The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola has disclosed that the Federal Government is exploring the possibility of establishing a coast guard to ensure security on the nation’s waterways.
Speaking at the 32nd Iragbiji Day held at Iragbiji, headquarters of Boripe Local Government Area of Osun State, the Minister said apart from the Ministry’s collaboration with the Navy, it is working on different means to provide adequate security to maximize its marine economy potential.
He added that the federal government intends to establish coastal tourism, hinged on proper security in the sector, hence, the move to establish coastal guards.
According to him, the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has a Deep Blue Project with adequate security equipment to provide security on the waterways but the expanse of navigable waterways demands more effective action.
There are conscious efforts to ensure adequate security of the marine environment, NIMASA has Deep Blue Project that has a gunboat and many security equipments.
We are already looking at the possibility of establishing a coast guard which will be designed essentially to ensure the safety of our coastal line. We have not less than 853 kilometers of coastline in Nigeria and about 10,000 perimeter of inland waterways, if we want to ensure coastal tourism we must provide adequate security, we are working with the Navy, Marine police, and others to ensure security”
Speaking on the conversation of Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, skill acquisition centre converted to a football camp, the former Osun State Governor described the action of the State Government as unfortunate
