President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared that Africa must move from “sea blindness” to “ocean sovereignty,” positioning maritime governance and security as the foundation for unlocking the continent’s blue economy potential.
Tinubu who stated this at the high-level roundtable on Maritime Sovereignty and Ocean Governance during the Africa Forward Summit 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya, averred that Nigeria had transformed its maritime strategy from one focused largely on threats to one centred on economic opportunity, regional security and investment.
His words: “For too long, ‘sea blindness’ has meant that we have looked upon the vast waters under our jurisdiction as voids, or simply as sources of threat. Nigeria is here to tell a different story: our maritime domain is a sovereign territory, and its governance must be asserted, resourced, and institutionalised.”
These were contained in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr. Bolaji Akinola and made available to Maritime Bits.
The President stated that piracy incidents had been eliminated within Nigerian waters following what he called “sustained investments in maritime security infrastructure” under the country’s Deep Blue Project.
According to him, the initiative deployed an integrated network of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, including command-and-control centres, special mission vessels, fast intervention boats and aerial platforms. The global maritime community has acknowledged the elimination of piracy incidents within Nigerian waters and the substantial reduction of attacks across the Gulf of Guinea.
He maintained that maritime sovereignty is an economic imperative for Africa’s future just as he insisted that secure sea lanes and predictable regulation were necessary conditions for attracting private capital into the blue economy.
He also highlighted Nigeria’s recent institutional reforms, including the creation of a dedicated Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, describing it as proof that ocean governance had become a central pillar of state policy.
Tinubu called for what he called “deeper regional coordination” across the Gulf of Guinea (GoG), warning that maritime crime cannot be effectively tackled by countries acting in isolation.
Said he: “As we endorse the Nairobi Declaration, Nigeria affirms that maritime sovereignty and ocean governance are the non-negotiable foundations of Africa’s Blue Economy transformation.”
He enjoined African states to treat ocean governance as a generational responsibility, declaring that “the oceans have no duplicate as a common heritage of mankind.”
