Mariam Abeeb
The Nigeria’s Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola said revenue generation in his Ministry increased by 92 per cent to N242 billion in the first quarter of 2024 compared to Q1 2023.
Oyetola disclosed this at the ministerial sectoral briefing to mark President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s anniversary in Abuja.
He explained that the ministry designed 18-program strategies to achieve the revenue target across its agencies.
According to him, revenue generation in agencies, which includes Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency, Nigerian Port Authority, National Inland Waterways, Shippers Council and others recorded increase in the period under review.
“A key measure of success for the Ministry is to increase the contribution of the marine and blue economy to national GDP, while generating revenue for government for the important task of national economic development. To achieve this, we are currently implementing a 3-pronged strategy that is focused on (i) blocking revenue leakages; (ii) enhancing revenue generation from established sources; and (iii) identifying and rolling out new blue economy revenue sources.
“The Ministry has achieved a ramp up of revenue to government in the last one year and is poised to do more. A comparison of Quarter 1 2023 against Quarter 1 2024 revenueperformance across the Agencies reveals a 92% increase,” he said.
“Revenue performance across the ministry’s agencies increased by 92 per cent.We have increased revenue in the period from N126 billion to N242 billion”, he stated.
Further speaking, he disclosed that the sector is targeting to generate at least N2 trillion revenue annually from Marine and Blue Economy by 2027.
According to him, a key measure of success for the ministry is to increase the contribution of the marine and Blue Economy to the national GDP.
“We are currently implementing a 3-pronged strategy which is expected to double current revenue generation, to achieve N2 trillion per annum by 2027.”
He said that the government will ensure automation of revenue collection processes to eliminate bottlenecks and enhance transparency and accountability
Other strategies to boost revenues as disclosed by the Minister includes: deployment of revenue assurance technologies to ensure accurate and complete billings in line with established contracts and services rendered, enhanced revenue generation from established sources.
