infrastructure, deepening international cooperation, and unlocking the vast opportunities of the blue economy to power sustainable growth.

Underscoring the ocean’s critical role, Oyetola noted that it covers more than 70 per cent of the earth’s surface, generates up to 80 per cent of oxygen, and supports over 80 per cent of global trade.

However, he cautioned that climate change, overfishing, pollution, and neglect continue to threaten its survival.

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“The message is clear: we must be stewards, not exploiters,” he said, pledging stronger action on sustainable fishing, marine pollution, biodiversity protection, and maritime safety and security.

The minister described the blue economy as a “new frontier of innovation, prosperity and inclusive growth,” with opportunities spanning renewable energy, marine biotechnology, and sustainable aquaculture. He called for stronger collaboration with the international community, extending “a special invitation to members of the diplomatic community,” and commended agencies under his ministry for their contributions to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

In his goodwill message, NIMASA Director-General, Dr Dayo Mobereola, reinforced the ocean’s importance to Nigeria’s economy and sovereignty.

“For us, the ocean is the lifeblood of our nation, the gateway for over 80 per cent of our trade, and a reservoir of immense biodiversity and resources. Its health dictates our climate, its security defines our sovereignty, and its potential holds the key to our future,” he said.

Mobereola highlighted Nigeria’s Marine Litter and Plastic Action Plan, alongside efforts to implement IMO frameworks for a healthy marine environment. He also pressed for fairness in the global transition to net-zero emissions.

“We are strongly advocating for a just and equitable transition to net-zero Greenhouse Gas emissions for Sub-Saharan Africa, Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries to ensure fairness and social justice,” he stated.

On security, the NIMASA boss pointed to the Deep Blue Project as “a game changer in addressing maritime security in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.” He outlined investment opportunities in fisheries, aquaculture, renewable energy, shipbuilding, tourism, and port infrastructure, but warned that funding shortfalls remain.

“According to the World Bank, Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water) is one of the most poorly funded SDGs, with an annual financing gap of approximately $150 billion. Public funding will never be enough to close the gaps,” Mobereola said, urging private sector participation supported by incentives and de-risking mechanisms.

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, represented by the Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Engr. Olalekan Badmus, also reinforced the call for collective action to protect the ocean. He described the ocean as the backbone of global trade and a critical driver of economic development, noting that over 90 per cent of global trade—accounting for nearly half of the world’s economic output—depends on maritime transport.

“This theme aptly captures the increased responsibility placed on each and everyone of us as stakeholders in the maritime industry to take frontline ownership of the ocean, on whose sustainability the very sustenance of humanity rests,” he said.

While acknowledging studies showing that sea transport is the most environmentally friendly of all transport modes, Dantsoho stressed the need for deliberate efforts to make ports eco-friendlier.

“Beyond fanfare, there is need for every stakeholder here to rise from this celebration with a stronger commitment to take actions that make the ocean cleaner,” he charged.

“Indeed, making global port operations eco-friendlier and actualising the other noble objectives of the World Ports Sustainability Program rests heavily on our shoulders as maritime stakeholders. Although it is good to know that sea transport is the most environmentally friendly of all the transport forms, it is much more important to acknowledge that we owe posterity a duty to not only continually formulate and implement policies that protect the ocean, but to maintain as individuals and institutions a behavioural pattern that places the highest premium on protecting the ocean.”

Quoting former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, he reminded participants of the enduring connection between humanity and the sea.

He said: “We have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean,” he said. “Indeed, as we make up our minds to clean up the ocean for sustainability, we are making up our minds to clean up ourselves.”

Both Oyetola and other speakers stressed that safeguarding the ocean is a shared responsibility and called on government, industry and communities to treat the ocean as a national trust to be sustainably managed.

“The ocean is our shared legacy. Our obligation is to safeguard it. Our opportunity is to transform it for the benefit of generations to come,” Oyetola urged.

Mobereola echoed this sentiment, saying, “All of us seated here have different roles to play in safeguarding our ocean, and we must work together whether as government, industry or community. We are all partners in progress.”

The 2025 World Maritime Day celebration in Lagos drew maritime stakeholders, diplomats, and industry leaders, underscoring the country’s ambition to strengthen its blue economy, enhance maritime security, and assert its leadership on the global maritime stage.

