Tinubu directs NIPSS to conduct nationwide security review

President Bola Tinubu. Photo: State House

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President Bola Tinubu has ordered the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies to carry out a nationwide security diagnostic and submit actionable recommendations to guide reforms of Nigeria’s security architecture.

Tinubu issued the directive on Wednesday at a Presidential Parley with participants of Senior Executive Course 47 at the State House, Abuja, where he also asked ministries, departments and agencies to study and prepare to implement NIPSS’s new report on the blue economy.

Vice President Kashim Shettima represented the President.

According to a statement signed by the VP’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, the President framed the security task alongside a fresh economic blueprint targeting Nigeria’s marine and aquatic wealth.

The Nigerian leader described NIPSS as the intellectual engine of our national transformation and urged the scholars to remain bold, solution-driven and rooted in the country’s realities.

“The policy paper shall be submitted to my office within an agreed timeline, and it will receive the utmost attention,” he assured.

The President said the blue economy would be treated as a core engine of national transformation.

Tinubu described NIPSS as “the intellectual engine of our national transformation” and pledged prompt attention to its security paper “within an agreed timeline.”

Tinubu announced a new security and economic framework aimed at unlocking Nigeria’s vast marine and aquatic resources under the blue economy as one of the country’s most critical sectors for national transformation.

Accordingly, he directed all relevant ministries, departments, and agencies to immediately review and implement recommendations by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies’ comprehensive study on blue economy development.

He said, “The blue economy offers a strategic pathway for diversifying our revenue base, creating sustainable employment and revitalising the ecosystems that sustain national development.

“If properly harnessed, this sector could become an anchor of shared prosperity for generations,” he said.

President Tinubu welcomed the findings of the NIPSS study on Blue Economy and Sustainable Development in Nigeria, describing it as a timely resource that outlines the “opportunities we must seize, the challenges we must confront and the policies we must refine.”

He praised the institute for sustaining what he called its tradition of analytical rigour, creativity and patriotic duty.

He noted that Nigeria’s marine endowments, including an 853-kilometre coastline, rich fisheries, extensive inland waterways and a strategic location within the Gulf of Guinea, place the country in a strong position to build new growth avenues.

He said the administration is prioritising aquaculture expansion, port and maritime corridor modernisation, coastal tourism, marine biotechnology and renewable ocean energy.

“These opportunities lie within our grasp if we act with discipline and intentionality,” he noted.

Reaffirming his administration’s reform agenda, President Tinubu highlighted the establishment of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy as a critical step toward improving port management systems, strengthening maritime security operations and enabling private-sector growth.

He, however, acknowledged that more work lies ahead and directed all relevant ministries, departments and agencies to immediately study and prepare to implement the NIPSS recommendations.

The President stressed that economic ambitions in the blue economy cannot be realised without a safe and stable environment.

While piracy has reduced through the Deep Blue Project, he warned that oil theft, illegal fishing, smuggling, vandalism and kidnapping still undermine national revenues and investor confidence.

“These threats are real, and this Administration is taking decisive steps to address them,” Tinubu said.

Earlier, the Director-General of NIPSS, Prof. Ayo Omotayo, thanked President Tinubu for the support the institution has received, just as he appreciated the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, for providing funding for SEC 47.

He noted that the team visited several Nigerian states and 14 countries outside Nigeria, and were at the Presidential Villa to present their findings titled “Blue Economy and Sustainable Development in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities.”

Highlighting the content of the report, Colonel Murkar Dauda said the Federal Government was already addressing systemic gaps in the blue economy, while commending the President for his visionary leadership in driving the economy.

Among other issues, the report noted challenges of governance, institutional coordination, and policy coherence, as well as the fact that available infrastructure falls below global standards.

The report further emphasised the opportunities available in Nigeria.

“Fisheries and aquaculture remain strong entry points for Nigeria,” the report added, advising that diversifying revenue sources will unlock new earnings for the country.

In its recommendations, the Federal Government was advised to launch a national fisheries expansion programme, leveraging public-private investments to increase fish production from the current 1.2 metric tonnes to 10 metric tonnes within two years.

The report also recommended expanding the revenue base of the marine and blue economy sector while developing a comprehensive marine and blue economy financing framework.

Additionally, the Institute stressed that the Federal Government should review and harmonise all legal, policy, and institutional frameworks on the marine and blue economy; establish an innovative marine and blue economy skills, job creation, and social inclusion framework, as well as enhance the safety and security of inland water bodies, among others.

With three years of experience, Stephen, The PUNCH correspondent, has been covering Nigeria’s presidency, politics, security, immigration and trafficking in persons

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