Blue Economy
Oyetola Orders NSC Probe into Alleged Plot to Squeeze Out Local Barge Operators
Oyetola Orders NSC Probe into Alleged Plot to Squeeze Out Local Barge Operators
Minister vows zero tolerance for anti-competitive behaviour as indigenous operators cry foul over foreign interference at Nigerian seaports
By Oghenewoke Onoriode|Waterways News Correspondent, LAGOS
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, has ordered the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) to investigate allegations that a coordinated effort is underway to push indigenous barge operators out of Nigeria’s seaport logistics chain.
The directive came during the 2026 First Quarter Citizens/Stakeholders’ Engagement, Sectoral Performance Review, and Ministerial Management Retreat of the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, held in Lagos on Thursday.
Operators Raise the Alarm
Representatives of local barge operators used the platform to allege that certain foreign interests are engaged in a deliberate campaign to undermine their operations. They told the Minister that policies, operational bottlenecks, and preferential treatment allegedly extended to foreign-linked entities by some terminal operators are tilting the competitive landscape against Nigerian businesses.
The operators warned that if left unaddressed, the situation could erode local capacity and destabilise Nigeria’s maritime logistics ecosystem.
NSC Given the Mandate
Responding to the allegations, Dr Oyetola reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to protecting local investments and ensuring a level playing field in the maritime sector. He directed the NSC — in its capacity as port economic regulator — to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the claims.
The Minister was unequivocal: any anti-competitive behaviour or policy inconsistency that disadvantages Nigerian businesses would not be tolerated.
Engagement as Policy Tool
Dr Oyetola also used the occasion to underscore the importance of regular stakeholder engagement in driving effective sectoral governance. He noted that the government remains firmly focused on developing the marine and blue economy as a pillar of national growth, employment generation, and sustainable development.
Nigeria Watch
The allegations against terminal operators echo long-standing concerns in the Nigerian maritime industry about the marginalisation of indigenous players in port operations. Local barge operators form a critical link in Nigeria’s cargo evacuation chain — particularly at Apapa and Tin Can Island ports — and their displacement would deepen the country’s dependence on foreign logistics providers.
The NSC’s mandate as port economic regulator makes it the appropriate body to probe these claims. However, the effectiveness of the investigation will depend on the Council’s willingness to act on its findings — including, where necessary, imposing sanctions on terminal operators found to have violated fair competition principles.
For the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Thursday’s engagement signals a more assertive posture on indigenous content in maritime logistics — one that stakeholders will be watching closely.
Waterways News — Covering Nigeria’s Maritime, Shipping and Blue Economy Sector
LASWA Sweeps Lagos Jetties, Seizes 120 Substandard Life Jackets in Safety Crackdown
Authority warns operators: vessel seaworthiness and passenger safety equipment are non-negotiable
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News Correspondent
The Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) has stepped up its safety enforcement campaign across the state’s busy ferry corridors, seizing and withdrawing 120 damaged life jackets from active circulation at terminals and jetties following a comprehensive round of unannounced inspections.
The exercise, conducted as part of LASWA’s ongoing effort to tighten regulatory compliance on Lagos waterways, targeted some of the most heavily trafficked jetties in the metropolis — including Ipakodo, Bayeku, Ijede, Ebute-Ero, Liverpool, Sabokoji, and Alex — locations that collectively serve hundreds of thousands of commuters and cargo movements weekly.
The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Blue Economy, Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, who confirmed the enforcement action in a statement on Friday, said the sweep was specifically designed to assess boat seaworthiness and verify the integrity of life-saving equipment aboard commercial vessels.
” The inspection campaign covered several terminals and jetties, focusing on boat seaworthiness and life jacket compliance. During the exercise, 120 damaged life jackets were seized and removed from circulation,” Emmanuel stated.
He emphasised that the confiscation of the defective equipment was not merely a punitive gesture, but a preventive measure aimed at eliminating life-threatening hazards before they could claim lives on the water.
Mixed Compliance Picture Across Terminals
While the enforcement action yielded serious concerns, Emmanuel noted that the overall picture across inspected terminals was not uniformly poor. A number of commercial boat operators were found to be in good standing, with vessels meeting the required safety specifications. However, others fell short — particularly on vessel seaworthiness — and were directed to carry out necessary repairs before resuming operations.