• By Musa Goyi Ibrahim

The renewed commitment of the present administration to the revival of the Baro River Port in Niger State is a welcome sign of pragmatism and vision in Nigeria’s infrastructure development.

Through the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, under the leadership of Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, a deliberate and honest effort is being made to bring life back to a facility that has long symbolised both the promise and the failures of national planning.

For once, there is a sense that the government is prepared to confront the hard truths of the past, while embracing a coordinated and purposeful approach to make Baro Port work for Nigerians. This effort deserves commendation, not only for the candour with which it has been pursued, but also for the potential it carries to reshape inland waterway transport and open up new frontiers for trade and development.

The story of Baro is not one that began yesterday. Its origins stretch back more than a century to 1908, when it served as a vital hub for inland river trade under colonial administration.

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Linked to the Baro–Kano railway, it functioned as an artery through which goods could move seamlessly from the hinterland to the River Niger and beyond, integrating road, rail, and water transport in a way that reflected the foresight of an era that recognised logistics as the foundation of commerce.

It was this historical significance that made the decision to revive Baro Port in contemporary times both logical and attractive. Under the Inland Waterways Development Masterplan, the project was meant to relieve the pressure on Lagos seaports, facilitate multimodal transport, and create new opportunities for the North-Central region to participate more fully in the national and continental economy.

When the previous administration commissioned the Baro Port in January 2019, the event was presented as a triumph. It was celebrated with national fanfare and touted as evidence of the government’s commitment to expanding the frontiers of infrastructure. Nigerians were told that a new era of inland waterway commerce had begun.

Yet what has unfolded in the six years since has been a sobering reminder of how much damage political optics can do when they are allowed to substitute for serious planning.

The port was built and equipped, but the vital supporting infrastructure was either absent or in shambles. The access roads were deplorable, with trucks unable to reach the facility without hours of delay. The once-functional Baro–Kano railway had collapsed, and no effort had been made to resuscitate it.

The River Niger, on which the port depended, had not been dredged to the depth necessary for navigability, leaving it shallow and silted for most of the year. The commissioning had also taken place without the appointment of a concessionaire or private operator, meaning that even if goods could reach the port, there was no operational framework to process them. The result was a paradoxical situation: a shiny new port complex filled with equipment and storage areas, but unable to handle a single container. Instead of becoming a vibrant hub of trade, Baro became a silent monument to the futility of prioritising appearances over substance.

This failure offers a broader lesson about the nature of development. National progress cannot be achieved through grand ceremonies or symbolic gestures. Development is the product of careful planning, integrated thinking, and pragmatic execution. To inaugurate a port without dredging its river channels, without repairing its roads, without restoring its rail links, and without putting in place a competent operator is akin to celebrating a harvest when the seeds were never planted.

It is the story of the cart being put before the horse, of a nation willing to indulge in self-congratulation without doing the hard work required to build lasting institutions. It is against this backdrop of disappointment that the present administration’s approach deserves recognition.

Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, speaking candidly before the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Baro Port in August 2025, acknowledged openly that the facility had never been operated because of obvious infrastructural and navigational gaps. Such honesty is rare in the Nigerian political landscape, where officials often prefer to mask shortcomings with rhetoric.

More importantly, he outlined a strategy for redemption. Plans are now underway to dredge the River Niger, not as a one-off event, but as a sustained exercise to guarantee year-round navigability. Oyetola also said that the Ministry of Works, under Engr. David Umahi, would be enlisted to rehabilitate the access roads, while the Ministry of Transportation, under Senator Sa’idu Ahmed Alkali, is being tasked with reviving the collapsed rail connection that is indispensable to intermodal transport.

The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), which owns the port, has also announced intentions to attract a credible concessionaire through a public–private partnership model, thereby bringing in operational expertise, efficiency, and much-needed private investment. The scale of what lies ahead is daunting.

Experts estimate that dredging Nigeria’s inland waterways and maintaining them adequately could cost over a trillion naira, a figure that underscores the enormity of the task. Yet cost, while significant, should not blind us to the transformative potential of success. For this project to move forward, executive will must be matched with legislative commitment.

