Reflections on the Uyo Coastal Summit and the Future of Nigeria’s Maritime Borders
–By Fred Abua, Esq.
The sea has a way of whispering stories of distant lands, drawing us into reflections as it sustains livelihoods, and binds nations through the rich resources buried beneath it. Yet, it also tests the resilience of those who dwell by its edges.
This profound truths resonated powerfully at the Nigerian International Coastal Border Platform Summit held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on August 8th, 2025, where Deputy Governors and stakeholders of the Nigerian coastal states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Lagos, Ogun and Ondo gathered to address security challenges, livelihood and deliberate on maritime policy with a view to improving cross-border trade between Nigeria’s coastal communities and neighbouring countries.
Speaking at the event, the Deputy Governor of Cross River State, Rt. Hon. Dr. Peter Odey, set the tone with a call for justice, unity and fairness in managing our maritime frontiers. He pointed out that “As coastal states, we are bound not only by the waters that connect us but also by the responsibilities we share in ensuring fair, transparent, and mutually beneficial management of our maritime frontiers.”
His words framed the ocean not merely as a boundary, but as a bridge between the coastal states hence the need for cooperation, dialogue, and mutual respect. Drawing from the UN Law of the Sea, he urged for coordinated security, climate resilience, and the harmonization of laws guiding boundary practices. Yet it was when he spoke of Bakassi that the hush in the room deepened, as though the walls themselves were listening.
For Dr. Peter Odey, the maritime conversation is not theoretical. It is anchored in the pain of the Bakassi people. Since the 2012 ceding of the Bakassi Peninsula, the community has been abandoned. “We have people living as strangers in their own country since 2012 with the unjust and unholy ceding of the Bakassi Peninsula… that area has been abandoned without any form of international, African or the national government support”. His appeal was as much a plea for justice as it was a challenge to ensure that no coastal community is left behind in the march toward maritime progress.
The communique issued at the end of the summit is giving structure to this vision. Ten resolutions were announced, each carrying the potential to reshape life along Nigeria’s shoreline. The first which calls for the harmonization of laws such as the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences (SPOMO) Act is meant to create a more consistent, effective legal front against piracy and smuggling. When implemented, the establishment of workable Community Surveillance and Intelligence Sharing Frameworks will bridge the gap between government agencies and the grassroots where traditional rulers, women leaders, youth groups, and religious bodies serve as vital custodians of security intelligence.
Equally transformative is the push for environmental stewardship. Protecting mangroves, combating pollution, and embedding climate resilience into maritime policies are not mere green ideals, they are economic lifelines for fishing communities whose survival depends on healthy ecosystems. The communique’s call to dedicate a portion of maritime taxes and crude oil revenues to coastal security funding speaks to the need for sustainable financing, while investments in maritime transport could unlock new economic corridors between Nigeria’s coastal states and neighboring nations. It was disclosed by Governor Umo Eno at the event that a water transport project that will capable of ferrying 15 vehicles and 64 persons across the water on each trip between Oron and Calabar by the Akwa Ibom State Government is already underway.
Trade has a pride of place in this future. By leveraging the African Integrated Border Governance Strategy and the African Continental Free Trade Zone, coastal communities could see a revival of cross-border commerce — opening markets, creating jobs, and deepening regional bonds. Social infrastructure, from schools to healthcare facilities, was also recognized as critical to ensuring that coastal communities thrive, not merely survive.
The Uyo summit was more than a policy meeting; it was a mirror reflecting both our maritime potential and our moral obligations. The sea will continue to connect Nigeria’s coastal states, but without deliberate action, it can just as easily isolate and impoverish them. Implementing the summit’s recommendations will require political will, solidarity between the coastal states, and a recognition that the dignity of communities like Bakassi that have suffered such injustice is inseparable from the health of our national maritime frontier.
As the pendulum swings from this first summit, it is imperative that the momentum that has been initiated with the establishment of the Nigerian International Coastal Border Platform must be sustained. The member states must ensure the implementation of the recommendations in their communique by taking their advocacy to the National Assembly and the Presidency.
In the end, the true measure of this summit’s success will not be in the communique’s language, but in whether future generations along Nigeria’s coast can look out to the sea and see not neglect, but opportunity and blessings.
_Fred Abua is Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor of Cross River State_
