MAN, NIWA and the Cost of Governing a Blue Economy on ‘Acting’ Mode

BY EGUONO ODJEGBA

There is an institutional question quietly gathering weight within Nigeria’s emerging marine and blue economy architecture. It is not about whether the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy has a vision. It is not even about whether the administration of the Minister, Dr. Adegboyega Oyetola has initiated reforms across the maritime sector.

The more fundamental question is whether some of the institutions expected to translate that vision into sustainable human-capital development, inland-waterway expansion and maritime productivity are being given the institutional stability and strategic attention required to perform at their optimum.

At the centre of that concern are two important agencies of the Ministry, the Maritime Academy of Nigeria and the National Inland Waterways Authority. Both are currently operating with acting chief executives.

For the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), located in Oron, Akwa Ibom State, the situation is particularly striking. Dr Kevin Okonna was appointed Acting Rector in January 2025 following the departure of Commodore Duja Effedua, about two months earlier. Nearly 20 months later, Okonna still operate in acting capacity.

That is a considerable period for an institution whose mandate is too important to be treated as merely transitional. MAN is not an ordinary federal agency. Established in 1977 and upgraded under the 1988 legislation that expanded its mandate, the Academy was designed to provide education and professional training for shipboard officers, ratings and shore-based maritime personnel.

Its present academic structure covers nautical studies, marine engineering and maritime transport, alongside professional and specialised seafarer-training programmes.

In other words, MAN is one of the places where the manpower required to make Nigeria’s maritime ambitions possible is supposed to be produced. That makes its institutional condition a matter of national economic policy; as would be revealed below:

The Blue Economy Begins With People

Nigeria’s renewed interest in the marine and blue economy is premised on the understanding that the ocean, inland waterways, shipping, fisheries, marine services and related activities represent enormous economic opportunities.

But vessels do not sail themselves. Ports do not operate themselves, and inland waterways do not become commercially productive merely because they are dredged. Marine infrastructure does not create value without competent people to design, operate, regulate and maintain it.

Human capital is therefore not an accessory to the blue economy, but is one of its foundations. This is precisely where the strategic importance of MAN Oron becomes difficult to ignore.

The Academy is expected to supply trained personnel to the maritime industry and allied sectors, yet some of its most important institutional questions remain unresolved. One of the most persistent is the absence of a dedicated training vessel.

Let us be clear, the issue is not new. The Academy’s Governing Council has, however, more recently acknowledged the problem by incorporating acquisition of a training vessel into its five-year strategic development plan which is very encouraging.

But it also underscores how long the problem has remained on the national agenda. A training vessel is not simply another piece of infrastructure. For an institution training future deck officers, marine engineers and other seafaring professionals, practical exposure is an integral part of professional formation.

To this end, the Academy has increasingly relied on partnerships with industry to bridge the sea-time gap. In February 2026, for example, 30 MAN cadets were inducted by NLNG Shipping and Marine Services Limited for mandatory one-year sea-time experience, following an earlier batch of 13 cadets. Such partnerships deserve recognition.

But a national maritime academy should ideally be positioned to enter such partnerships from a position of institutional strength, rather than dependence.

More than anything, that distinction matters, so much so because it is a question of institutional confidence. There is also the question of leadership.

Let us be clear, an acting appointment is not necessarily a sign of failure. In public administration, acting arrangements are sometimes necessary to maintain continuity while formal appointments are processed. The problem begins however when the temporary becomes unduly, prolonged.

The concern is not necessarily about Dr Okonna personally. Indeed, there is evidence that he has continued to drive initiatives at the Academy. The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Nigeria (CILT), recognised his leadership in 2025, while the Academy has reported reforms involving training standards, infrastructure, staff welfare, strategic partnerships and engagement with international maritime organisations.

More recently, MAN and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) have been discussing curriculum review and deeper cooperation in seafarer training, while the Academy has been developing international partnerships to widen sea-time opportunities for its cadets.

These are not the signs of an institution standing still. But good institutional performance should not become an argument for indefinite acting arrangements.

Indeed, the opposite may be true. Where a chief executive is expected to implement a long-term strategic plan, negotiate major partnerships, undertake institutional restructuring, pursue capital projects, develop staff capacity and defend the organisation’s interests before government, the certainty that comes with substantive appointment does matter.

It affects authority, affects confidence, affects long-term planning. And it can affect the willingness of an executive to take decisions whose benefits may extend beyond the immediate administrative horizon.

MAN’s Paradox

Without any equivocation, there is an intriguing paradox at MAN today. On one hand, the Academy is projecting significant ambitions. During its 2026 budget defence before the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, the Academy projected about N24.01 billion in revenue, including an expected N13.33 billion from the statutory five per cent NIMASA fund.

On the other hand, the Academy continues to grapple with some of the structural questions that should have been settled much earlier in the life of a modern maritime training institution.

For instance, it is planning for a training vessel, while also seeking additional capacity and strategic partnerships. It did not end there, it is working on staff and institutional reforms, and currently engaging regulators on curriculum development.

Yet the institution’s top executive remains in acting capacity, while other senior management positions on its own published management structure are also listed in acting capacities.

