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As MARINE & BLUE Economy Minister
Without a doubt, one of the nation’s most quiet but fiercely focused ministers is the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola. This very accomplished former governor of Osun State has a peculiar style of operation that only those close to him understand very clearly. For starters, he detests undue publicity. He also has a strong aversion for unnecessary praise singing. Oyetola’s style has always been to let his work speak for him. He says very little, focuses more on his job and leaves the people to appraise him when the results are out in the open for all to see. This is how he has operated over the years and it has always worked for him. Until you understand how the man works, you will be tempted to think he has little passion for his job. But if truth be told, not too many can match Adegboyega Oyetola when it comes to passion and commitment for the job. His incredible brilliance and commitment to responsibilities assigned to him have been undeniable, which is why he has excelled remarkably well over the years.
Eversince Oyetola assumed office as the Minister for Marine and Blue Economy, very little noise has emanated from his camp. He has, once again, adopted his usual style – he stays focused on his assignment and keeps the unnecessary publicity away. For this very trusted loyalist of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, unnecessary publicity can be a huge distraction sometimes. He should know because he has been in public service long before he became Chief of Staff to former governor Rauf Aregbesola and before subsequently emerging governor of Osun State. This is why he was able to hit the ground running almost immediately after he assumed office as minister, clearly defining his set goals and targets and getting every single member of his team to key into his vision.
One of his goals as minister is to ensure that Nigeria reclaims its maritime global relevance under President Tinubu. And he intends to achieve this by first transforming the country into becoming a key hub for maritime activities in Africa, using its rich coastlines and strategic location.
Only a short while ago, the hardworking minister assured Nigerians that a robust process for the finalisation and validation of the National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy would be concluded by December 2024.
He also explained that the policy was ongoing and that his administration has evolved key policy thrusts and goals to drive the ministry towards actualising developmental goals of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led government.
To this end, Oyetola hinted that a comprehensive four-year key results framework and implementation plan to guide the Ministry and its agencies had been developed.
The Marine and Blue Economy Minister, who said this while speaking at the sectoral first year ministerial briefing in Abuja, also said the Ministry has attained some measure of success.
“The Ministry has achieved a ramp up of revenue to government in the last one year and is poised to do more. A comparison of Quarter 1, 2023, against Quarter 1, 2024, revenue performance across the agencies reveals a 92 percent increase.”
The increase in revenue performance, he said, was largely due to a 10 percent increase in the number of vessels calling the ports and due to strategic investments in port infrastructure in the last one-year.
“Mooring boats, patrol vessels and dredging of the port’s channels, we have also tightened revenue assurance by deploying technology,” he added.
Furthermore, a very confident Oyetola said the core objective of the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy was the creation of a dynamic national policy framework aimed at creating the enabling environment required for the sector to thrive, noting that it was in this regard that the Ministry engaged all stakeholders, experts, academia, and research institutions in assessing the current state of the sector.
Highlighting further, he maintained that the key measure of success for the Ministry was to increase the contribution of the marine and blue economy to national GDP, while generating revenue for the government for the important task of national economic development.
To achieve this, he explained that, currently, “we are implementing a 3-pronged strategy that is focused on blocking revenue leakages, enhancing revenue generation from established sources and identifying and rolling out new blue economy revenue sources.”
He opined that revenue generation was critical to the ministry and in that regard, “we have commenced the rollout of the following initiatives among others: Commissioning of revenue enhancement studies focused on the Ministry, its departments, and agencies. The objective is to further identify and block leakages while identifying recommendations to expand current revenue sources.
“Automation of revenue collection processes to eliminate bottlenecks and enhance transparency and accountability. Deploying revenue assurance technologies to ensure accurate and complete billings in line with established contracts and services rendered.
“Ensuring the efficient utilisation of existing assets through concessions to the private sector and public private partnerships as required. Investment promotion campaigns targeting both domestic and international investors for investments in the marine and blue economy sub-sectors.”
On capacity building, he said: “We have trained 100 seagoing officers, fishing vessels captains, and engineers in handling of fishing acoustics equipment, multi-beam echo-sounders and deep-sea fishing.
“We have recorded 23 percent increase in the placement of Nigerian Seafarers on Board vessels in Q1 of 2024 culminating in boosting indigenous participation in commercial shipping and enhancing the reputation and sea-time experience.
“Development of courses on coastal and marine tourism, biodiversity conservation, ship finance and management, and other simulation-based courses for seafarers. Expected completion in Q4, 2024
“For the first time in 47 years, foreign students were admitted and trained at the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron,” Oyetola added.
These, clearly, are signs indicative of a man who knows exactly what he’s doing and has his sights set firmly on his goals. With Oyetola at the helm of affairs, you can bet the stakes will be raised several notches higher because he is a man of pretty high standards himself. Nigerians should keep their fingers crossed, something phenomenal is about to happen in our maritime sector!
– WALE LAWAL
(08037209290)
