Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has disclosed plans by the Federal Government to establish a coast guard, as part of efforts to enhance security along coastlines in the country.

Oyetola spoke in his Iragbiji hometown in Osun State on Saturday at the 32nd edition of the annual Iragbiji Day celebrations, where funds were raised for different community development projects.

The former Osun State governor, who said there were conscious efforts to further secure the marine environment in the country, highlighted the existence of a deep blue project that deploys gunboats and other equipment for security on the coastline.

Speaking on the plans to further enhance security along the coastline, Oyetola said, “We are already looking at the possibility of establishing a coast guard which will be designed essentially to ensure the safety of our coastline.

“We have not less than 853 kilometres of coastline in Nigeria and about 10,000 perimeters of inland waterways. If we want to ensure coastal tourism, we must provide adequate security; we are working with the Navy, marine police and others to ensure security.”

Reacting to the conversion of the Sustainable Development Goals Skill Acquisition Centre located in the town to a camp for Osun United Football Club by the state government, the minister said he had taken the matter up and insisted that the facility should be used for the purpose it was built.

He said, “It is very unfortunate that the projects that were meant to allow our youths to acquire skills are now being turned into a camp for football. I don’t have a problem with football but you can’t convert the facility that is meant to assist our youths in the area of skill acquisition to camp.

In this article