Blue Economy
Oyetola Commissions NIMASA-Donated Multipurpose Building at UNILAG Maritime Institute
Oyetola Commissions NIMASA-Donated Multipurpose Building at UNILAG Maritime Institute
Federal government signals deeper commitment to blue economy manpower development as NIMASA ties up with eight Nigerian universities
LAGOS, April 16, 2026 | By Okeoghene Onoriobe, Waterways News Correspondent
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr. Adegboyega Oyetola, on Thursday commissioned a new Multipurpose Building at the University of Lagos Institute of Maritime Studies (IMS), donated by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), in a ceremony that drew together senior figures from government, the maritime regulatory establishment, and academia.
The facility — fitted with modern lecture rooms, laboratories, and specialised research infrastructure — is intended to advance teaching, innovation, and professional training across maritime law, shipping management, port operations, logistics, and marine environmental studies. Established in 2013, the UNILAG IMS has grown into one of Nigeria’s foremost centres for maritime capacity development, with aspirations to serve the broader African region.
A Sector Built on Human Capital
Commissioning the building, Oyetola framed the investment squarely within the federal government’s blue economy ambitions, arguing that infrastructure alone cannot unlock the sector’s potential without a commensurate investment in skilled personnel.
“The future of the blue economy will be shaped not just by natural endowments, but by the quality of minds we nurture within institutions such as this,” the minister said.
He noted that maritime trade accounts for over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s total trade volume, underscoring the sector’s centrality to economic diversification, employment generation, and sustainable national development.
Oyetola disclosed that 2,459 Nigerians have so far been sponsored under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP), receiving training at maritime institutions in the United Kingdom, Egypt, the Philippines, India, and Romania. Of these, 1,088 have obtained their Certificates of Competency — a metric the minister cited as evidence of growing momentum in seafarer professionalisation.
CVFF, Port Modernisation, and the Jobs Agenda
Beyond manpower, Oyetola pointed to two major policy levers with direct implications for employment and trade competitiveness. The anticipated disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), he said, is expected to stimulate indigenous shipping capacity and generate as many as 30,000 jobs. Meanwhile, ongoing port modernisation projects are projected to create a further 20,000 jobs while cutting vessel turnaround times and reinforcing Nigeria’s position as the dominant maritime hub in West and Central Africa.
The minister also highlighted fisheries and aquaculture as an underexploited frontier, pointing to Nigeria’s annual fish demand of 3.6 million metric tonnes as a significant opportunity for food security investment and rural employment.
NIMASA Deepens University Partnerships
NIMASA Director-General, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, disclosed that the agency has formalised partnerships with eight Nigerian universities, complemented by ties with international institutions including the World Maritime University. The strategy, he said, is to build a pipeline of skilled offshore professionals capable of displacing expensive foreign expertise, while creating durable career pathways in Nigeria’s maritime economy.
Mobereola stressed that the NIMASA-UNILAG collaboration in particular would strengthen the research and data-generation capacity needed to underpin evidence-based maritime policymaking — a gap that has long constrained regulatory effectiveness in the sector.
UNILAG Pledges Research Leadership
Vice-Chancellor Professor Folasade Ogunsola described the new facility as a platform for interdisciplinary research that could generate practical solutions to the sector’s structural challenges. Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, commended the federal government’s commitment and pledged the university’s continued collaboration on maritime manpower development.
Nigeria Watch
Thursday’s commissioning carries weight well beyond the ceremonial. For Nigerian port operators, freight forwarders, and tanker owners, the chronic shortage of domestically trained maritime professionals has long translated into elevated crew costs and dependence on foreign officers — pressures that erode margins in an already challenging operating environment.
NIMASA’s decision to anchor its university strategy around eight domestic institutions, backed by the World Maritime University affiliation, signals a structural rather than tokenistic approach to this problem. If the CVFF disbursement — long delayed and eagerly awaited by indigenous shipowners — finally flows, the combination of trained seafarers and accessible vessel financing could meaningfully shift the cabotage equation.
For the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, the optics are also important: with port concession renewals under active negotiation and the Nigeria National Single Window bedding in, demonstrating tangible investment in sector capacity is a credibility asset in discussions with investors, terminal operators, and international shipping lines assessing Nigeria’s long-term reliability as a maritime partner.