By Anthony Nwachukwu
The International Maritime Institute of Nigeria (IMION) has stressed the need for collaboration among the blue economy regulatory agencies and the industry’s private-sector stakeholders, insisting that “the development of Nigeria’s blue economy cannot be achieved by one institution or sector working alone.”
IMION Director-General, Rear Admiral Thaddeus Udofia (rtd), who made the call in his address at the closing ceremony of the IMION executive course on “Logistics and Trade Facilitation for the Blue Economy, also charged participants to put their learning to work, stating that “the knowledge acquired through the programme will only have its full value if it translates into action.”
Calling for a coordinated action, IMION said “the blue economy is not a distant economic frontier” but was already happening and “accounts for the majority of global seaborne trade and holds the key to Nigeria’s economic development, particularly in the areas of industrialisation, job creation, regional integration, and other frameworks like the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”
Udofia noted that regardless of the challenges, efficiency remains “the currency of modern global trade. If our transit times remain uncompetitive, logistics costs continue to be prohibitive, and our processes lack transparency and integrated digitalisation, cargo will bypass our corridors for other regional hubs.”
Also, “the cost of goods and services would remain prohibitively elevated, thereby further impoverishing our city’s living and stifling our national economic development.”
Therefore, “changing these stark narratives requires synchronised data agency execution among the customs, port authorities, security operators, investors, regulators, and private logistics operators.
“You, our participants seated here, are the bridge builders of this necessary collaboration. As you return to your respective duties, do not leave the insights from this course in your notebooks.”
He charged them to “be the change agents who advocate for data sharing and digital transparency” in their organisations; “boost practical reforms that reduce transaction friction at our ports and the entire logistics and trade value chain,” and “translate the strategies made into actionable policies that lower the cost of doing business in Nigeria.”
He emphasised that trade facilitation is not merely about moving cargo faster but also “about creating an efficient ecosystem in which businesses can trade with confidence, investors can operate efficiently, government can collect legitimate revenue, and our ports and maritime corridors can compete effectively within the global economy.”
To that end, he charged the participants to return to their respective organisations “with a renewed commitment to seeking ways of improving efficiency by reducing unnecessary delays, lowering logistics costs, and improving import efficiency, as well as strengthening regulatory coordination and embracing technology and innovation.”
Restating that Nigeria’s vast maritime wealth and resources would not translate into sustainable socio-economic prosperity without a radical overhaul of the country’s logistics and trade facilitation system, Udofia said that discussions at the training had deliberately focused on key operational realities.
These included “examining output inefficiencies, avoidable delays, high transaction costs, bureaucratic bottlenecks, inter-agency rivalry, and weak interline connectivity, which have continued to suffocate the country’s competitive edge.
“We also considered multimodal integration, where our facilitators walked us through modern customs processes, port operations, and the critical need for seamless multimodal transport networks.
“Additionally, we discussed our value chain realities, during which we identified the weakest links in the entire spectrum causing severe vulnerabilities, such as the gaps in all the infrastructure that interfere with fisheries and aquaculture potential.
For his part, another member of the Governing Board of IMION, Rear Admiral Akinsola Johnson (rtd), urged participants to take to their various formations or offices that, with commitment, success in any endeavour will be achieved irrespective of one’s capabilities or capacity.
He further enjoined them to remember that the solution to the challenges “is a multidisciplinary approach towards solving problems.” He stressed the need for “the right culture and work strategy,” stating that otherwise, a wrong culture will destroy whatever strategy is put in place.
