The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has said the launch of the Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS) by the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy is aimed at repositioning the Ministry as a key driver of transparency, efficiency, economic diversification, and global competitiveness.
The ECMS was officially launched on Wednesday during the Ministry’s Fourth Quarter 2025 Stakeholders and Citizens Engagement held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
The platform was jointly unveiled by Minister Oyetola and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack.
The engagement, which attracted stakeholders across the marine and blue economy value chain, was themed: “Positioning Nigeria’s Marine and Blue Economy for Investment, Innovation and Expansion: The Pathway.”
Delivering his keynote address, Oyetola said the engagement was designed to deepen transparency, accountability, collaboration, and shared ownership of reforms in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Describing the ECMS as a strategic investment, the Minister said the digital platform goes beyond internal administration to enhance efficiency, accountability, and service delivery.
“A digitally enabled Ministry is a more responsive Ministry,” Oyetola said. “Through the ECMS, we are streamlining workflows, strengthening records management, improving decision-making, and enhancing our capacity to support investors, operators, and partners with speed, clarity, and integrity.”
Highlighting the sector’s strategic importance, Oyetola noted that Nigeria’s extensive coastline, inland waterways, and strategic geographic location offer significant opportunities in maritime trade, fisheries, aquaculture, logistics, tourism, and related services, with the potential to drive inclusive growth, job creation, and regional integration.
He disclosed that the Ministry recorded notable progress in fisheries and aquaculture over the past year, with local fish production increasing from 1.1 million metric tonnes to 1.4 million metric tonnes. Although the figure remains below Nigeria’s annual consumption requirement of 3.6 million tonnes, he said the improvement reflects targeted interventions, better coordination, technology deployment, and improved sectoral planning.
The Minister further revealed that the Ministry has begun engagements with financial institutions to provide single-digit interest loans for fishermen nationwide.
According to him, the initiative is aimed at expanding access to affordable finance, boosting productivity, empowering operators, and curbing illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
On the global stage, Oyetola said Nigeria’s election into Category C of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council, as well as its emergence as Chairman of the Conference of Ministers of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea, signal renewed international confidence in Nigeria’s maritime governance, leadership, and policy direction.
He added that the Ministry’s reform initiatives have earned national recognition, citing a 96 per cent performance rating by the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit (CRDCU), positive assessments from the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), and recent National Bureau of Statistics data ranking water transportation among the five fastest-growing sectors of the Nigerian economy.
In her remarks, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Walson-Jack, commended the Ministry for its reforms and achievements, particularly the successful deployment of the ECMS.
She described the platform as a major step toward paperless governance, improved records management, and faster, more efficient public service delivery. According to her, the ECMS will strengthen institutional memory, reduce bureaucracy, enhance accountability, and align the Ministry with the broader digital transformation agenda of the Federal Civil Service.
The event was attended by regulators, private sector operators, investors, development partners, and other stakeholders across the marine and blue economy, who reaffirmed their commitment to supporting the sector’s growth and sustainability.
