Nigeria(ns) and The Sea

Abstract

Offshore water bodies cover three-quarters of the earth’s surface and 90 percent of global trade is seaborne. This underscores the indispensability of the oceans and seas to humanity. While those classified as the Traditional Maritime Nations (TMNs), initially concentrated in the Global North, have harnessed inland and Offshore water bodies to their advantage – for fishing, trade, transport, national security and empire building – many countries in the Global South have underutilized the maritime assets at their disposal. This is why this lecture takes on the subject of Nigeria(ns) and the sea, a combination of macro- and micro-level analyses of how the Nigerian state as an entity and individuals or groups of Nigerians at the communal or personal levels have interacted with the sea over time. This combination of the macro- and micro-level analyses permits a simultaneous top-down and bottom-up engagement with the subject. This pioneering assessment of Nigeria’s engagement with the sea over the long durée complements a dated collection of African continental perspectives on the theme.