Developing a Theoretical Framework for Integrated Maritime Domain Awareness in the Nigerian Exclusive Economic Zone

Maritime domain awareness, defined as the effective understanding of anything associated with the global maritime domain that could impact security, safety, economy, or environment, remains incompletely theorised in the context of developing nations with large exclusive economic zones. This study develops an original theoretical framework for integrated maritime domain awareness in the Nigerian exclusive economic zone, synthesising systems theory, socio-technical systems theory, and maritime governance literature. The research employs a theory-building methodology combining structured expert elicitation with twenty senior maritime security, regulatory, and naval officers, systematic literature review, and comparative institutional analysis of maritime domain awareness frameworks in analogous coastal states including Indonesia, South Africa, and Brazil. The proposed framework conceptualises maritime domain awareness as an emergent property of three interacting system layers: information acquisition (sensor and reporting networks), information integration (common operational picture architecture), and governance response (inter-agency coordination and decision authority). The framework introduces the concept of domain awareness sufficiency thresholds that are calibrated to the specific threat and regulatory environment of the Nigerian maritime domain. The study further proposes a measurement instrument for assessing maritime domain awareness system maturity and applies it to a critical evaluation of the current Nigerian system. The theoretical contribution advances beyond descriptive accounts of maritime domain awareness systems by providing an analytically generative framework capable of guiding system design, investment prioritisation, and inter-agency governance reform. Keywords: maritime domain awareness, Nigerian EEZ, theoretical framework, systems theory, maritime governance