In the high-stakes, high-revenue world of maritime administration, modernisation is no longer a luxury but an existential imperative.
And at the helm of Nigeria’s premier maritime regulatory agency, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is a technocrat with a proven track record of transformation: Dr. Dayo Mobereola.
Appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in March 2024, Mobereola has brought to bear his characteristic blend of strategic foresight, infrastructure discipline, and digital reform.
While recent issues around the Maritime Enhanced Monitoring System (MEMS) have stoked controversy within the agency, most notably from the staff concerned about a proposed revenue-sharing model with a private partner, what critics often miss is the bigger picture: the fundamental shift required to reposition Nigeria’s maritime sector as a transparent, efficient, and revenue-generating powerhouse. And few are more qualified to lead this digital revolution than Mobereola.
Legacy of deliverables
Before his appointment to NIMASA, Mobereola served as the Managing Director of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) from 2003 to 2015.
Under his leadership, LAMATA delivered groundbreaking projects that today define Lagos transportation backbone.
From conceptualizing and launching Nigeria’s first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system to implementing the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line, Mobereola not only transformed how Lagosians commute, but also how governments envision sustainable urban infrastructure.
The BRT now transports hundreds of thousands daily, while the Blue and Red lines are redefining intra-city mobility.
LAMATA’s success didn’t just rest on hardware, it came from his focus on systems thinking, intermodal integration, fare simplification, and the introduction of First and Last Mile (FLM) solutions that connected underserved neighborhoods to major transport corridors.
He promoted non-motorized transport and championed public-private partnerships like the Public Infrastructure Improvement Partnership (PIIP).
The cumulative effect was a measurable uptick in commuter confidence, traffic decongestion, and revenue performance.
This is the model Mobereola is replicating at NIMASA — albeit on water instead of roads.
Disrupting Maritime inefficiency
At the heart of the controversy lies the Maritime Electronic Management System (MEMS), a digital platform proposed to automate NIMASA’s operations, eliminate revenue leakages, enforce compliance, and introduce traceability into Nigeria’s notoriously opaque maritime systems.
The project, to be financed with a N7.54 billion investment by Royal Diadem Consults Ltd, comes with a 13.5% revenue-sharing agreement over 15 years.
Staff critics have branded the initiative “a glorified ERP system,” arguing that NIMASA should fund the project internally, as it did for the Deep Blue Project and other infrastructure efforts.
Others question the absence of enforcement assets in the MEMS scope and criticize what they describe as an opaque approval process.
But what these criticisms lack is context.
Case for MEMS
MEMS is not just a software system. It is a digital transformation platform that integrates real-time vessel tracking and movement logs; cabotage enforcement and regulatory audits; waste management and pollution control alerts; seafarer and crew data management; digital invoicing, billing, and audit trails; environmental monitoring; and stakeholder communications and automated licensing.
According to Royal Diadem’s projections, the system will increase compliance by 95%, boost revenue by 30% within three years, reduce maritime pollution by 20%, and create 1,000 jobs.
Critics point to the percentage of revenue (13.5%) the private firm will earn over the life of the project.
But what is often overlooked is the structure of the investment: 75% is debt-financed, while 25% is equity, meaning Royal Diadem is bearing significant financial and performance risk.
In return, they are not just delivering a system, they are operating, maintaining, updating, and integrating it into NIMASA’s core.
Model that incentivizes performance
Unlike one-off contract vendors who disappear after implementation, the revenue-sharing model incentivizes Royal Diadem to ensure that the system works, scales, and generates value because their earnings are tied to actual revenue performance.
If the platform fails to detect underreporting, non-compliance, or evasion, they lose.
That is the kind of partnership that aligns incentives with national goals.
The notion that this is a “financial Trojan horse,” as one unnamed staff member claimed, grossly oversimplifies a complex model of performance-based contracting.
The truth is that legacy systems have failed to close Nigeria’s revenue gaps in the maritime space.
This is a sector where billions leak through under-reporting, poor surveillance, manual licensing, and waste discharge without documentation.
With MEMS, NIMASA can log each waste offload, time-stamp operations, and invoice in real time.
That’s not just automation, its accountability.
FEC approval
Concerns have also been raised about the internal approval process within NIMASA.
Some staff members claim the proposal did not undergo a cross-departmental review.
While these concerns are valid in a bureaucratic sense, the agency’s leadership has responded, saying:
“Following a comprehensive internal review of operational systems, the current leadership of NIMASA resolved to embrace technology as a means of enhancing the agency’s capacity to deliver on its regulatory mandate more effectively.”
Furthermore, the proposal is currently under review by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), a multi-ministerial body known for its scrutiny of major contracts.
Any claims of secrecy or lack of oversight are therefore unfounded. Once FEC approval is granted, full implementation will be guided by compliance metrics, regular audits, and stakeholder engagement.
The bigger picture
Globally, maritime regulators are moving toward digital transformation. From Singapore’s NextGen Port to the EU’s Port Community Systems, the future lies in digitized customs clearance, automated environmental monitoring, and electronic certification.
Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind. According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), digital systems help improve port efficiency by up to 40% and reduce illicit activity significantly.
MEMS is Nigeria’s ticket into this future.
Strategic, data-driven
Mobereola has not engaged in mudslinging or rushed to discredit staff criticisms.
Instead, he has let the data and the architecture of the system speak.
His track record at LAMATA shows he understands not just how to build infrastructure but how to structure complex public-private partnerships that work.
At LAMATA, critics once questioned the viability of the BRT system. Today, it is a transport mainstay.
The same doubts greeted the early days of the Blue Line rail project, now operational.
The lesson here is clear: Mobereola believes in measured, data-backed reform, even when it’s politically or institutionally unpopular.
Cost of inaction
To understand the importance of MEMS, one must first grasp the cost of maintaining the status quo: Billions in underreported marine activities; environmental pollution with no traceability; manual systems susceptible to fraud; wasted government revenue through bottlenecks; and international reputational risk.
MEMS is not just about automation. It is about system integrity.
It is about ensuring that Nigeria’s maritime borders are monitored, its taxes collected, and its obligations met under global maritime standards.
The road ahead
That said, NIMASA must do more to carry its staff along.
Reforms must be accompanied by internal education, interdepartmental collaboration, and benefit-sharing. Digital transformation thrives best when those implementing it understand its purpose and are trained for the transition.
Already, NIMASA’s leadership has begun outreach efforts and internal briefings to dispel misinformation. This must continue.
Transparency is not a one-off event. It is a culture. And Mobereola’s team appears ready to build that culture, block by digital block.
Rarely comfortable
MEMS is not perfect. No system is. But to dismiss it outright is to ignore the urgency of reform in a sector critical to Nigeria’s economy. Mobereola’s decision to pursue digital transformation is informed by two decades of successful infrastructure delivery, including some of the most complex transport systems in Africa.
Criticism, when constructive, can help sharpen policy.
But opposition rooted in fear of change must not derail progress.
For NIMASA, the course is clear: sail forward with technology, or sink into the inefficiencies of the past.
With a steady hand at the helm and a vision forged from real-world achievements, Mobereola is steering Nigeria’s maritime sector into a future that is efficient, transparent, and truly world-class.
·Nnamdi, a public affairs commentator, is resident in Abuja
