Blue Economy
Nigeria’s Waters Now Piracy-Free, Tinubu Tells Africa Summit
Nigeria’s Waters Now Piracy-Free, Tinubu Tells Africa Summit
Deep Blue Project credited for historic maritime turnaround as President pledges Gulf of Guinea intelligence-sharing
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News Correspondent
President Bola Tinubu has declared that piracy has been completely eradicated from Nigerian territorial waters, telling world leaders at a major continental gathering that the nation’s investment in maritime security infrastructure has delivered a historic turnaround for the Gulf of Guinea.
Tinubu made the announcement at the High-Level Roundtable on Maritime Sovereignty and Ocean Governance, held on the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya — a two-day event co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenyan President William Ruto, which drew leaders from more than 30 nations.
The President attributed the achievement to sustained investments in the Federal Government’s Deep Blue Project, saying the global maritime community has acknowledged both the disappearance of piracy incidents within Nigeria’s territorial waters and the sharp decline in attacks across the region.
The Deep Blue Project deployed an integrated network of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, including command-and-control centres, special mission vessels, fast intervention boats and aerial platforms.
In a commitment that will resonate strongly with Nigeria’s maritime industry, Tinubu announced plans to deepen regional cooperation. He pledged that Nigeria would offer the Deep Blue Project’s maritime intelligence infrastructure as a shared data hub for willing Gulf of Guinea states, calling for interoperable systems, harmonised laws, and seamless joint enforcement to become daily reality rather than a distant aspiration.
The President declared that Africa must move from “sea blindness” to “ocean sovereignty,” positioning maritime governance and security as the foundation for unlocking the continent’s blue economy potential.
Tinubu stressed that maritime security remained critical to attracting private investment into the sector, insisting that secure sea lanes and predictable regulations were necessary conditions for capital inflow into the blue economy.
The President also pointed to institutional reform at home as evidence of Nigeria’s seriousness on ocean governance. He highlighted the creation of a dedicated Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy as proof that ocean governance had become a central pillar of state policy.
Sounding a note of warning on the limits of unilateral approaches, Tinubu called for stronger regional collaboration among Gulf of Guinea nations, cautioning that maritime crimes could not be effectively tackled by countries acting in isolation.
Endorsing the Nairobi Declaration at the close of the summit, the President affirmed that maritime sovereignty and ocean governance are the non-negotiable foundations of Africa’s Blue Economy transformation, urging fellow African states to treat ocean governance as a generational responsibility.
The summit was attended by senior Nigerian officials including the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, alongside leading business figures such as Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu, Abdulsamad Rabiu, and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.
— Waterways News Correspondent, Nairobi
NIGERIA WATCH Tracking the story across Nigeria’s Maritime and Blue Economy sector
Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy The ministry, headed by Gboyega Oyetola, sits at the centre of this story. Its creation was itself cited by President Tinubu at Nairobi as a signal that ocean governance is now a strategic pillar of national economic policy — not an afterthought. The ministry is responsible for translating the political commitments made at the Africa Forward Summit into actionable domestic policy, port reform, and regional maritime diplomacy. Its performance in the coming months will be closely watched as Nigeria moves to fulfil the pledge of offering Deep Blue infrastructure as a regional data hub.
Nigerian Navy The Nigerian Navy remains the primary operational backbone of the Deep Blue Project, providing the manpower, vessels, and command-and-control capacity behind the piracy elimination milestone Tinubu announced in Nairobi. The Navy’s sustained patrol operations across the Gulf of Guinea — including deployments of special mission vessels and fast intervention boats — are central to the security gains now being presented to the international community as a model for the region.
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) NIMASA is the regulatory and administrative engine behind the Deep Blue Project, having conceptualised and procured the project’s assets under its mandate to secure Nigerian waters and grow the nation’s shipping industry. The Agency’s work in building the integrated surveillance and intelligence network — now being offered as a shared platform for Gulf of Guinea states — represents one of the most significant deliverables in Nigerian maritime history. NIMASA will also play a key role in any multilateral framework that emerges from the Nairobi Declaration.
Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Safer waterways directly translate into greater port efficiency and investor confidence. The elimination of piracy incidents reduces the security risk premium that has historically inflated shipping and insurance costs for vessels calling at Nigerian ports. For the NPA, the Nairobi declaration strengthens its pitch to global shipping lines and logistics investors that Nigeria’s ports are open, secure, and commercially viable.
National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) While the Nairobi focus was on territorial and offshore waters, NIWA’s mandate over Nigeria’s inland waterways means it stands to benefit from the broader culture of maritime security governance being championed at the federal level. As blue economy investment flows into coastal and riverine communities, NIWA’s role in regulating and developing inland water transport infrastructure becomes increasingly strategic.
Interagency Coordination — The Bigger Picture The piracy-free declaration is not the product of any single agency. It reflects years of coordinated effort between the Nigerian Navy, NIMASA, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Nigerian Air Force, and the Nigerian Police Force’s Marine Unit — all operating under the Deep Blue Project’s unified command framework. The Nairobi summit has now internationalised that model, raising the stakes for continued interagency cohesion as Nigeria positions itself as the Gulf of Guinea’s maritime security leader.
What to Watch
- Whether the Federal Government follows through on the pledge to establish a Gulf of Guinea maritime intelligence-sharing hub, and which agencies will lead its operation.
- NIMASA’s next procurement or capacity expansion cycle, given the regional ambitions announced in Nairobi.
- The Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy’s legislative agenda — particularly any bills that could codify the blue economy framework being promoted internationally.
- Investment flows into Nigerian ports and offshore sectors in the wake of the improved security narrative.
Oyetola Woos Turkish Investors for Fisheries Sector, Vows to Protect Artisanal Fishers
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, has thrown Nigeria’s fisheries sector open to Turkish investment, insisting that any fresh capital coming into the industry must strengthen and not sideline the millions of Nigerians who depend on artisanal fishing for a living.
Oyetola made the pledge while receiving a delegation from Turkish fisheries and aquaculture firm CRD Impex, led by the company’s General Manager for Fisheries, Cem Tarhan, at his Abuja office. He told the investors the Federal Government was ready to create an investment-friendly climate for credible local and foreign players willing to bring capital, technology and modern value-chain solutions to the sector, on condition that such investment remains inclusive.
“We welcome investors who can bring capital, technology, expertise and modern value-chain solutions to the sector. However, investment must be inclusive and sustainable. It must complement and empower our artisanal fish producers, not undermine their livelihoods,” the Minister said
He listed inadequate infrastructure, poor access to modern fishing technology, weak cold-chain systems, limited processing and storage capacity, and gaps in market access as the major constraints holding back the sector, framing each as an opening for targeted investment rather than a dead end.
The Turkish team, which included CRD Impex founder Hanefi Cardak and Tetra Underwater Services founder Ersun Buyukgoze, toured key fisheries and aquaculture points around the country to size up the terrain first-hand. Stops included the Kirikiri Lighter Terminal in Lagos, the Ozumba Mbadiwe Fish Market in Lekki, and the Esuk Nsidung Beach Market, a major waterfront seafood hub in Calabar, Cross River State.
The Ministry described the visit as part of a broader push to attract serious investment into Nigeria’s blue economy while keeping the welfare of artisanal fishers central to that growth.
Nigeria Watch
The Turkish courtesy call lands squarely in the pattern this desk has tracked all year: big-ticket investment pledges for Nigeria’s waterways, paired with familiar assurances that the small operator won’t be crowded out. The test, as always, is what happens after the photo-op.
Nigeria’s artisanal fishing communities occupy the same economic space as the informal boat operators represented by WABOTAN and ATBOWATON, river- and creek-dependent Nigerians whose livelihoods rise or fall on decisions made far from the waterfront. The infrastructure gaps Oyetola cited which include, weak cold-chain systems, poor storage and limited market access, all mirror the exact complaints this desk has documented from inland waterway operators for years but modernisation announced from Abuja rarely reache the jetties.
