Bayelsa’s checkered blue economy ambition

Bayelsa State has had a checkered romance with the blue economy since it was carved from the old Rivers State by Sani Abacha, the late military President of Nigeria on October 1, 1996.

The flirtation with the blue economy began during the tenure of Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, the late first civilian Governor of Bayelsa State, when he procured and commissioned luxurious transport and tourism boats in late 2004.

However, the dream faded for a number of reasons such as the high diesel consumption and slow movement of the American made crafts coupled with the emergence of security threats along the waterways.

After that, the administration of Timipre Sylva went further to procure two modern seagoing fishing trawlers named the MV Margaret Alamieyeseigha and the MV Patience Jonathan, around 2010.

The trawlers were procured as part of an initiative to diversify the state’s economy and jump-start a thriving fishing industrial base, but after one fishing expedition, they were abandoned at the Ogbia Town Jetty in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state.

Sylva also established a marine security outfit to ensure security along the state’s waterways due to the incidence of violent activities following years of militancy.

But, one of the most significant pronouncements of Bayelsa State Government as far as the blue economy is concerned was the establishment of the Agge Deep Seaport by the administration of Henry Seriake Dickson now representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District at the Red Chamber.

Dickson initiated the Agge Deep Seaport project located at Agge in Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state in 2012 and officially engaged the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for collaboration in 2015.

But, throughout his tenure, which ended in February 2020, nothing much was done except surveys, feasibility studies, and site designations, so the seaport remains a proposed project until now.

There was an unresolved dispute over the acquisition of the project site, as the Agge Community leadership said the state government had not acquired the land when the site survey was carried out by the Nigerian Army Engineering Corps in 2013.

The Nigerian Army Engineering Corps conducted topographical surveys and mapping of the 15,000 hectares of land designated for both the initial port facility and the proposed Agge Port City.

Bayelsa State Government initially said the deep seaport project would commence before the end of Dickson’s administration, but that was not to be as he turned his attention to the Bayelsa International Airport project, which became more appealing.

While there is more intent on the development of the blue economy under incumbent Governor Douye Diri, he may have started too late to put his stamp on it with less than two years of his second term left.

In his first four years, Diri focused on taking the three senatorial roads to the Atlantic shore, and in 2024, in his second term, established the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy to drive developments in the sector, following in the footsteps of President Bola Tinubu, who created the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy in 2023.

As part of the initiatives to deliver on some aspects of the blue economy, Bayelsa State officially took delivery of new marine transport fleets including cruise vessels, passenger ferries, water ambulances, and cargo barges between late 2025 and February 2026.

The state government, through the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, procured these assets to improve waterways transit and boost marine tourism.

Only recently, Governor Diri appointed an Agge Deep Seaport Transaction Adviser led by Tomiwa Aregbesola to advance the project to the inception report and preliminary site assessment stages in collaboration with the Bayelsa State Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.

Perhaps, one of the most important steps by the state government so far is the effort to back up the recent forays into the blue economy with appropriate legislation to serve as a beacon for successive administrations.

In a nation where successive governments make visible efforts to erase what previous administrations have done without any regards to the fact that tax payers money was expended, domiciling the blue economy through legislation cannot be gainsaid.

It must be noted that by pioneering the establishment of a Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy by any litoral state in Nigeria, Bayelsa State occupies an enviable position in championing research and other initiatives aimed at fast tracking the development of the sector.

That probably informed the choice of Diri to deliver the keynote address at the 2nd Quarter 2026 Citizens/Stakeholders’ Engagement organised by the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Speaking on the theme, “Sub-National Leadership in Advancing Nigeria’s Maritime and Blue Economy: The Bayelsa Experience and Pathways for Coastal State Development”, the governor highlighted how states can maximise their aquatic potentials to contribute to the growth of the nation’s marine and blue economy.

There is no doubt that the maritime domain holds enormous potential for diversification of Nigeria’s economy, but the critical issue of how to go about it is the question that both the federal and state governments must find answers to.

While being intentional is acceptable, the Federal Government and the sub-national governments most go beyond being intentional to necessarily developing workable templates to harness the enormous resources of the blue economy.

For Governor Diri, it is the states that share Nigeria’s 853 kilometres of coastline that must move from being spectators to stakeholders in the emerging blue economy sector.

He proposed five pathways for coastal states to collaborate for not only their collective progress and that of their communities but also Nigeria’s by institutionalising and creating focal ministries or agencies and giving them political and financial authority.

The governor also urged littoral states to enact blue economy laws that are in alignment with the national policy, which reflect their unique geography and people by securing and mapping out their domain as well as investing in coastal security and credible ocean data.

Another pathway Diri advocated is the establishment of maritime skills hubs, modernisation of fish processing and building of cold storage facilities, and connecting coastal producers to national and global value chains.

He said: “To ignore the Blue Economy in Bayelsa would be to ignore Bayelsa itself. That is why, following the initiative of the Federal Government, Bayelsa is not merely a state with a bespoke ministry, we are a national model for how to institutionalise and mainstream the Blue Economy at the sub-national level.”

According to him, the Agge Deep Seaport remains one of the state’s flagship priorities, which he described as not merely a port, but a gateway vision for regional trade, logistics, industrial development, fisheries exports, and wider integration within the Gulf of Guinea.

Diri expressed appreciation to the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy and other relevant federal institutions as the state is looking forward to continued collaboration to move the seaport project from vision to reality.

He stated that Bayelsa State has made modest progress in the sector since the creation of the ministry as “the state has moved from natural endowment to institutional recognition, from consultation to policy formulation, and from validation to implementation.

“We are currently finalising the Bayelsa State Blue Economy Law. This legislation will provide certainty for investment, protect our ecosystems, and enshrine the rights of coastal communities. Investors do not gamble where the law is silent,” he stated.

On opportunities and investments in the sector, Diri said his administration had begun to translate the vision into practical action having commenced the operationalisation of the Bayelsa Aquaculture Village at Yenegwe in Yenagoa.

The 137-hectare facility was designed as a major hub for production, training and enterprise to boost fisheries and aquaculture development, and

has a hatchery capable of producing over three million fingerlings per cycle, 500 grow-out ponds, each measuring 20 metres by 50 metres, and a feed mill with a 20 tonne daily fish feed production capacity.

There is no doubt that Governor Diri is intentional about the development of all critical sectors of the Bayelsa State economy, including the blue economy, going by the creation of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy and the appointment of adviser for the Agge Deep Seaport project.

But, coming less than two years to the end of his second term is a worrying issue because of the makeup of whoever with succeed him as governor and whether his successor will carry out with Diri’s agenda.

Bayelsans, who are truthful and conscientious are aware of the contributions of the incumbent governor to the development of the state, his initial challenges and how he was able to turn the story around.

While the people will want a continuation of Diri’s developmental strides, there is no guarantee that the next governor will continue with the projects he will inherit from the previous administration.

Diri is commendable for how he took over the projects he inherited from former Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, and stamped his foot on them including the Agge Deep Seaport project.

It is important that the present administration does everything necessary possible to kickstart the Agge Deep Seaport project to the extent that his predecessor will have no choice than to continue with it.

It is only then that the checkered history of the state’s foray into the blue economy will be a thing of the past and sustainability of the project will be the focus of the next administration.