By Our Correspondent
A leading maritime stakeholder has called on the Federal Government to leverage the UTM Offshore Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) Project as a catalyst for Nigeria's long-awaited maritime industrial transformation, arguing that the indigenous-led project offers a unique opportunity to deepen local content, expand indigenous shipping capacity, create thousands of jobs, and retain billions of naira currently lost to foreign maritime operators.
The appeal was made by the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Seamate Maritime Integrated Services Limited, Captain Ladi Olubowale, during an industry review held recently in Lagos, where he delivered a presentation titled, "Beyond Gas: Why the UTM Offshore FLNG Project Should Launch Nigeria's Maritime Industrial Revolution."
Olubowale urged the Presidency, the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), financial institutions and private investors to align the UTM FLNG Project with a broader national strategic fleet development agenda.
According to him, the UTM Offshore FLNG Project—Nigeria's first indigenous-led floating liquefied natural gas development—should not merely be viewed as another energy investment but as a strategic platform capable of transforming the country's maritime economy.
The project is expected to monetise stranded gas reserves, boost Nigeria's LNG exports, create employment opportunities, increase government revenues and strengthen the country's position in the global energy market.
Olubowale, a distinguished Master Mariner and immediate past President of the African Shipowners Association (ASA) Nigeria, said Nigeria possesses over 200 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves and one of Africa's largest offshore energy industries, but warned that natural resources alone cannot guarantee economic transformation.
"We have an opportunity to move beyond exporting resources towards building industries. Gas alone will not transform our economy. Transformation comes from building industries around gas," he said.
He stressed that the success of the UTM FLNG Project should be measured not only by the volume of gas exported but by the extent to which Nigerians own and participate in the entire maritime value chain supporting the project.
According to him, the long-term operation of the FLNG facility will require a wide range of offshore support services, including supply vessels, marine logistics, crew transfer operations, emergency response services, security patrols, marine engineering, subsea support and technical maintenance.
"Each of these represents an industry. Each creates employment. Each generates taxes. Each retains wealth within Nigeria—if Nigerians own the assets and provide the services," he stated.
Olubowale maintained that aligning the project with a national strategic fleet development programme would deliver significant economic dividends beyond the energy sector.
He said such integration would create thousands of jobs, conserve foreign exchange, deepen local content, strengthen maritime security, build world-class technical expertise, improve investor confidence and develop globally competitive indigenous maritime companies.
"The UTM Offshore FLNG Project should not stand alone as an energy project. It should become the foundation of Nigeria's Maritime Industrial Revolution. Every molecule of gas exported should generate Nigerian freight, Nigerian jobs, Nigerian financing, Nigerian ship management, Nigerian insurance, Nigerian seafarers and Nigerian prosperity," he said.
He added that countries become maritime powers not simply by producing natural resources but by owning the ships, supply chains, technology and institutions that move global commerce.
"We must seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity—not simply to serve one FLNG project, but to establish a Strategic National Fleet that will carry Nigeria's economic ambitions across Africa and the world," he said.
The maritime expert further argued that indigenous participation in the offshore logistics chain would have a multiplier effect across several sectors of the economy.
He said if Nigerian companies increasingly own and operate the offshore support vessels servicing the project, thousands of skilled jobs would be created for seafarers, marine engineers, naval architects, offshore technicians and logistics professionals.
He noted that industries such as marine insurance, ship management, legal services, finance, port operations and vessel maintenance would also experience substantial growth.
"Young Nigerians graduating from maritime academies would find meaningful careers. Banks would finance productive assets backed by long-term contracts. Investors would have confidence in the sector. This is how industrial ecosystems are built," Olubowale explained.
Drawing lessons from international best practices, he cited Norway and Qatar as examples of countries that deliberately used their offshore energy resources to build globally competitive maritime industries.
According to him, Norway became a leading maritime nation not simply because it discovered offshore oil, but because it invested in indigenous offshore service companies, engineering firms, maritime financial institutions, ship management expertise and highly skilled seafarers.
Similarly, he noted that Qatar's success as one of the world's leading LNG exporters was driven by deliberate investments in shipping capacity and maritime infrastructure alongside gas production.
Olubowale also highlighted the strategic importance of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), saying its mandate should extend beyond vessel acquisition to financing productive maritime assets linked to commercially viable projects such as the UTM FLNG Project.
He argued that with predictable offshore logistics demands expected to span many years, the project provides the commercial certainty required by banks, investors and indigenous shipowners to finance modern fleets.
"For years, discussions around the CVFF have focused almost exclusively on vessel financing. That conversation must now evolve. The CVFF should be viewed as a strategic economic development instrument.
"Its purpose should not simply be to purchase ships. It should finance productive maritime assets linked to commercially viable projects with long-term demand. The UTM FLNG Project offers exactly such an opportunity," he said.
He explained that successful maritime economies develop by connecting financing to guaranteed commercial activities rather than funding vessels in isolation.
Olubowale further advocated a private sector-led approach to the country's maritime development, stressing that while government should provide enabling policies and regulatory support, the private sector must drive investment, innovation and execution.
"Government alone cannot build this future. Nor should it. Around the world, successful maritime economies have been driven by private enterprise supported by enabling public policy.
"The role of government is to create the environment. The role of the private sector is to innovate, invest and execute. The UTM FLNG Project demonstrates the capacity of Nigerian entrepreneurs to deliver globally significant energy infrastructure," he said.
He urged indigenous shipowners, financial institutions, insurers, technology providers and logistics companies to become active partners in the project, insisting that such collaboration represents strategic economic development rather than protectionism.
Concluding, Olubowale emphasised that the country's economic success should be measured not by the quantity of natural resources exported but by the value retained within the domestic economy.
"The true measure of national success is not the quantity of resources we export, but the value we retain. That decision will define whether this project becomes another successful energy investment—or the catalyst for a new era of industrial development," he said.
