The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has said Nigeria’s maritime sector has undergone significant transformation in the three years since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu established the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy in August 2023.
Oyetola made the assertion while presenting the ministry’s three-year scorecard, highlighting improvements in revenue generation, port infrastructure, maritime security, regulation, indigenous shipping, human-capital development, fisheries and inland-waterway safety.
According to the minister, agencies under the ministry generated ₦1.83 trillion in 2025, representing a 160 per cent increase from the ₦700.79 billion recorded in 2023. He attributed the increase to regulatory reforms, stronger revenue-assurance measures, digitisation and efforts to close financial leakages across the sector.
Oyetola said the government’s broader objective was to unlock the economic potential of Nigeria’s 853-kilometre coastline and extensive inland waterways and position the marine and blue economy as a major source of revenue, trade, investment and employment.
One of the major policy milestones he identified was the approval of Nigeria’s first National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy in May 2025. The policy provides a unified framework for sectors including shipping, fisheries, offshore energy, marine biotechnology and other emerging areas of the blue economy.
The minister said the progress recorded over the past three years represented the foundation for a larger economic opportunity, arguing that Nigeria could derive substantially greater value from its marine resources if the right policies, infrastructure and investment were sustained.
