By Stephen Ubanna
Oyetola Oyetola a former governor of Osun state and now minister of marine and blue economy , appears to have taken advantage of the 2025, budget defence and’’ laying of the agencies under the ministry’s supervision budget ‘’, before the National Assembly Joint Committees on Marine Transport; Ports and Harbour, Maritime Safety Education and Administration ; Inland Water Ways and Shipping services, on Tuesday, January 21, to declare that ‘’the maritime agencies are self-funding and makes significant remittances to the Federation account on a monthly basis which an insider had said runs into hundreds of billions of naira yearly.
The three Maritime agencies supervised by the newly established ministry, which the minister had said are self -funding include agencies, includes the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, under the close watch of Dayo Mobereola, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA and the Nigerian Shippers Council, NSC.

The former Osun state , governor may have made the Lawmakers to understand that it is not only the the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, now baptized Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, with the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, passed by the National Assembly and signed into Law by former President Muhammadu Buhari, on August 2021, Nigeria Customs Service, NCS and Federal Inland Revenue Services, FIRS, that makes remittances to the Federation Account but maritime agencies as well.
The minister, who could not hide his feeling s had said that the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, Maritime Academy of Nigerian, MAN, based in Oron, Akwa Ibom, home state of Godswill Akpabio, the incumbent Senate President and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria, CRFFN, on their own part, derives their funding from Federal Government yearly budget and Internally Generated Revenue, IGR.
Aware that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had tagged the 2025, Fiscal Budget as ‘’Budget of Restoration: Securing Peace and rebuilding prosperity, may have informed why Adegboyega, described as ‘’a workaholic in maritime circles’’, had sounded it loud and clear that the ministry under his Leadership and its agencies had planned ‘’ to consolidate and sustain on its achievements and performances recorded in 2024 by focusing on port infrastructural development, increased fish production, Maritime Safety and Security, Information and Technology deployment to improve on its revenue generation this 2025, fiscal year.
An elated Oyetola, who was impressed by what had been achieved by the ministry and its agencies over the last one year was said to have given his words to the Lawmakers who were out to commit him to disclose the ministry plans for 2025 and how he intends to achieve them was said to stated further that the ministry and its agencies would pay attention ‘’to capacity and utilize its technical potentials to effectively regulate the industry stakeholders, improve on its operations and strengthen and blue economy in Nigeria’’.
Given the ministry initiatives to explore other sources of revenue generation, the Osun state born minister of marine and blue economy, had said that ‘’the appropriation of the Fisheries and Agriculture Department under the ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development would boost its Internally Generated Revenue, IGR. The ministry, according to informed sources was said to have initiated major projects in the fisheries and agricultural sectors of the economy ‘’to boost the country’s fish production’’.
The minister had said that these projects that had been initiated in the Fisheries and agricultural sub- sectors of the economy are deliberately ‘’tied to the government capital budgets to guarantee fast track delivery and assured food security in Nigeria’’, noting that the huge investments that are expected to be made in the fisheries and agricultural sub-sectors through the capital budget is necessary if the ministry is ‘’to deliver lofty mandate and potential’’.
Determined to achieve the ministry’s apital projects of developing Dry Ports at Ijebu Ode and Moniya, in Ogun and Oyo states respectively, which the minister had categorically stated are targeted for fast tracked delivery to decongest the Lagos ports of Apapa and Tin can Island, which currently handles, more than 90% of the country’s cargoes imports, he had confirmed that ‘’the design consultancies for the projects are on-going’’.
In a related, the minister had given an insight to steps that had been taken in the recent time by NIWA, with the backing of the ministry,’’ to curtail boat mishaps across nation’s creeks and rivers. NIWA, may have taken bold initiative ‘’to stop boat mishaps across Nigerian water ways because of the increased traffic’’
. At present, the agency, with the ministerial support, was said to have targeted ‘’provision of Life Jackets to the riverine Communities’’ in Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Lagos, Ogun, Kwara, Niger, Kogi, Sokoto, Zamfara, and other states of the Federation that rely on water transport ‘’to boost safety of passengers’’.

Another bold initiative that was said to have been taken by the agency which was said to have received the ministerial approval was the ongoing program ‘’to replace rickety wooden boats used for commercial transport by local investors with standardized crafts and intensify capital dredging at selected locations on major rivers in different parts of the country
Many believe that the agency could have executed some of these capital projects in 2024 but failed to do so due to the paucity of funds. There are indications that the ministry could not release the necessary funds to NIWA, to award the contracts for the execution of the multi-million-naira capital dredging projects that had been captured in the N9,973,802,613.00 budgetary provision of the ministry in 2024.
Although, N9,973, was said to have been released to the ministry as at December 31, 2024, it was said to have been fully committed to its capital projects. The minister who was said to have told the Lawmakers that the ministry expects to get the remaining balance payment of N 874,710,371.00, which had been earmarked to be expended in this first quarter of 2025, on ongoing capital projects, he had solicited for their support and cooperation to facilitate the release of the outstanding funds.
In spite of the fact that ministry had proposed a total sum of N11,770,533,003.00 for its 2025, capital projects and overhead cost of N.453,856,327.00, which industry stakeholders had considered as inadequate because of the situation of things in the country, but the minister appears to have given his word to deliver on the ministry’s mandate and ensure that its other compelling needs predicated on the plan ‘’to deliver the full potentials of the blue economy sector are realized in 2025. Vintage Oyetola.
.
,