President Bola Ahmed Tinubu delivered a compelling call for global cooperation on June 11, 2025, to protect the world’s oceans, urging swift ratification of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement and increased financial support for developing countries’ blue economies.
Speaking through Minister of Marine and Blue Economy Adegboyega Oyetola at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France, Tinubu emphasized the urgent need for collective action to address marine degradation, aligning with the conference’s theme, “Accelerating Action to Conserve and Sustainably Use the Ocean.” The address, delivered to over 120 member states, highlighted Nigeria’s coastal vulnerabilities and positioned the country as a leading voice for equitable ocean governance, amid rising threats like illegal fishing and plastic pollution.
Oyetola, representing Tinubu, endorsed the Nice Ocean Action Declaration, a framework to enhance marine conservation and sustainable industries like fisheries, aquaculture, and marine tourism. He detailed Nigeria’s challenges, including unregulated fishing costing $70 million annually and marine dumping in the Gulf of Guinea, which threatens Lagos’s coastal ecosystems. Tinubu’s administration, through the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, has prioritized projects like the Deep Seaport and Eko Atlantic City, a reclaimed coastal development, as models for sustainable growth.
Oyetola called for technical expertise and concessional financing from developed nations and institutions like the World Bank, noting that global ocean funding, at $10 billion annually, falls short of the $150 billion needed to achieve SDG 14 (Life Below Water) by 2030. He cited regional initiatives, such as the Gulf of Guinea Commission, as critical for cross-border monitoring but stressed the need for advanced satellite technology, currently limited in Nigeria.
The conference, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, saw pledges from nations like Norway to fund ocean research, but African delegates, including Nigeria, lamented unequal access to resources. Environmentalists like Funmi Adebayo of Lagos’s Ocean Guardians praised Tinubu’s advocacy but criticized domestic oil spills in the Niger Delta, which release 100,000 barrels annually, per NOSDRA data. Oyetola’s speech, broadcast on France 24, resonated with coastal communities like Badagry, where fishermen like Musa Ibrahim face dwindling catches. Nigeria’s push for BBNJ ratification, requiring 60 states (37 have ratified as of June 2025), reflects its strategic interest in high-seas biodiversity. The address, reinforcing Tinubu’s global statesmanship, calls for a paradigm shift in ocean financing, as Nigeria navigates economic pressures at home.