Turkish capital chasing Nigerian fisheries and aquaculture is a genuinely new thread, distinct from the Strait of Hormuz shipping story or the CVFF disbursement saga this desk has followed closely. But the underlying question is the same one that has defined Oyetola’s tenure at the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy: will “inclusive investment” translate into contracts, cooperative partnerships and cold-chain infrastructure that artisanal operators can actually use or will it, like so many blue-economy pledges before it, stall at the courtesy-visit stage?
Waterways News will be watching for the first concrete CRD Impex commitment — site, timeline, or local partnership — as the marker of whether this one is different.
NPERA, NPA Open Technical Talks on Handover of Inland Dry Port Functions
By Ighoyota Onaibre | Waterways News
The Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) have begun formal engagement on transferring inland dry port oversight to NPERA, marking the start of what both agencies describe as a critical phase in operationalising Nigeria’s new port regulatory framework.
At a management-level meeting between the two agencies, officials focused on the technical groundwork for the handover, chiefly how to draw clear lines of responsibility and avoid duplication among the government bodies with a stake in inland dry port administration.
NPERA’s Director-General/CEO, Dr Akutah Pius, framed the transition as flowing directly from the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, whom he credited with steering the process toward the sector’s broader development. Akutah was emphatic that NPERA could not carry out the transfer alone, and said the buy-in of every relevant stakeholder agency would be needed to see it through.
He indicated that the Ministry would stay central to coordinating the process even as specific mandates move to the agencies best placed to execute them. Akutah also pointed to the Minister’s earlier interventions during the NPERA Bill’s passage through the National Assembly, which he said had defused inter-agency friction and set the stage for the cooperation now underway.
Describing the purpose of the meeting, Akutah said it was meant to formally kick off the transfer of inland dry port responsibilities to NPERA in fulfilment of its statutory role as economic regulator of the ports sector. He singled out Section 51 of the NPERA Act as a provision that now needs to be put into practical effect to keep the transition orderly and ensure stakeholder roles are properly aligned.
To manage the process going forward, the NPERA boss proposed setting up a joint committee drawing in NPERA, NPA, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), and the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. He argued that inland dry ports matter well beyond the coastline. They extend maritime sector benefits into Nigeria’s hinterland and reinforce the country’s trade and logistics chain.
Responding on behalf of NPA, Managing Director Dr Abubakar Dantsoho welcomed the move and pledged his agency’s full operational and technical backing throughout the transition. He said the process had started on the right footing, and that NPA would furnish updated data on the current state of inland dry ports to inform further discussions, expressing confidence that continued engagement would help the agencies meet their shared objectives.
NPA’s Executive Director, Engr. Lekan Badmus, also commended NPERA for setting the collaboration in motion, calling the meeting a solid first step toward a smooth integration. He noted the two agencies have now moved into the technical phase of the exercise, with close attention being paid to eliminating overlapping functions.
Closing the meeting, Akutah said the proposed joint committee would reconvene with the Minister to seek further guidance and agree on next steps to keep the transition on track.
Nigeria Watch
This meeting is the first visible test of whether the NPERA Act’s promise of a rationalised port regulatory architecture can survive contact with Nigeria’s crowded agency landscape. Section 51’s transfer of inland dry port functions to NPERA looks straightforward on paper; in practice, it touches NPA’s traditional port administration turf, NIWA’s inland waterways mandate, and the Ministry’s coordinating role all at once, precisely the kind of overlapping jurisdiction that has bedevilled reform efforts elsewhere in the sector, most visibly in the long-running NIWA-LASWA tussle that only the Supreme Court could settle.