The National Assembly, which holds the power of appropriation, must recognise that reviving Baro Port is not a regional luxury but a national necessity, and must therefore provide the funding required for dredging, road rehabilitation, and rail restoration. Encouragingly, there now appears to be a level of alignment between the executive and the legislature that was absent in the past, and this alignment could prove decisive.

The implications of a functional Baro Port are profound. It would help decongest Apapa and Tin Can, drastically reduce the cost of moving goods across the country, and provide an alternative gateway for agricultural produce and solid minerals from the North-Central. It would stimulate local economies, create jobs, and enhance Nigeria’s competitiveness within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Beyond economics, it would send a strong signal that Nigeria can, with the right leadership and coordination, reverse past missteps and turn dormant assets into engines of growth.

The story of Baro Port illustrates that good ideas can be sabotaged by poor execution, but also that failure need not be permanent. Under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Baro has been given a second chance, and this time it is being treated with the seriousness it deserves.

The candour of Minister Oyetola, the recognition of the roles of various ministries, and the inclusion of the National Assembly in the process all suggest that this is no longer a vanity project but a coordinated national endeavour. For the first time in many years, the emphasis appears to be on functionality rather than fanfare.

As Minister Oyetola has said, to make Baro succeed, all stakeholders must sustain the momentum. Dredging must not be allowed to stall, roads and rail must be rehabilitated by the appropriate ministries, and a capable operator must be appointed by NIWA to ensure that the port runs as a viable commercial entity.

The support of the Niger State Government, the oversight of the National Assembly, and the coordination of the Federal Ministries of Works, Transportation, and Marine and Blue Economy are all essential. This is not a task for one ministry alone but a collective responsibility.

Baro Port has waited for more than a century to fulfil its destiny as a vibrant inland gateway. Under the administration of President Bola Tinubu, it now has a second chance to rise, not as a monument to failed promises but as a living symbol of what Nigeria can achieve when planning, pragmatism, and political will converge. The revival of Baro River Port will not only transform trade but also restore faith in the idea that Nigeria can learn from its past mistakes and chart a new course for its future.

•Ibrahim writes from Suleja, Niger State

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has expressed concern over the growing menace of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, vowing that Nigeria will work with regional and international partners to curb the practice.

The Minister disclosed this on Monday, when he received the Chairman and the Secretary-General of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC), who were on a working visit to his office in Abuja.

Oyetola, in a statement by his Media Aide, Dr. Bolaji Akinola, described IUU fishing as a grave violation of both national and international laws, noting that such activities are either unreported to authorities or conducted in ways that undermine established conservation and management measures for fish stocks.

He stressed that IUU fishing threatens marine ecosystems and biodiversity, jeopardises sustainable fisheries, and creates unfair competition for law-abiding fishers.”

The Minister also signed the Monrovia Declaration on Ensuring the Implementation of Conservation and Management Measures (CMM), Increased Governance and Transparency in the FCWC Region, and the Protocol on Labour Standards for Crew and the Elimination of Forced Labour on Fishing Vessels in the FCWC Region.

The Monrovia Declaration seeks to strengthen the implementation of agreed conservation and management measures, enhance governance structures, and promote transparency across the fisheries sector within the Gulf of Guinea. It aims to ensure that regional commitments translate into concrete actions for sustainable resource management.

The Protocol on Labour Standards is designed to safeguard the welfare of crew members working on fishing vessels, outlaw exploitative practices, and eliminate forced labour at sea. It underscores a collective determination to uphold international labour standards, protect human rights, and improve working conditions in the fisheries sector.

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Recalling the success of the 15th Session of the Conference of Ministers of FCWC Member States in Liberia in 2024, Minister Oyetola emphasised that Nigeria is honoured to host the 16th Session of the Conference later this year, in line with the decision taken at the Monrovia meeting.

According to him, the forthcoming session offers an opportunity to consolidate regional efforts towards strengthening fisheries governance, enhancing collaboration among member states, and intensifying the fight against IUU fishing in the Gulf of Guinea.

“We are fully committed to ensuring that the event is planned and delivered with diligence, excellence, and in a manner befitting both the stature of the FCWC and the expectations of our Member States”.

Oyetola also emphasised the importance of Nigeria’s chairmanship of the Committee, noting that it must define a clear vision, articulate strategic priorities, and engage other Member States to secure their support.

