By Our Correspondent
The Provisional Committee of the proposed Nigerian Coast Guard, PC-NCG, says Nigeria’s maritime sector remains strategically powerful but is weakened by institutional fragmentation that hampers enforcement, safety, and economic protection.
In a statement issued Friday in Abuja, Director of Communications & Public Affairs Dr. Piriye Kiyaramo quoted PC-NCG Chief Executive and Accounting Officer Capt. Noah Ichaba as saying only a dedicated Coast Guard can serve as the missing operational bridge connecting security, safety, enforcement, and economic protection into one coordinated system within the blue economy.
Capt. Ichaba listed the core functions a Coast Guard would provide: a single coordinated system for anti-smuggling, anti-piracy support, illegal fishing control, vessel inspection, and compliance enforcement. He added it would improve rapid response to piracy, oil theft, sea robbery, and kidnapping at sea while reducing over-reliance on fragmented, privately contracted arrangements.
The PC-NCG boss argued that a state-led operational backbone would improve maritime economic efficiency. He said it would cut cargo delays caused by insecurity, lower insurance risk premiums, and reduce operational uncertainty for shipping lines and port users. It would also strengthen national maritime sovereignty through a clear, centralized, rule-based enforcement system instead of dispersed authority.
Nigeria’s maritime domain, he noted, includes an 850km Atlantic coastline, key ports in Lagos, Onne, Warri, and Calabar, offshore oil and gas infrastructure, and the Gulf of Guinea shipping corridor, one of the world’s highest-risk zones. That domain carries over 80% of Nigeria’s international trade by volume and remains critical to national revenue and security.
“Nigeria controls one of Africa’s longest coastlines and a maritime domain critical to trade, energy, and food security. Yet, our current structure spreads responsibility across multiple agencies without a single operational command. The result is gaps in response and lost economic value,” Capt. Ichaba said. “A Nigerian Coast Guard will close those gaps.”
He stressed that coastal communities, fishermen, port operators, and shipping companies bear the cost of fragmentation daily through delays, insecurity, and environmental threats. Modeled on global best practice, a Coast Guard would integrate search and rescue, pollution control, fisheries enforcement, port security, and marine law enforcement under one mandate.
The Committee reaffirmed its commitment to work with the National Assembly, Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Nigerian Navy, NIMASA, and other stakeholders to finalize a legislative framework for a lean, professional, and technology-driven Nigerian Coast Guard. “The ocean is Nigeria’s next economic frontier. But we cannot unlock blue jobs, blue investment, and blue trade if our maritime system remains divided. The time to bridge the gap is now,” Capt. Ichaba added.
