Coast Guard: The Needed Maritime Bridge – PC-NCG
Abuja, Nigeria – The Provisionary Committee of the proposed Nigerian Coast Guard (PC-NCG) has observed that while Nigeria’s maritime sector remains strategically powerful, it continues to suffer from institutional fragmentation that weakens enforcement, safety, and economic protection.
In a statement issued on Friday in Abuja, the Director of Communications & Public Affairs, Dr. Piriye Kiyaramo quoted the Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of PC-NCG, Capt. Noah Ichaba, as reiterating that: “Only a dedicated Coast Guard can rightly and respectably serve as the missing operational bridge connecting security, safety, enforcement, and economic protection into one coordinated maritime system within the blue economy ecosystem.”
“Create a single coordinated system for anti-smuggling, anti-piracy support, illegal fishing control, vessel inspection, and compliance enforcement. Improve rapid reaction capability to piracy, oil theft, sea robbery, and kidnapping at sea. Reduce over-dependence on fragmented and privately contracted arrangements by providing a state-led operational backbone.
“Improve maritime economic efficiency: Reduce cargo delays caused by insecurity, lower insurance risk premiums, and cut operational uncertainty for shipping lines and port users. Strengthen national maritime sovereignty by
ensuring Nigeria’s maritime domain is governed through a clear, centralized, rule-based enforcement system rather than dispersed authority.
“Nigeria’s maritime space includes an 850km Atlantic coastline, key ports in Lagos, Onne, Warri and Calabar, offshore oil and gas infrastructure, and the Gulf of Guinea shipping corridor, one of the world’s high-risk maritime zones. This domain carries over 80% of Nigeria’s international trade by volume and remains critical to national revenue and security.
“Nigeria controls one of Africa’s longest coastlines and a maritime domain critical to trade, energy, and food security. Yet, our current structure spreads responsibility across multiple agencies without a single operational command.
“The result is gaps in response and lost economic value. A Nigerian Coast Guard will close those gaps. It is not about creating another agency for its own sake. It is about building one bridge that links all maritime actors toward one mission: a secure, safe, and prosperous blue economy,” Capt. Ichaba maintained.
The PC-NCG boss noted that coastal communities, fishermen, port operators, and shipping companies bear the cost of fragmentation daily through delays, insecurity, and environmental threats, informing that a Coast Guard, modeled on global best practice, will integrate search and rescue, pollution control, fisheries enforcement, port security, and marine law enforcement under one mandate.
“On that wise, responding to already existing dangers by restoring order indicates that Coast Guard is not dangerous, and ensuring positive outcomes for national interest is not counter-productive, either,” Captain Ichaba stressed.
The Committee reaffirmed its commitment to work with the National Assembly, the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Maritime Administration & Safety Agency, NIMASA, and other stakeholders to finalize a legislative framework for a lean, professional, and technology-driven Nigerian Coast Guard.
“The ocean is Nigeria’s next economic frontier,” Capt. Ichaba added. “But we can not unlock blue jobs, blue investment, and blue trade if our maritime system remains divided. The time to bridge the gap is now.”
Recall that the Provisionary Committee of the proposed Nigerian Coast Guard (PC-NCG) is a stakeholder-led initiative advocating for the establishment of a dedicated, civilian-led Coast Guard for Nigeria. PC-NCG works with government, industry, and coastal communities to advance maritime security, safety, and sustainable blue economy growth.