That juxtaposition deserves national attention. It is certainly not an indictment of the present management. It is an argument for institutional clarity.

The Funding Question

There is yet another dimension which should not be lost in the conversation. MAN is not without a statutory financial mechanism. The NIMASA Act provides for a five per cent remittance of the Agency’s revenue to the Academy, even though there has been concerns about what actually constitutes the five per cent.  Public available financial reporting has shown that this mechanism has generated substantial funds for MAN over the years.

The issue, therefore, is not simply whether money exists within the maritime training ecosystem. The bigger policy question is whether available resources are sufficient to cater for the Academy’s most important long-term requirements.

Although it may sound trite, yet, it is very true that a world-class maritime academy like MAN needs more than buildings. Granted that the Academy boasts of modern simulators and related practical training facilities; international accreditation and collaboration; in addition, it needs a sustainable pool of qualified instructors and lecturers; sea-time arrangements; research capacity; competitive conditions of service; and a predictable development plan.

And above all, it needs to be treated as part of Nigeria’s maritime economic resource and infrastructure.

The NIWA Dimension

The National Inland Waterways Authority presents a parallel institutional concern. NIWA’s official leadership page currently lists Umar Yusuf Girei as Acting Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer. He assumed office in December 2025.

Again, the argument is not that an acting chief executive cannot perform. NIWA itself has continued to undertake programmes under its present leadership, including collaboration with the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau on waterway safety and training initiatives for boat operators. Its official platform also reports a reduction in boat mishaps and other operational initiatives.

But NIWA occupies a strategic position in the country’s blue economy architecture. Its responsibilities touch inland navigation, waterways infrastructure, marine transportation, safety, ports and related economic activities. The country therefore needs the Authority operating with maximum institutional confidence and strategic continuity.

Oyetola’s Opportunity

This is where the matter should be separated from personalities, as people in some quarters are wont to think. The Minister, Dr Oyetola has repeatedly spoken about unlocking the economic potential of Nigeria’s marine resources and building a more productive maritime sector. The Ministry’s own stated mission is to foster maritime industries and ensure responsible utilisation of Nigeria’s marine resources.

The Minister has also publicly acknowledged the funding constraints confronting the sector. During the 2026 budget defence, he described the Ministry’s proposed N10.5 billion allocation as inadequate for the breadth of its mandate.

That admission is important because it suggests that the challenge is not necessarily a lack of appreciation of the sector’s importance. Rather, it is the difficulty of translating a broad national ambition into sufficient institutional resources and structures.

This is precisely why MAN Oron deserves a different level of strategic conversation. If Nigeria wants a larger indigenous maritime workforce, where will the manpower come from? If we want to expand indigenous shipping, who will train the officers and technical personnel?

If Nigeria wants to grow ship management, marine engineering, port operations and inland water transportation, where will the human capital pipeline be sharpened and strengthened? And if the blue economy is to move beyond speeches and become a measurable contributor to the national GDP, who will provide the professional skills required to operate its expanding ecosystem? The answer cannot be an afterthought.

The Academy As A National Asset

MAN should therefore be viewed not merely as another parastatal under a Ministry. It must be recognized for what it is, a national maritime asset. Its location in Oron should not obscure its national mandate. Its output should not be measured simply by the number of cadets admitted or graduating each year.

The more important measure is whether Nigeria is building a sustainable pipeline of competent seafarers, marine engineers, maritime transport professionals, safety specialists and other professionals capable of competing in the international maritime labour market.

There would be the signs that the Academy is moving in that direction. The recent sea-time partnerships are examples. The curriculum discussions with NIMASA are examples. The five-year strategic plan is an example. The international engagements are examples.

But these efforts need to be placed inside a stronger institutional framework. A substantive Rector with a clear mandate and tenure would provide one part of that framework.

A properly funded strategic plan would provide another. A training vessel would address an important practical-training gap. A stronger pool of permanently employed and internationally competitive lecturers would strengthen academic continuity.

And closer integration of MAN into the Ministry’s major blue-economy policy initiatives would ensure that human-capital development is not separated from the infrastructure and investment conversation.

The Larger Lesson

There is perhaps a larger lesson here for Nigeria’s blue economy. The success of the new Ministry will ultimately not be determined by the number of conferences it holds, the number of policies it announces or the number of projects it inaugurates.

It will be measured by whether Nigeria’s maritime ecosystem becomes more productive, more competitive and more capable of generating sustainable economic opportunities. That requires institutions with clear mandates, competent leadership, predictable funding and long-term strategic direction.

MAN and NIWA are too important to operate indefinitely in a transitional mode. For MAN in particular, the time may have come for the Federal Government to look beyond the question of who occupies the Rector’s office and ask the larger question of what kind of national maritime academy Nigeria wants over the next decade.

A world-class maritime nation cannot afford a world-class maritime academy only in aspiration. It must build one in structure, funding, leadership and practical capacity.

That is not a demand against the Ministry. It is an invitation to the Ministry and indeed the Federal Government to place the institution that produces the people who will power Nigeria’s maritime future exactly where it belongs: at the centre of the national blue-economy strategy.