Blue Economy
Nigeria Must Stop Choking Its Highways, Start Using Its Waterways: Coast Guard Boss Oduku
Coast Guard Boss Oduku: Nigeria Must Stop Choking Its Highways, Start Using Its Waterways
By Okeoghene Onoriobe I Waterways News
The Commandant General of Riverine Security, popularly known as the Coast Guard of the Federation, Commander Bibi Oduku, has renewed calls on the Federal Government to urgently prioritise the development, modernisation and security of Nigeria’s waterways, describing the sector as a critical, underused pillar of the country’s transportation, logistics and economic architecture.
Speaking after what he described as close monitoring of developments in riverine communities across the country, Oduku said Nigeria’s continued near-total dependence on road transportation for moving people and goods is placing unsustainable pressure on the nation’s highways, fuelling road accidents, congestion, road deterioration and delays in the movement of goods at a time when the country’s inland waterways remain largely idle.
” Nigeria cannot continue to depend almost entirely on the roads for the movement of people and large volumes of goods when we have an extensive network of waterways capable of supporting a modern transportation and logistics system. We need to begin treating our waterways as strategic national infrastructure,” Oduku said.
He noted that the constant movement of trailers and heavy-duty vehicles between different parts of the country is a major driver of highway congestion and road damage, and that emissions from that volume of heavy traffic add to pollution in densely populated corridors.
A call for a coordinated national strategy
Oduku urged the Federal Ministry of Transportation, the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and other relevant agencies to develop a comprehensive, coordinated national strategy for waterways transportation, one built on modern technology and international best practice.
” Our waterways must be made accessible, navigable, safe and commercially viable. Government should invest in modern jetties, terminals, navigation systems, passenger boats, cargo transportation facilities, marine communication systems, safety infrastructure and effective waterways management,” he said
According to him, such investment would significantly improve the movement of agricultural produce, petroleum products and manufactured goods, while giving businesses and citizens an alternative transportation corridor to the roads.
Jobs, investment and riverine development
Oduku argued that a properly developed marine transportation sector would do more than move goods and passengers, it would create jobs, stimulate business activity, attract domestic and foreign investment, and boost government revenue, with knock-on effects for boat manufacturing and maintenance, marine engineering, logistics, port operations, cargo handling, tourism, fisheries and maritime security services.
Security should not stall development, Oduku says
On the persistent challenges of piracy, militancy and criminality in some maritime and riverine locations, Oduku insisted that security concerns should not be used as an excuse to abandon waterways development.
“We should not be afraid to develop our waterways because of the activities of sea pirates, militants or other criminal elements. Security and infrastructure development must move together,” he said, crediting the Nigerian Navy and other security agencies, marine security outfits and community-based structures for their role in protecting lives and property on the nation’s waters, and calling for deeper inter-agency cooperation.
Niger Delta communities “feel abandoned,” Commandant General says
Oduku also drew attention to the socioeconomic conditions in riverine communities, particularly across the Niger Delta, saying many communities that contribute heavily to Nigeria’s natural-resource economy still lack adequate transportation infrastructure, healthcare, education, potable water and electricity.
“It is unacceptable that communities contributing immensely to the economic strength of Nigeria should continue to feel abandoned. The people in our riverine communities deserve to see meaningful development around them. They deserve quality education, accessible healthcare, transportation infrastructure and other basic necessities of life,” he said.
He disclosed that Riverine Security has repeatedly flagged the educational and healthcare challenges facing these communities to relevant government ministries, expressing particular concern for children, pregnant women, the elderly and other vulnerable residents, and called for interventions that “produce measurable results on the ground” rather than more official promises.
Oduku also appealed to oil and gas companies operating in the Niger Delta to take a more active role in developing their host communities, calling for stronger partnerships between the Federal Government, state governments, oil and gas companies, private investors, maritime operators and host communities.
“The development of our riverine areas should be a collective responsibility. Government and the oil and gas industry must work together to develop infrastructure, improve marine transportation, strengthen security, protect the environment and create sustainable opportunities for the people,” he said.
Call for a National Waterways Transportation Master Plan
Riverine Security is also calling for a comprehensive National Waterways Transportation Master Plan that integrates inland waterways with seaports, road networks and rail transportation, so that waterways complement, rather than trail behind Nigeria’s road and rail systems.
Oduku concluded by urging government and stakeholders to move from policy declarations to implementation.
“Nigeria has the waterways, the human resources and the economic potential. What we need is the political will, investment, modern technology, proper regulation and sustained security to unlock this potential. The time for action is now. Investing in Nigeria’s waterways is investing in safer transportation, economic growth, national security, job creation and the future of our nation,” he said.
Nigeria Watch
Oduku’s intervention lands on ground Waterways News has covered extensively: the gap between Nigeria’s stated ambitions for its inland waterways and the pace of delivery on the water. His call for a National Waterways Transportation Master Plan echoes long-standing frustration among stakeholders that NIWA, NPA and NIMASA continue to operate with overlapping mandates and little visible coordination, a tension this platform has tracked closely through the NIWA-LASWA jurisdictional dispute and its aftermath following the Supreme Court’s ruling on inland waterways regulation.
His remarks on underinvestment also speak directly to the unresolved Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) disbursement saga, which remains the clearest example of policy intent outpacing actual capital reaching operators.
For the informal and small-scale waterway operators represented by cooperatives like WABOTAN and ATBOWATON, associations Oduku says continue to “feel abandoned” — access to modern boats, jetties and safety infrastructure has long depended less on federal master plans than on whether financing commitments already on paper are ever honoured.
The Commandant General’s framing of waterways as a congestion and safety release valve for Nigeria’s highways is not new, but it carries added weight coming from a security voice rather than a transport or maritime economy official. It reinforces a theme Waterways News has returned to repeatedly under the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy’s current leadership: that Nigeria’s blue economy ambitions will keep running up against the same wall, infrastructure, financing and inter-agency coordination until implementation, not another master plan, becomes the measure of progress.
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.
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