The proposed joint committee of NPERA, NPA, NIWA, and the Ministry, is a sensible mechanism, but Waterways News readers who have followed the CVFF disbursement saga know that Nigerian maritime governance has no shortage of well-designed committees whose outputs never quite reach implementation. What will matter is whether Akutah’s “technical phase” produces a binding timeline, not another round of goodwill statements.
For inland dry port operators and the hinterland trade corridors that depend on them, the stakes are practical: unclear jurisdiction between NPA and NPERA has historically meant slower cargo evacuation, duplicated levies, and uncertainty for freight forwarders planning routes away from the congested Lagos ports. If this transition is handled well, it strengthens the case for dry ports as genuine pressure valves for Apapa and Tin Can. If it stalls in inter-agency turf negotiation, it becomes one more entry in the gap between policy pronouncement and delivery that this desk continues to track.
Worth watching: whether Minister Oyetola’s office sets an explicit deadline when the committee reconvenes, and whether NIWA, whose inland waterways mandate intersects with dry port hinterland connectivity, gets more than a seat at the table.
Two More Tankers Struck in Strait of Hormuz as Attack Count Hits Five in a Week
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News
Two more tankers have been hit while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, leaving two seafarers with minor injuries and pushing the number of reported attacks or security incidents against commercial vessels in the waterway to at least five since 16 September.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said an inbound tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile on Monday. Two crew members sustained minor injuries, but the vessel stayed under its own power and continued to its next port, with no environmental impact reported.
Hours later, UKMTO issued a second alert after an outbound LPG tanker reported being struck by debris from unknown projectiles. All crew were reported safe and the vessel also continued its voyage. Authorities are investigating both incidents, and UKMTO has not attributed either attack to a specific actor.
The two strikes build on a Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) advisory covering three earlier attacks between 16 and 18 September, one of which saw a tanker’s hull breached by a projectile, sparking a fire. JMIC continues to rate the threat level in the strait as “severe,” citing a high likelihood of deliberate hostile action and pointing to a pattern of harassment by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — drone overflights, surveillance of merchant vessels and VHF hailing, alongside the direct attacks.
Traffic through the chokepoint remains sharply depressed. Only 17 commodity vessels were visibly transiting over the weekend, down from 37 the week before and against a pre-war daily average of roughly 125. That figure excludes vessels sailing with their AIS transponders switched off, and JMIC notes a persistent gap between visible and actual traffic.
Nigeria Watch
For Nigerian maritime stakeholders, the Hormuz crisis is no longer a distant Gulf story. It is a cost line. Every fresh escalation feeds directly into the war-risk insurance premiums and freight rates that Nigerian importers, refiners and shipping agents ultimately absorb, since global tanker and container capacity pulled off the Hormuz route tightens supply elsewhere and pushes rates up across long-haul trades, including those serving West African ports.
The renewed attacks also sharpen the stakes around Nigeria’s push for a stronger voice at the IMO Council table and its broader blue-economy diplomacy under Minister Adegboyega Oyetola. A sustained Gulf disruption is exactly the kind of systemic shock that tests whether Nigeria’s seat translates into influence over how global shipping risk, insurance and rerouting decisions are made, rather than Nigeria simply absorbing the downstream cost.
Locally, the episode is a reminder of the layered nature of “maritime security” as a policy word: the Deep Blue Project and Gulf of Guinea security architecture address piracy and armed robbery close to home, but Nigeria’s ports and shippers remain exposed to security failures thousands of kilometres away in the Gulf.
Waterways News will continue tracking how the Hormuz situation feeds into freight cost pressure at Nigerian ports and NIMASA’s public messaging on the issue.
Oil and Gas7 months agoTantita’s Pipeline Deal: $144m Contract, Rising Output, and the Questions that Deserve Answers
- MARITIME TRADE & SHIPPING7 months ago
World’s Largest Container Ship Sets New Maritime Record with 22,233 TEUs on Single Voyage
- Blue Economy7 months ago
Nigeria’s Coast Guard Bill: A Solution in Search of a Problem?
