Ichaba Blames Colonial Maritime Structure For Nigeria’s Absence of Coast Guard

The Provisional Committee of the proposed Nigerian Coast Guard (PC-NCG) has traced Nigeria’s failure to establish a dedicated Coast Guard to what it described as a long-standing colonial maritime administrative structure.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the committee’s Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Dr. Piriye Kiyaramo, quoted the Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of the PC-NCG, Capt. Noah Ichaba, as saying that the problem dates back more than 170 years.
According to Ichaba, the roots of the challenge can be traced to 1748 when the British Marine Department merged civilian maritime safety responsibilities with military defence functions, creating an administrative framework that did not clearly separate the two roles.
He explained that the arrangement was carried into Nigeria through colonial administration and was further reinforced after the 1914 amalgamation and the establishment of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in 1955. Under the system, maritime personnel simultaneously handled port operations, coastal safety and security responsibilities.
Ichaba noted that many of these personnel later became the foundation of the Nigerian Naval Force when it was created in 1956, resulting in the Navy inheriting both military and civilian maritime functions.
He said the absence of a separate Coast Guard institution over the years had led to overlapping responsibilities, inter-agency rivalry and repeated difficulties in securing legislation for the establishment of a Coast Guard.
“Present-day lawmakers, ministers and agencies inherited this confusion. They did not create it,” Ichaba stated.
The committee maintained that while the dissolution of the Marine Department eventually gave rise to agencies such as the Nigerian Ports Authority and the National Inland Waterways Authority, no independent Coast Guard was established to assume civilian maritime safety functions.
As a consequence, it said, the Nigerian Navy has continued to shoulder responsibilities ranging from warfare and territorial defence to search-and-rescue operations, environmental protection and other civilian maritime duties.
The PC-NCG argued that increasing maritime challenges, including piracy, illegal fishing, crude oil theft and frequent drowning incidents, highlight the urgent need for a dedicated Coast Guard to strengthen maritime safety, security and law enforcement.
The committee therefore called on the National Assembly to expedite action on the proposed Nigerian Coast Guard Act, stressing that separating military and civilian maritime responsibilities is crucial to protecting Nigeria’s coastal communities and unlocking the full potential of the nation’s blue economy.