Senators and members of the Green Chamber have called for increased funding for the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, accentuating the sector’s huge potential to drive economic development.
The lawmakers settled for this call during the budget defense session for the ministry.
The ministry was allocated 11 billion naira for its 2025 operations.
Speaking while presenting the estimates, Minister Gboyega Oyetola, a former Chief Executive of Osun State, said the quantum of investment through capital budget was fundamental for the ministry to follow through on its lofty mandate and potential.
“For clarity, I wish to state that three of the agencies under the Ministry, namely: NPA, NIMASA, and NSC, are fully self-funding and make significant remittances to the Consolidated Revenue Fund,” he said.
He made sense of the fact that the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), and Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron get their funding from both the Federal Government Budget and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
Lawmakers, notwithstanding, contended that the budget misses the mark regarding what is expected to take advantage of the sector’s true capacity and meet its responsibilities.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Marine and Blue Economy, Senator Wasiu Eshinlokun, supported the significance of satisfactory funding and early budget preparations for 2026. “The Marine and Blue Economy sector has immense potential. To ensure the ministry can fulfil its mandate, we must begin planning for the 2026 budget now,” he said.
The lawmakers likewise featured key projects, including the dredging of the Rivers Niger and Benue and the development of coastal infrastructure, as fundamental for positioning Nigeria as a maritime business hub in Africa.
They underscored that increased investment in the sector would yield substantial economic advantages for the nation.
