Oyetola urges NASS to raise ministry’s budget, support infrastructural devt

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, has urged the National Assembly to support the ministry’s infrastructural development by increasing the ministry’s 2025 budget to enable it to harness the potential of the Marine and Blue Economy sector.

Oyetola said this while addressing a Joint House Committee of the Senate on Marine Transport and the House of Representatives Committees on Ports and Harbour, Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, Inland Waterways and Shipping Services in Abuja on Tuesday, January 21, 2025.

The minister said: “As a newly created ministry, our initial focus is to set up enduring structures and systems for the effective management of the blue economy sector.

“The notable deficiencies in the sector such as general infrastructure decay, silted river courses, inadequate fish production, and inadequate river crafts require major attention.

“Quantum investment through the capital budget is necessary for the Ministry to deliver on its lofty mandate and potential. Greater budgetary provision is therefore advocated.  The proposed total capital budget of N11,770,533,003 and overhead of N453,856,327 is for your kind consideration.”

Oyetola noted that the 2025 budget seeks to consolidate and sustain the achievements and performances recorded in 2024 by focusing on “ports infrastructural development, increased fish production, maritime safety and security, information technology deployment, human capacity building, and effective technical and economic regulation to ensure the strengthening of the Blue Economy in Nigeria.”

Blue economy to generate $20bn annually, creates 2m jobs – Oyetola

On the agencies present at the briefing, Oyetola stated: “Three of the agencies under the ministry – NPA, NIMASA, and NSC – are fully self-funding and make significant remittances to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF/TSA). The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron derive their funding from both the federal government budget and Internally Generated Revenue.

For the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), the minister said: “Based on my passionate plea has been readmitted into the budget for funding albeit erroneously under the Federal Ministry of Transport, I trust that you will rectify this.”

He added that he was counting on the cooperation of the National Assembly members to ensure that the five agencies under the Fisheries and Aquaculture sector (Institutes and Colleges) fully come under the ministry in the 2025 budget.

Oyetola also thanked the committee for their attention and urged them to consider the propositions and note the compelling needs of the ministry.

Speaking after the budget presentation, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Marine and Blue Economy, Sanni Eshinlokun, said the ministry will be given the needed support to succeed as it is presently underfunded.

Eshinlokun added that the budget of the ministry should naturally match its KPI to be impactful.

The Star