“Strict enforcement of safety protocols, especially vessel conditions and life jacket quality, is non-negotiable,” Emmanuel stated, making clear that LASWA would not be issuing any waivers or extensions to operators found in breach.
The authority confirmed that enforcement patrols will be sustained at all terminals across the state, with operators put on notice that further inspections are forthcoming and that sanctions will follow any repeat violations.
Legal Obligations and Passenger Rights
LASWA reiterated that under existing waterways regulations, all commercial ferry and boat operators have a binding legal obligation to maintain seaworthy vessels and to equip every passenger with a certified, fully functional life jacket. The use of worn, torn, or otherwise compromised safety equipment — however cosmetically intact it may appear — constitutes a regulatory violation that exposes both passengers and operators to serious risk.
Emmanuel reaffirmed that LASWA’s overarching mandate remains the establishment of a safer, more reliable, and properly regulated waterways transportation system across Lagos State.
Nigeria Watch: A Waterways News analytical note for maritime industry stakeholders
LASWA’s latest enforcement sweep arrives at a time of heightened scrutiny over safety standards on Lagos waterways — a sector that has struggled for decades with the twin challenges of rapid passenger growth and inconsistent operator compliance.
The seizure of 120 defective life jackets from active service is significant not just in its scale, but in what it implies: that a meaningful number of commercial ferry operations have been running with equipment that could not be relied upon in an emergency. For a waterway system that has experienced multiple fatal incidents over the years — from capsizings on the Lagos Lagoon to collisions at busy terminal approaches — the tolerance of substandard personal flotation devices represents an unacceptable risk to the travelling public.
For stakeholders in the inland waterways and ferry sector, the message from LASWA is unambiguous: the era of discretionary compliance is over. Operators who have historically banked on infrequent inspections or lax follow-through will need to recalibrate. The authority’s decision to publicise the details of its enforcement action — naming the specific terminals covered — signals a deliberate communications strategy aimed at raising public awareness and applying reputational pressure on non-compliant operators.
There is also a broader governance dimension worth noting. The overlapping jurisdictional question between LASWA and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) — which has long created ambiguity over who bears primary regulatory responsibility for certain routes and facilities in Lagos — remains an area where clear demarcation would strengthen, not undermine, safety enforcement. LASWA’s assertive posture in this latest exercise reinforces its claim to operational authority on Lagos State waterways, even as the federal-state jurisdictional debate continues.
For operators, terminal managers, and vessel owners across the Lagos waterways ecosystem, this is the time to audit safety equipment inventories, accelerate vessel maintenance schedules, and ensure that compliance is treated as a continuous obligation — not a box ticked ahead of an anticipated inspection.
Supreme Court Strips NIWA of Powers Over Waterfront Lands in States
Apex court voids Sections 12 and 13 of NIWA Act, issues perpetual injunction against federal government in landmark Lagos-led constitutional suit
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News | Lagos, 24 May 2026
Nigeria’s apex court has redrawn the constitutional boundaries of federal authority over inland waterways in a ruling that carries sweeping implications for waterfront development, land administration, port hinterland management, and urban planning across the country’s coastal and riverine states.
In a landmark judgment delivered on Friday in Suit No. SC/CV/541/2025, the Supreme Court held that Sections 12 and 13 of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) Act are invalid to the extent that they empower the federal government to regulate and control lands adjoining waterways for purposes unrelated to navigation, maritime activities and fishing.
The case, brought by Lagos State under the court’s original jurisdiction, drew in a broad coalition of Nigerian states seeking relief from what they characterised as decades of unconstitutional federal overreach into state territories. Joining Lagos in the suit were Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Cross River, Kaduna, Enugu, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Benue, Rivers, Osun, Oyo and Anambra.
Lagos State’s legal team was led by former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, alongside Olasupo Shasore SAN and Muiz Banire SAN, while the federal government was represented by Akin Olujinmi SAN.
The Ruling
The seven-member panel of the court, led by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, issued a perpetual injunction restraining the federal government from dealing with lands adjoining waterways within Lagos State and other states of the federation for non-navigational purposes. Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar read the lead judgment.
Although the court was unanimous on most issues, the decision recorded a 5-2 split on the constitutionality of Sections 10 and 11 of the NIWA Act. Justices Agim and Idris dissented on some aspects, maintaining that Lagos State ought to have succeeded on additional reliefs relating to federal control over waterways.
