Maritime Security in Nigeria: Perspective for a Comprehensive Approach

The maritime environment of littoral states is a critical asset to national prosperity and development. This significance arises from the vast potential of the maritime domain, which necessitates protection. Maritime security encompasses preventive and responsive measures to safeguard the maritime domain against threats and unlawful acts. Nigeria’s maritime environment holds strategic importance due to its petroleum resources, oil and gas installations, strategic shipping routes, fisheries, and other living marine resources. Despite the numerous challenges faced by Nigeria’s maritime domain, the Nigerian Navy (NN) has made concerted efforts to protect these assets. These efforts include arresting and destroying facilities used for maritime crimes, consulting with maritime stakeholders in Nigeria, and fostering regional collaboration, among other initiatives. This paper, therefore, recommends the following: indigenous surveying and charting of Nigeria’s offshore waters, upgrading the NN’s maritime domain awareness capacity, equipping dockyards with modern facilities, introducing a maritime security trust fund, enhancing human development capacity, and promoting effective research and development. Key Changes and Suggestions: Clarity and Grammar: Corrected grammatical errors and improved sentence structure for better readability. Consistency: Ensured consistent use of terms and punctuation. Specificity: Added more specific terms where necessary (e.g., “vast potential” instead of “potentials”). Flow: Improved the flow between sentences and ideas for better coherence.