Odita Sunday 
Udofia warns Nigeria risks food crisis, unveils 5-point plan to revive fisheries
By Odita Sunday
The Director-General of the International Maritime Institute of Nigeria (IMION), Rear Admiral Thaddeus Christopher Udofia (rtd), has warned that the decline of Nigeria’s fisheries sector could deepen food insecurity and undermine the livelihoods of millions of coastal residents unless urgent measures are taken to protect the nation’s marine resources.
Udofia, who spoke at the Maritime Correspondents’ Organisation of Nigeria (MARCON) National Conference at Rockview Hotel, Apapa, Lagos, unveiled a five-pillar strategy for rebuilding the fisheries sector and unlocking the economic potential of Nigeria’s Blue Economy.
Speaking on the theme, “Sustainable Fishing in Nigeria—Pathways to Growth, Food Security and Coastal Livelihoods,” the IMION chief called for a shift from what he described as vulnerability to disciplined execution, backed by measurable performance indicators.
“Let me be clear regarding sustainability: we cannot expect to harvest tomorrow what we ruthlessly destroy, allow others to destroy, or neglect to nurture today,” Udofia stated.
“To transition from vulnerability to long-term sustainability and food security, Nigeria must boldly chart a new course defined by disciplined execution and measurable performance indicators,” he added.
Udofia said the country could reverse the decline in fisheries and use its expanding Blue Economy to drive economic growth, strengthen food security and create sustainable livelihoods if government moved quickly to implement coordinated reforms.
He identified unified regulatory enforcement as the first pillar, calling for harmonisation of the responsibilities of maritime security agencies, port economic regulators and fisheries departments.
According to him, the gains recorded by the Nigerian Navy in suppressing piracy and combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing should be expanded systematically across Nigeria’s domestic fisheries domain.
The second pillar, he said, should be a data-driven maritime policy, stressing that decisions on the management of marine resources could not be based on assumptions.
Udofia called for stronger support for research institutions, including the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR) and IMION, to generate credible data on fish stocks.
He said such scientific information should form the basis for decisions on catch limits, closed fishing seasons and marine protected areas, with the measures backed by effective enforcement.
He also advocated an aggressive transition from unpredictable wild-capture fisheries to technology-driven aquaculture, describing it as the third pillar of the proposed strategy.
According to him, modern cage-culture systems in coastal lagoons could help address Nigeria’s food deficit, while investments in cold-chain facilities, processing technology and institutional training would reduce post-harvest losses.
He said the measures would help transform fishing from a survival-oriented activity into a more structured wealth-generating enterprise, particularly for women and young people.
The fourth pillar focuses on advanced intelligence monitoring, with Udofia calling for the deployment of Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS), satellite surveillance and stricter enforcement of catch quotas.
He said effective management of Nigeria’s marine resources required accurate data and robust Blue Economy knowledge systems to support marine spatial planning.
Udofia stressed that industrial fishing fleets must be properly monitored to prevent over-exploitation and ensure that sufficient marine resources remain available for ecological regeneration and coastal communities.
The fifth pillar, he said, was community-led co-management, which would give coastal communities a greater role in protecting and managing the resources on which their livelihoods depend.
“Top-down enforcement alone cannot achieve sustainable fishing,” Udofia said, stressing that millions of Nigerians living along the coast had generations of experience and direct knowledge of the marine environment.
He called on the government to institutionalise Community-Based Fisheries Management by empowering local cooperative societies and granting them legitimate co-management rights.
According to him, giving communities a legal and vested stake in their marine environment would encourage them to become frontline defenders against destructive fishing practices.
Udofia said the proposed framework was aimed at ensuring that Nigeria’s marine resources were protected while also making the fisheries sector a stronger contributor to national food security, employment and economic development.
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