At the heart of Lagos State’s argument was the contention that the National Assembly had exceeded its constitutional mandate. The state argued that Sections 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the NIWA Act conflicted with Sections 4 and 315 of the Constitution, the Land Use Act, and Items 36 and 64 of the Exclusive Legislative List. Lagos further argued that the federal government could not validly exercise powers over inland waterways not designated as international or interstate waterways, and that it lacked constitutional authority to regulate lands adjoining waterways for non-navigational purposes.
Before proceeding to the substance of the case, the Supreme Court first considered and dismissed preliminary objections filed by the federal government challenging its jurisdiction. The court also rejected the federal government’s argument that earlier litigation between NIWA and LASWA had already settled the matter, holding that the present suit was distinguishable from the earlier NIWA v. LSWA decision and therefore not barred by res judicata.
On the substantive constitutional questions, the apex court ruled that while the federal government possesses authority over navigation, maritime activities, fishing and international waterways, those powers do not extend to general control over lands adjoining waterways within states. The National Assembly, it held, had acted ultra vires in attempting to regulate adjoining lands for purposes outside navigation-related activities.
What the Court Granted — and What It Did Not
The victory for Lagos and co-plaintiff states, while significant, was partial. The Supreme Court declined to invalidate Sections 10 and 11 of the NIWA Act and reaffirmed the federal government’s constitutional authority over navigation and declared federal waterways. It refused Lagos State’s requests for declarations that the National Assembly lacked legislative competence over waterways not specifically designated as international or inter-state waterways, holding that those claims had already been substantially addressed in the earlier NIWA v. LSWA decision.
In practical terms, the ruling draws a precise constitutional line: the federal government retains control over waterway navigation and designated federal routes, but can no longer use NIWA’s powers to commandeer adjoining land within states for purposes unconnected to those navigation functions.
The Road to This Judgment
This ruling comes two years after the Supreme Court’s January 2024 judgment, which had broadly affirmed federal supremacy over Nigerian inland waterways. In that earlier decision, Justice John Inyang Okoro held that NIWA is the only agency with powers to exclusively manage, direct and control all activities on navigable waters and their right-of-way throughout the country, and warned Lagos State and its agencies to stay away from regulatory activities on Nigerian inland waterways.
That 2024 ruling had emboldened federal agencies and left LASWA’s revenue collection and ferry licensing operations in legal limbo. The latest judgment does not reverse the navigational authority confirmed in 2024, but it significantly curtails NIWA’s ability to extend its administrative reach into waterfront lands — a distinction with enormous practical consequences for Lagos’s waterfront economy.
Implications for the Waterways Sector
The judgment is expected to have far-reaching implications for waterfront development, land reclamation, urban planning, environmental regulation and revenue generation in Lagos and other coastal states. It is also expected to shape future constitutional litigation on waterways, land administration, federalism, and resource control across Nigeria.
For operators in Lagos — ferry services, boat operators, terminal developers, dredging companies, and waterfront property holders — the ruling provides meaningful clarity on a regulatory environment that has long been characterised by overlapping federal and state authority. The perpetual injunction against federal interference in non-navigational waterfront land activity removes a persistent source of regulatory risk for investment and development projects.
The broader question of whether LASWA can now reassert licensing and revenue collection powers over intra-state ferry services remains unresolved by this judgment, which stopped short of revisiting the navigational jurisdiction question settled in 2024.
Nigeria Watch: A Waterways News Analysis
Friday’s Supreme Court ruling is both a constitutional clarification and a commercial signal. For years, the NIWA-LASWA standoff paralysed investment decisions across Lagos’s waterfront corridor — from the creeks of Makoko to the emerging terminals along the Lekki shoreline. Developers, ferry operators, and infrastructure investors were caught between two regulatory authorities, each claiming jurisdiction and each capable of disrupting operations.
The court has now surgically divided that disputed territory: federal authority governs the water and what moves on it; state authority governs the land beside it, at least where the purpose is not navigation. That distinction is not merely academic. It determines who approves waterfront reclamation projects, who collects ground rents on jetty facilities, who authorises mixed-use developments along canal corridors, and ultimately who benefits from the economic value that water access creates in a megacity of more than 20 million people.
