Current estimate places the global value of ocean-based economic activities, otherwise known as the Blue Economy, at approximately US$1.5 trillion.  That’s huge. Perhaps, this might be one of the key reasons, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, the minister of Marine and Blue Economy, has rolled up his sleeves these past 18 months.

Oyetola wants Nigeria, a littoral country, to cut a worthy part of the global big pie. And he’s already succeeding.

A study by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science projects that the value could jump to US$3 trillion by 2030, with further growth expected particularly in offshore wind, marine aquaculture and fish processing.

As a country endowed with the relevant natural resources to drive its foot into this vast Blue Economy marketplace, Nigeria should be among the top countries on the investors’ preference chart. Oyetola knows this. Armed with a rich mix of knowhow in insurance, a sector where taking a risk is the norm, he’s not fazed by the mystery of the waters and ancillary activities therein. Instead, he has innovated the nation’s marine and Blue Economy to continental and global reckoning.

Under his watch as minister overseeing four agencies, namely, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), there has been a fresh awakening of commitment, good corporate governance and integrity all of which have conduced to growth and improved productivity in the sector. This he actualised by encouraging a deliberate infusion of technology into the operations of the respective agencies coupled with the robust synergy he built with the CEOs of the four agencies.

Any wonder that the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy (along with the agencies under it) was ranked overall best performing ministry in the Ease of Doing Business index by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC). Special Adviser to the President on PEBEC, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, was exultant in her laudation of the minister for the exemplary performance of his ministry. The recognition was at a Town Hall meeting in Abuja chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima.

Investors, indigenous and foreign, have often complained about lack of ease of doing business in Nigeria. The Bola Tinubu government, conscious of this blight in the nation’s investment ecosystem, has decided to pull down all the brick walls that impede ease of doing business in the country. For Oyetola’s ministry to have come tops after stringent scrutiny of operational deliverables in the various ministries and parastatals speaks to the workplace efficiency in the Marine and Blue Economy ministry and its constituent agencies.

Oyetola’s drive is in tandem with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda. Broken down into components including guaranteeing internal security, job creation, improved investment environment, macro-economic stability, human capital development, poverty alleviation, and social security, not many ministers have been able to translate this Presidential vision into action. But Oyetola has. And it shows in his drive to ramp up revenue generation outside the receipts from oil and gas.

His ministry raised Blue Economy revenue by 92 per cent this past financial year.  The NPA and NIMASA specifically achieved a leap in revenue generation. Let’s compare notes. In the first quarter of 2023, the combined revenue earnings of NPA and NIMASA was N126 billion; but in the first quarter of 2024, a year later, a whopping N242 billion was raked in as revenue by both agencies.

The minister understands that Blue Economy is serious business. And to make the most of the limitless opportunities in this sector, he moved quickly to introduce tech and ethical-driven reforms.

The President’s Renewed Hope also finds practical expression in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) model of the ministry. Oyetola and his team have advanced social welfare across the nation by contributing massively to sundry education and healthcare initiatives.

His tenure has witnessed the implementation of Nigerian Ports Process Manual (NPPM) on Joint Boarding of Vessel and Joint Cargo Examination and Operation Free-the-Corridor Programme. His comprehensive and contemporary four-year Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) implementation plan has remained a compass for the ministries and agencies under it. This is to optimise employee devotion and engender global best practices within the ministry.

Adopting the National Joint Industrial Collective (NJIC) Bargaining Agreement on conditions of service for Nigerian Seafarers in Coastal Sector 2023 was a masterstroke that has boosted the morale of seafarers who are considered critical stakeholders in the movement and management of ships.

The minister has carried out joint international compliance inspections with American and EU scientists on Nigerian fishing companies and vessels on turtle excluder device (TED), a specific type of bycatch reduction device (BRD) designed to help turtles escape trawl nets. This helps Nigeria to keep its fisheries quota intact without overloading it with turtles. In fishery, bycatch means a non-target catch. This includes turtles. When you go to fish, you are expected to catch only fish, not turtle. Adding turtle to your catch has the disadvantage of filling up your fishery quota. This leads to quick exhaustion of your quota with the implication of low or zero profitability. The use of BRDs therefore allows fisheries to operate longer, and more profitably, because the quotas are not exceeded quickly.

Before now, seaports congestion has been an intractable demon for shippers. The minister significantly mitigated this by completing and commissioning the Dala Inland Dry Port and Funtua Inland Dry Port in Kano and Katsina respectively.

The minister’s deliberate automation of Blue Economy operations has birthed the creation of online registration portal for regulated port service providers to ensure ease of doing business thereby creating a more investor-friendly ambience within the value chain.

Nigeria has suffered loss of lives through boat mishaps from north to south. Like the empathetic leader that he is, he has rejigged the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) operational philosophy by placing more premium on safety in the waters. Already, plans are afoot to engage an indigenous boat manufacturing company for the production of fibre and aluminium boats to replace the wooden boats that are usually susceptible to mishaps. And as part of efforts to phase out wooden boats, NIWA is working with OCEA Shipyard, a UK company famed for building aluminium ferries that sail faster than existing wooden ones littering the nation’s waterways.

As part of the strategies to boost security in the waterways, NIWA increased the number of Waterways Marshals from 80 to 350 and engaged traditional and religious leaders to help in the enforcement of transportation code and ensure 24-hour surveillance.

Without a doubt, Oyetola is helping to renew the hope of Nigerians. Aside restoring investor confidence in marine business, he has etched his name as one of the minsters working round the clock for the realisation of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda.