Minister of Marine and Blue Economy Adegboyega Oyetola has said the ministry recorded revenue of N242 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024.
The minister, while briefing newsmen in Abuja Tuesday during the ministerial sectoral update to mark President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s first year in office, said the revenue recovered represents a 92 percent increase from the N126 billion recorded in Q1 of 2023.
Oyetola said the ministry had achieved a ramp up of revenue to the government in the last year and poised to do more.
The minister said in comparison with Quarter 1 2023, the Quarter 1 2024 revenue performance across the agencies revealed a 92% increase.
According to him, “The increase in revenue performance has largely been due to a 10% increase in the number of vessels calling our ports due to strategic investments in port infrastructure in the last one-year, mooring boats, patrol vessels, and dredging of the port’s channels.”
He said the federal government had completed “some of the projects we inherited, including the Funtua Dry Port, Port Access Roads in Onne and the rehabilitation of some access roads in Tin Can and Apapa ports.”
…Key achievements
The minister highlighted other key achievements of the ministry in port infrastructure within the past year, including the following among others:
“Promotion of Inland Dry Ports – we are promoting the development of inland dry ports in strategic locations across the country.
“They will have a combined capacity of 165,000 TEUs. The inland dry ports will help to decongest our seaports, deliver a net decrease in transportation costs and environmental challenges, and promote overall improvement in public safety through reduced road accidents.
“Commissioning of Funtua Dry Port – we have finalised the Funtua Inland Dry Port which was commissioned on 9th May 2024. This will improve the ease of doing business and increase our share of the Sahel trade.”
He said the blue economy has the potential to drive inclusive growth, create employment opportunities, and alleviate poverty, particularly in coastal and island communities.
Going forward, he said, “to advance the Nigerian Blue Economy, we embarked on an extensive four-year implementation plan summarised into four main pillars, each meticulously designed for transformative impact.
“Unlocking this overwhelming potential requires strategic action, and the future holds even brighter possibilities. Our 4-year implementation plan is an economic vision and a blueprint for national transformation.
“It is also a commitment to environmental responsibility, as our marine resources require vigilant stewardship, and by uniting in this endeavour, we pledge to preserve them for future generations.”
Continuing, the former Osun state governor said: “Key policy thrusts and goals have been defined, and a comprehensive four-year Key Results Framework and Implementation Plan to guide the Ministry and its Agencies has been developed. A robust process for the finalisation and validation of the policy is ongoing. The National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy will be concluded by the Grace of God in December 2024.
“To realise the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President under the sector, we have been able to achieve a ramp-up of revenue to the government in the last year and we are poised to do more. A comparison of Quarter 1 of 2023 against Quarter 1 of 2024 revenue performance across the Agencies reveals a 92% increase.”
He said, “We held a stakeholders’ engagement to examine the challenge of extortion and illegal checkpoints on the port access roads. We did that because we are determined to ensure that players in the industry do not lose money due to congestion and traffic gridlock. I am happy to report that, today, sanity has returned to the Tin-Can Island Port corridor as the perennial traffic gridlock on Mile 2 and Tin-Can in Lagos has since given way, thus putting an end to the multi-billion-naira yearly loss to Lagos ports traffic gridlock, which defied all known solutions for close to a decade.
“The increase in revenue performance has also been due to a 10% increase in the number of vessels calling at our ports 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.”
…Food security
In a related development, the federal government said it has set aside N200 billion to tackle Nigeria’s food insecurity.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, who disclosed this at the ministerial press briefing Tuesday in Abuja, added that the amount would help bring down food prices as well as inflation.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics in its April CPI report, Nigeria inflation rate 33.69% in April 2024 was largely driven by the food inflation which stood at 40.53 percent in April of 2024.
Nigerians continue to lament the steady rise in the prices of goods and services partially fueled by the removal of petrol subsidy.
According to the minister, with 30 percent of the world affected by issues of food security, agriculture will play a critical role in addressing global food insecurity.
According to the World Bank in its Food Security Update, Nigeria and other West African countries are likely to experience food scarcity between July and August.
He said: “Our success in this area is critical and efforts are being redoubled. N200 billion has been provided by the Ministry of Finance towards the intervention programme.
“But I was talking to the Minister for Agriculture and Food Security just yesterday, and he said that we are still in the midst of the dry season harvest, which portends well, for agricultural output and production and together with other initiatives, especially at the state level, where the farms are, where the land is, the special agriculture processing, zooms and other initiatives portend well for increased food production a better performance for agriculture which will immediately mean a faster growing economy and an attack on inflation in a substantial manner because as we know. The index on inflation is 50% made up of the food price index which is elevated.
“So, therefore, we are looking at a situation where inflation comes down with another good wet season to harvest more food available, and as inflation comes down, it gives the monetary authorities a chance to stabilise the exchange rate. That gives an opportunity for interest rates to come down and for investment to kick in, thereby increasing productivity creating jobs and thereby helping to reduce poverty, which is Mr. President.”
Speaking further, Edun said in order to protect the poor and vulnerable Nigerians with a view to lifting them out of poverty, the government introduced several intervention programmes.
According to the minister, these include N60 billion for student loans, N500 million for 1 million nano industries at N50, 000 each as well as a N100 billion for consumer credit.
The CME said: “And first of all, let me highlight protection of the poor and the vulnerable at a time of heightened costs. Mr. President was committed to making sure nobody is left behind at a time of high inflation.
“So, as we all know, as the chair of the presidential panel on social investment programs, the all important direct payments to the poor, which is a veritable tool and the sharpest tool you can have for attacking increased living standards for helping people immediately that program has been restarted.
“It involves helping at least 75 million Nigerians, 15 million households with payment of N75 billion in immediate term. And in order to make sure that the public trust is there in this process, we have a system that has been developed between the Minister for Communications innovation digital economy, the Minister for Health, the Minister of youth, and so forth.
“We have come up with a globally at best standard in providing direct payments. On the one hand, each person must have and we’re hoping to get even to the lowest ward level village level to have a need that that individually identifies them.
“Secondly, their payment most be through digital means, whether it’s a BVN which means a bank account, or a mobile wallet, and we have brought all the skills and technology to bear in Nigeria to help so the mobile network operators have all been recruited to ensure that we have a faster rollout of this program. And that is one of the key ways in which initially, the poor and the most vulnerable will be helped.”
The minister also revealed that the federal government was set to roll out an Economic Emergency Plan that would be implemented in the next six months.
The plan, he explained, would help stabilise the economy and set the country on the path of growth.
“And then finally, we do have fresh on Mr. President’s table today an economic emergency plan for stabilizing the economy and implementing it over the next six months. And he has been put together by the President’s economic team, by the private sector representatives, by the sub national state governments.
“We have all sat together in recent weeks and we have a package on Mr. President’s desk this afternoon for his approval. And why it is only this afternoon because it was this morning. We got the final clearance from a state governor who had said he wanted to have a final chance to review an input with that clearance. We’re now good to go in terms of a major economic plan for Mr. President to approve,” he added.