For Nigeria’s other coastal and riverine states — from Rivers to Bayelsa to Akwa Ibom — the perpetual injunction granted by the Supreme Court offers similar relief. Governors of those states will now have a far stronger constitutional basis to develop and commercialise their own waterfront lands without federal encroachment under the guise of NIWA’s enabling legislation.
The Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy and NIWA will need to recalibrate their operational mandates accordingly. The ministry’s ambitions for blue economy expansion depend on an efficient, investment-friendly waterways environment — and continued legal friction with state governments has historically been among the biggest obstacles to that goal.
This ruling, properly understood, is an opportunity as much as a constraint.
Blue Economy
DANGOTE Activates Olokola Deep Seaport Plan — and Nigeria’s Maritime Landscape May Never be the Same
DANGOTE Activates Olokola Deep Seaport Plan — and Nigeria’s Maritime Landscape May Never be the Same
With a 10,000-hectare footprint straddling Ogun and Ondo states, the proposed Olokola Deep Seaport dwarfs every existing port facility in the country and signals a private-sector-led revolution in Nigeria’s blue economy
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News Correspondent
Nigeria’s perpetually congested port landscape — defined for decades by the cramped berths of Apapa and Tin Can Island, the chronic gridlock on Wharf Road, and the unmet promise of Lekki Deep Seaport — may be on the cusp of its most dramatic transformation yet. Dangote Industries Limited has formally commenced preliminary processes for the development of what its officials are billing as a potential game-changer for African maritime trade: a 10,000-hectare deep seaport at the Olokola Free Trade Zone (OKFTZ), straddling the border of Ogun and Ondo states along the Atlantic coastline.
To fully appreciate the scale of what is being proposed, consider this: the development spans more than 10,000 hectares across Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of Ogun State and extends into Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State along the Gulf of Guinea coastline. Nigeria Ports Authority’s Apapa port complex — still the country’s busiest gateway and the artery through which the overwhelming bulk of Nigeria’s containerised imports flow — occupies roughly 81 hectares. Tin Can Island Port, its equally strained neighbour, sits on approximately 84 hectares. The Olokola project, if developed to its full envisaged footprint, would be more than 100 times larger than either of those facilities. This is not a port expansion. This is, in effect, an entirely new maritime industrial city to be carved out of Nigeria’s Atlantic coastline.
A Vision Rooted in $100 Ambition
The project sits at the heart of the Olokola Free Trade Zone on the Atlantic coast along the Gulf of Guinea. Dangote Industries is positioning it as the logistics backbone of its ambition to achieve $100 billion in annual revenue, secure a top-100 global ranking, and reshape Africa’s industrial landscape by 2030. (Marketing Edge)
That ambition, formalised as the group’s “Vision 2030” strategy, has already produced Africa’s largest petroleum refinery, a massive fertiliser complex, and an increasingly vertically integrated industrial conglomerate. The Olokola Deep Seaport is conceived as the crowning logistics infrastructure that would bind all of those assets together under one export-capable gateway — reducing the group’s dependence on third-party port operators and the chronically congested Lagos port system.
The facility is expected to support exports of fertilisers, petrochemicals and refined petroleum products, as well as facilitate future liquefied natural gas exports and the importation of heavy industrial equipment.
For port operators, shipping lines, freight forwarders and logistics companies currently navigating the impossible geometry of Apapa, this is a development with direct and far-reaching implications.
Capt. Jamil Abubakar Leads Community Engagements
A delegation from Dangote Industries Limited, led by Managing Director of Infrastructure and Logistics, Capt. Jamil Abubakar, visited host communities in Ogun and Ondo states to begin stakeholder engagements ahead of project execution. The delegation was accompanied by surveyors and environmental consultants — a signal that the project has moved beyond boardroom discussion and into active pre-construction groundwork.
The team visited Ode-Omi community in Ogun State, as well as Araromi Seaside Kingdom and Igbokoda in Ondo State. The Lenuwa of Ode-Omi, Oba Folailu Adekunle Hassan (Oshotekun II), welcomed the project and approved the commencement of surveys and household enumeration. The Alara of Araromi Seaside Kingdom, Oba Adeoloye Olawole, also pledged support for the project.
Significantly, the delegation also visited the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base in Igbokoda, where military officials expressed support for the proposed development — a critical consultation given the maritime security dimensions of any major coastal port infrastructure project in Nigeria’s Gulf of Guinea littoral.
