Lagos Set For Maritime Showdown As Ihenacho, Eshilokun, Nweke, Farinto, Others Head To NNMJ Unity Conference
Lagos Set For Maritime Showdown As Ihenacho, Eshilokun, Nweke, Farinto, Others Head To NNMJ Unity Conference
… Oyetola To Grace Event As Special Guest, Omatseye To Chair, Akabogu To Deliver Keynote On Seaport Modernisation, Trade Facilitation And Revenue
By Success Okezie
There is a quiet storm building in Nigeria’s maritime industry. And on Friday, November 13, 2026, it will break — not in anger, but in unity — at the Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.
It is the Network of Nigeria Maritime Journalists (NNMJ) Unity Conference. And if the calibre of personalities already confirmed is anything to go by, this will not be just another event where speeches are made and communiqués are forgotten. This will be a defining conversation about the soul of Nigeria’s ports, trade and blue economy.
Leading the roll call of confirmed participants is former Minister of Interior, Hon. Emmanuel Ihenacho.
Ihenacho is not a stranger to power, policy or the maritime struggle. A former minister, a shipowner, a businessman and a respected voice in national affairs, his presence alone signals that this conference is not for jokes. When Ihenacho speaks, policymakers listen.
Joining him is Senator Wasiu Eshilokun, the Lagos lawmaker whose constituency lives and breathes the daily realities of Apapa, Tin Can, Lekki and the entire Lagos port corridor. He comes not just as a politician, but as a representative of the traders, importers, exporters and residents who feel the pain of port inefficiency every single day.
From the freight forwarding community, two giants are coming: Dr. Eugene Nweke and Dr. Kayode Farinto.
Nweke, former President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), is a name that needs no introduction in the clearing and forwarding world. For years, he has been at the forefront of the battle for professionalism, respect and sanity in the freight forwarding profession.
Farinto, equally fearless and deeply knowledgeable, has never been afraid to call out the rot in the system — from arbitrary charges to policy summersaults. His voice at this conference will carry the frustrations and aspirations of thousands of licensed customs agents and freight forwarders across the country.
Together with other prominent personalities from the maritime and political landscape, they will form a formidable gathering of minds.
The conference will be chaired by Barrister Temisan Omatseye, former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Omatseye knows NIMASA like the back of his hand. He has sat in the hot seat. He has taken the tough decisions. He has seen the agency at its best and at its most challenged. As chairman, he is expected to bring order, depth and experience to the deliberations.
Attending as Special Guest of Honour is the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, His Excellency Adegboyega Oyetola.
Oyetola is the man President Bola Ahmed Tinubu trusted to drive Nigeria’s blue economy dream — a dream that promises jobs, revenue, investment and a new economic frontier beyond oil. His presence at the NNMJ Unity Conference is a clear signal that the Federal Government is listening, and is ready to engage directly with stakeholders.
Delivering the keynote address is Barrister Emeka Akabogu, SAN, one of Nigeria’s most brilliant maritime lawyers.
Akabogu is not just a lawyer. He is a thinker, a reform advocate, and a man who has spent decades dissecting Nigeria’s maritime laws and policies. His keynote on the theme — *“Seaport Modernisation, Trade Facilitation and Revenue”* — is expected to be the intellectual centrepiece of the conference: bold, legally grounded, and economically precise.
Nigeria cannot talk about economic growth without talking about its seaports.
More than 90 percent of the country’s international trade by volume moves through the ports. Yet, for decades, the ports have been a symbol of delay, decay and frustration.
Containers that should clear in days take weeks. Roads leading to the ports collapse under pressure. Traders pay through the nose. Government loses billions to leakages. And Nigeria, despite its size and potential, continues to lag behind smaller African countries in port efficiency.
Under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, there has been renewed focus on reforms — new policies, new investments, new attention to the marine and blue economy. But the question on every stakeholder’s lips is simple: Are these reforms working on the ground? Are they felt at Apapa? At Tin Can? At Onne? At Lekki?
The conference, scheduled to commence at *11:00 a.m.*, will provide a platform for an in-depth assessment of the performance, policy direction and operational efficiency of Nigeria’s maritime sector under the Tinubu administration.
Discussions will particularly focus on ongoing reforms, infrastructure development and the strategic interventions required to strengthen the maritime industry’s contribution to national economic growth.
The agenda is broad, but the focus is sharp:
Seaport modernisation — how to rebuild, rehabilitate and renew critical port infrastructure that has been left to rot for years.
Trade facilitation — how to make it easier, faster and cheaper to do legitimate business at Nigerian ports.
Ease of doing business — how to remove the bottlenecks, the duplicate charges, the manual bottlenecks, and the human barriers that frustrate importers and exporters.
Revenue optimisation — how to block the financial leakages across the maritime value chain, and ensure that what belongs to government actually gets to government.
And beyond that, participants will examine opportunities for expanding Nigeria’s marine and blue economy, generating employment for the youth, strengthening maritime safety and security, and enhancing the competitiveness of the nation’s seaports in a fiercely competitive global market.
The conference is expected to attract heads of government agencies, managing directors of shipping companies, terminal operators, freight forwarders, licensed customs agents, legal practitioners, and other influential stakeholders across the maritime industry.
In other words, everyone who has a stake in the future of Nigeria’s ports will be in one room.
In a joint statement, NNMJ Chairman, Elder Dele Aderibigbe, and the organisation’s Public Relations Officer, Jerry Aguigbo, said the Unity Conference was conceived to promote informed dialogue, deepen stakeholder collaboration and generate practical recommendations for addressing the challenges confronting the maritime industry.
They explained that the event would also offer stakeholders an opportunity to evaluate existing government policies and reforms, identify implementation gaps and recommend sustainable solutions to improve port operations, facilitate legitimate trade, increase government revenue and unlock the vast economic potential of Nigeria’s maritime sector.
The statement further underscored the strategic importance of maritime journalism in promoting transparency and accountability, providing credible industry analysis and sustaining informed public discourse on government policies, regulatory interventions and reforms affecting the marine and blue economy.
The NNMJ leadership expressed confidence that the conference would strengthen relationships among industry stakeholders, encourage meaningful policy engagement and reinforce collective efforts towards building a more efficient, transparent and globally competitive maritime industry.
At the end of the day, the real test of the NNMJ Unity Conference will not be how many dignitaries attended, or how beautiful the speeches were.
It will be whether the recommendations that come out of Ikeja on November 13 will find their way to policy tables in Abuja, to boardrooms in Lagos, and to operational desks at the ports.
For years, Nigeria’s maritime industry has spoken in different voices. Government going one way. Operators going another. Journalists watching. Freight forwarders crying out, but rarely heard.
On November 13, all of that is set to change — under one roof, at one table, for one purpose: unity.
And if unity is truly achieved, then the real winners will not be the men in the hall. They will be the traders in the market, the importers at the ports, the young Nigerians looking for jobs, and the entire Nigerian economy waiting to breathe again.
*Signed:*
Elder Dele Aderibigbe
Chairman, NNMJ
08023148914
Jerry Aguigbo
Public Relations Officer, NNMJ
08029030104
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