How Blue Economy ministry benefits Nigeria
SIR: Some initiatives by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu upon his election and assumption of office in May 2023 did not only show the president was innovative, decisive and proactive, but also showed he came prepared and ready for the serious business of governance. One of the products of Tinubu’s innovative ingenuity is the creation of the novel Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, which has been applauded by many national and international stakeholders.
This new ministry, for a reason of its great economic potentials, is now a cynosure and centre of economic attraction to many countries of the world. The creation of the new ministry out of the pre-existing Ministry of Transportation seems to have broadened and widened our economic perspectives and horizons in relation to increasing Nigeria’s economic growth through sustainable use and maximization of its maritime vast resources, as against merely generating revenues from marine transport.
Recently, the newly appointed Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dayo Mobereola, received in Lagos the Spanish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Juan Ignacio Sell, on an inspection of two additional bulletproof security boats from Spain purposely built for NIMASA by Aresa, a Spanish company. Sell, as reported by the press, said: “We got the message with the creation of Maritime and Blue Economy Ministry by the Federal Government of Nigeria, and knowing there’re lots of things to harness from the sea, we also want to be partners in that process.” He added that the Spanish government has pledged to support Nigeria through NIMASA on maritime security. Earlier in November 2023, the Spanish Navy was also in the country for collaboration in personnel training and ship building in a bid to curbing maritime crimes.
The viability, uniqueness and resource-potentials of the then-old-but-now-new agencies (at least, now being under a new ministry) like NIMASA, the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), and the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSP) among others, which hitherto were under the Ministry of Transportation, are now being appreciated for their revenue generation potentials, economic contributions to the growth of the nation and socio-utility, especially as causative of the administrative experience and fiscal expertise of the Minister, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola, who is now steadily turning an eyesore of the inherited agencies as evident in the dilapidated infrastructure of the nation’s ports and others, into a cynosure of economic attraction to some countries of the world.
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President Tinubu’s commendable innovative initiatives would not only boost economic stamina of the Africa’s most populous country, ensure security in maritime sector, but also simultaneously increase and strengthen Nigeria’s bilateral ties with other countries. For instance, the President in March 2024 received the Special Envoy of the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, in Abuja, according to a release by the State House, during which he reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to enhancing maritime security and safety in the Gulf of Guinea.
The Gulf of Guinea is central to maritime activities because it is a great inlet of the Atlantic Ocean on the western African coast, whose tributaries are the Volta and Niger rivers with offshore oil deposits and metal ore deposits as its natural resources (Britannica), and via which about 80 per cent of the trade with Nigeria goes.
Also in February, this year, the Nigerian Navy led by the Chief of Training and Operations, Rear Admiral Zakariyyah Muhammed, met with the U.S. Navy in Naples, Italy, hosted by the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, Admiral Stuart Munsch, with a view to improving regional cooperation, information-sharing practices, and maritime interdiction expertise aimed at countering sea-based illicit activities.
More so, Nigerian and Indian navies, in October 2023, strengthened bilateral ties between the two countries to ensure maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea aimed at maintaining its sea lanes as a conduit of international trade. The visit led by Indian Defence attaché to Nigeria, Col. Romi Singh Legha, was said to have recorded positive results on collaborative trainings against piracy and other maritime criminalities in the region.
The above narrative shows the rate at which President Tinubu’s ingenious brainchild-ministry is attracting partnership-attention, engendering Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) and promoting bilateral relations with other nations.
- Dr. Jimoh Olorede [email protected]