Capt. Abubakar was unambiguous about the project’s national significance. “The Olokola Port project is a major step in unlocking Nigeria’s economic potential, strengthening trade, alleviating pressure on existing ports, and fostering industrial growth. It will generate substantial opportunities for host communities through employment, business activities, and long-term development across both Ogun and Ondo states. With its strategic location, Olokola would serve as a key gateway for exports and imports, boosting Nigeria’s competitiveness in regional and global trade.”
A History of False Starts — and Why This Time Feels Different
The Olokola Free Trade Zone is not a new concept. According to previous disclosures by Aliko Dangote, the company had initially planned major industrial investments in the Olokola Free Trade Zone before suspending activities due to disputes and policy uncertainties under a previous Ogun State administration. However, the group has since renewed its interest following what it described as improved investment conditions and stronger state-level support for industrial projects.
In March 2025, Dangote announced plans to develop what he described as Nigeria’s largest port within the Olokola axis during a visit to Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun. Subsequent reports in July 2025 revealed that the company had submitted preliminary documentation to begin construction approvals for the seaport project. The latest round of community visits and surveying activities represents a meaningful acceleration of those earlier signals into concrete field action.
Presidential approval has also reportedly been secured. Reports indicate that President Bola Tinubu approved oil drilling activities in Ogun Waterside and cleared the Olokola Deep Seaport project for take-off — providing the highest-level political backing the project has yet received.
What It Means for Nigeria’s Ports Sector
For maritime industry stakeholders — terminal operators, shipping agents, freight forwarders, and the vessel owners who ply Nigeria’s coastal and inland waterways — the Olokola project raises several immediate and medium-term questions.
The relief of pressure on Lagos ports is the most cited benefit, and it is a genuine one. Apapa and Tin Can Island together handle the vast majority of Nigeria’s import cargo volumes, and their infrastructure was never designed for current throughput levels. Every major exporter of bulk commodities — refined petroleum, fertiliser, agricultural produce — currently competes for the same insufficient berths. A dedicated deep seaport expressly designed for Dangote’s export volumes would, in theory, free up significant capacity at the Lagos complex for other users.
The deep-water draft capabilities implied by the “deep seaport” designation are also significant. Nigeria’s existing ports impose draft restrictions that prevent the largest class of bulk and container vessels from calling directly — forcing transhipment through ports like Lomé, Abidjan and Tanger-Med. A properly developed deep seaport on the Ogun/Ondo coastline, if designed to accommodate Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) and ultra-large container ships, could fundamentally alter Nigeria’s competitive position as a direct-call destination on major shipping lanes.
The deep seaport is being designed as a logistics gateway for an integrated industrial ecosystem capable of supporting Africa’s regional commerce and supply chain network — language that suggests ambitions well beyond a captive export terminal for Dangote’s own products.
Nigeria Watch: The Broader Blue Economy Dimension
The Olokola announcement arrives at a moment when Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy is actively seeking the large-scale private investment that would give its blue economy policy framework tangible expression. The ministry and the Nigerian Ports Authority have both spoken repeatedly about the need to develop new port capacity outside the Lagos corridor — and Dangote’s move at Olokola, however early-stage, represents exactly the kind of private-sector initiative that aligns with that policy direction.
For the Nigerian Shippers’ Council and its freight stakeholders, the project’s long-term promise of competition in port services — even if initially a captive facility — is a welcome structural development.
For NIMASA, the regulatory implications of a privately owned deep seaport of this scale will require careful navigation: cabotage policy, vessel registration, and coastal trade licensing all intersect with a development of this nature.
For inland waterway operators, the Olokola coastline’s position along the Gulf of Guinea opens questions about feeder service connections — whether NIWA’s jurisdiction over connecting waterway routes will be properly coordinated with the port’s eventual hinterland logistics design, and whether local boat and barge operators can position themselves early for the cargo volumes a 10,000-hectare maritime industrial city would generate.
The project is, at present, still at the preliminary engagement and surveying stage. No construction timeline has been officially published, no terminal operator has been named, and the full capital structure of the multi-billion-dollar investment has not been disclosed.
The history of large-scale port proposals in Nigeria — from Badagry to Ibom — counsels measured expectations. But the Dangote name, the community buy-in, the military consultation, and the presidential clearance together suggest that Olokola has progressed further along the credibility curve than most of its predecessors.
Nigeria’s maritime sector is watching — and it should be.
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