Blue Economy Policy and Fisheries Sector Transformation: Evaluating Nigeria’s National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan

This research evaluated the implications of Nigeria's National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP) and the Federal Government's blue economy policy framework for transformation of the fisheries sector, focusing on the alignment between declared policy intentions and actual institutional responses across the implementation landscape in Lagos, Rivers, and Borno states as representative case study contexts. Nigeria's blue economy policy ambitions centre on expanding aquaculture production, modernising artisanal fishing infrastructure, improving fisheries regulation, and developing marine and coastal industries, but evaluative research on the coherence and implementation fidelity of these ambitions has been absent from the scholarly literature. The study applied a policy implementation analysis framework, combining documentary analysis of policy instruments, budget tracking, programme evaluation using mixed-methods outcome data, and 50 semi-structured interviews with federal, state, and local government officials, private sector actors, and fishing community representatives. Implementation outcome data were collected from three funded fisheries infrastructure programmes and two aquaculture development initiatives operating under the NIIMP framework. Results revealed significant implementation gaps between policy intentions and actual outcomes. Budget execution rates for fisheries components of NIIMP averaged 43 percent over four years, with expenditure concentrated on capital infrastructure projects rather than enabling services. Coordination failures between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and allied ministries responsible for maritime infrastructure, environment, and finance created institutional bottlenecks. Community consultation requirements were consistently bypassed. Despite these failures, targeted aquaculture enterprise support programmes showed measurable productivity impacts in beneficiary communities. The study delivers an original implementation evaluation framework specific to fisheries blue economy policy in Nigeria and recommends a governance reform agenda prioritising inter-ministerial coordination, community participation, and results-based financing for the Nigerian fisheries blue economy strategy. Keywords: blue economy policy, fisheries transformation, NIIMP, policy implementation, Nigeria