“Nigeria treasures the spirit of partnership and solidarity which the FCWC embodies, and remains steadfast in its commitment to collaborate with all Member States to strengthen regional fisheries governance, promote the sustainable utilisation of marine resources, and enhance the socio-economic well-being of our citizens,” he stated.

The Chairman of FCWC, J. Cyrus Saygbe, Sr, commended Oyetola for his leadership in the Marine and Blue Economy sector.

He lauded the Minister’s active participation at the 15th Session of the Conference of Ministers in 2024 in Liberia, stressing that such engagement has strengthened Nigeria’s role in regional fisheries governance.

Saygbe assured that the FCWC would partner with Nigeria to combat IUU fishing in the sub-region, while also bolstering monitoring, surveillance, and training to ensure adherence to global best practices. He expressed delight that Nigeria will host the 16th Session of the Conference of Ministers, describing the country’s leadership as a major boost to the Committee’s visibility and operations.

The Secretary-General of the FCWC, Dr Gaston Djihinto, emphasised that Nigeria’s chairmanship would strengthen the Committee’s work, particularly in fostering regional cooperation to protect marine resources and secure sustainable fisheries.

The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) is a regional body established in 2007 to promote cooperation in fisheries management among its six Member States: Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Togo. Its mandate is to harmonise policies, enhance monitoring and surveillance, combat IUU fishing, and foster the sustainable use of fisheries and aquaculture resources to improve food security and livelihoods in the region.

Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has demanded the immediate removal of war risk insurance premiums on Nigerian-bound vessels.

He warned that the outdated surcharge has drained an estimated $1.5 billion from the economy in recent years despite zero piracy incidents in the country’s waters since 2021.

 “Nigeria has earned the right to be delisted from global maritime high-risk classifications. The narrative of piracy and armed robbery on our waters no longer reflects present realities,” he said.

The minister highlighted sweeping reforms since the creation of the Marine and Blue Economy Ministry in 2023, including record revenue growth. According to him, agency-generated revenues more than doubled from N700.79 billion in 2023 to N1.39 trillion in 2024 — the highest in Nigeria’s maritime history.

He spoke  at the 3rd Annual Maritime Lecture of the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) in Lagos, Oyetola, represented by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Dr. Bolaji Akinola, said the continued imposition of the premiums by global underwriters was “unjust, detrimental to competitiveness, and no longer reflective of Nigeria’s security realities.”

He listed other achievements such as ending the decades-long Apapa gridlock, launching Africa’s first National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy, securing Federal Executive Council approval for the modernisation of Lagos and Tin Can Island Ports, and advancing plans for Eastern Ports upgrades. He also cited the unlocking of the long-stalled Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund to support indigenous shipowners, and the inauguration of a National Flag Carrier Technical Committee to restore Nigeria’s presence in global shipping.

On food security, Oyetola said the government has boosted local fish production, supported aquaculture in riverine communities, and tightened inland waterways safety through new regulations, patrols, and stricter passenger vessel standards.

Despite these strides, he lamented that international insurers, particularly Lloyd’s of London, have yet to revise their risk assessments. 

“These charges, based on outdated perceptions, continue to penalise our shippers and consumers. Nigeria has made sustained investments in maritime security, particularly through the Deep Blue Project, which integrates air, land, and sea assets for surveillance and interdiction. The world has acknowledged our progress, but the premiums persist,” he said.

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 Oyetola recalled that the International Maritime Organisation and the International Maritime Bureau had commended Nigeria’s security achievements, with the country already delisted from the International Bargaining Forum’s high-risk zones. He assured stakeholders that the government, working with NIMASA, is engaging BIMCO, the International Chamber of Shipping, and Lloyd’s with empirical evidence to press for Nigeria’s removal from the list.

He added that alongside diplomatic lobbying, the government would continue to strengthen security, deepen regional cooperation under the Yaoundé Architecture, and develop local maritime insurance to retain value within the economy.

Declaring the MARAN lecture open, the minister urged participants to contribute practical recommendations that would enrich government policy.

“In just two years, Nigeria has shown what is possible with vision, determination, and partnership. But much more lies ahead.

“The government is committed to securing our waters, modernising its ports, empowering local operators, expanding fisheries, and ensuring that the blue economy becomes a pillar of growth, jobs, and sustainability for generations to come,” he assured.