Secrets Reporters
Just two years after it was floated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023, the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy has continued to paddle in the deep waters of heavy spending, with 2025 budget figures exclusively obtained by SecretsReporters revealing yet another tide of multi-billion-naira allocations that raise more questions than answers.
Under the leadership of Minister Gboyega Adetola, the ministry has dropped anchor on a spending plan for 2025 that is nothing short of staggering. At the top of the expense list is a ₦333.6 million provision for the purchase of motor vehicles, a head-scratcher given that in 2024, the same ministry splurged over ₦1 billion on vehicles alone.
Even more eye-popping is the whopping ₦3.63 billion earmarked for research and development. While R&D is the heartbeat of any forward-looking sector, no clear roadmap or publicly accessible documentation has been made available to show how similar past investments have advanced Nigeria’s standing in global marine and blue economy discourse.
The ministry has also penciled in ₦215.7 million for welfare packages and other incentives to staff, a generous slice of the pie that offers little detail on what form these incentives will take or how they tie into national productivity. This is further accompanied by ₦282 million for capacity development in critical areas of the blue economy, and ₦93 million for enhancing professionalism, both laudable in theory, but lacking the transparency necessary to inspire public confidence.
Another chunk, ₦195.6 million, is slated for the construction and provision of electricity. Whether this is for ministry offices, ports, or coastal communities remains unclear, yet it marks yet another line item where specifics are shrouded in ambiguity.
Similarly, ₦90 million has been budgeted for litigation and other matters, a broad phrase that leaves much to the imagination and little to audit.
Not to be left behind in the budgetary current, ₦206.9 million has been set aside for marine surveys and stock assessment for national fisheries planning and management—an initiative that, if implemented with precision, could bolster Nigeria’s marine resource data.
For the implementation of the National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy, ₦50.6 million has been allocated. Yet, this policy, what it contains, what it aims to achieve, and how it aligns with national development goals, has scarcely been put under public scrutiny.
In a bid to address boat accidents, which have become a recurring tragedy in Nigeria’s riverine areas, the ministry’s 2025 war chest is ₦180 million for programmes to tackle boat mishaps in inland waterways.
The budget also nods toward academia with a plan to encourage maritime and blue economy studies in tertiary institutions, earmarking N116 million for this cause.
Also, a modest ₦66.9 million is reserved for environmental preservation, a cause that, in an ideal world, should be at the heart of any blue economy vision.