The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) will open applications for its Blue Economy Accelerator Programme (NIMASA-BEAP) on Monday, October 5, giving young Nigerian innovators aged 18 to 28 an opportunity to develop ideas aimed at solving challenges in the maritime and blue economy.

The application window will run until November 13, 2026, with submissions to undergo evaluation and due diligence before selected applicants move to a National Innovation Hackathon in December.

The programme is structured to take promising ideas beyond the application stage, with successful participants expected to progress through a 12-week accelerator programme in 2027 before presenting their solutions at a National Demo Day.

Application opens October 5

NIMASA said the programme is aimed at identifying young people developing innovative solutions relevant to Nigeria’s maritime and blue economy sectors.

The initiative combines a National Innovation Hackathon with a 12-week accelerator programme designed to help participants develop their ideas into practical solutions and potentially viable enterprises.

For applicants, the first stage will be the online application process, which opens on October 5 and closes on November 13.

Applications will then be evaluated between November 16 and December 2, with NIMASA saying the process will include due diligence.

What happens after applications?

Those who make it through the selection process will proceed to the National Innovation Hackathon scheduled for December 8 to 10.

The hackathon will provide a further stage for developing and assessing the ideas submitted by young innovators.

Successful participants will then enter a 12-week accelerator programme in the first quarter of 2027.

The programme is expected to culminate in a National Demo Day in the second quarter of 2027, where participants can showcase their solutions and explore opportunities for collaboration and enterprise development.

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NIMASA: Young people must be part of blue economy growth

NIMASA Director-General, Dr Dayo Mobereola, said the programme was intended to increase the participation of young Nigerians in the development of the country’s blue economy.

He said Nigeria’s maritime sector has significant potential for economic growth, employment and national development, but argued that unlocking that potential would require innovation, technology and new ideas.

“The future of Nigeria’s blue economy will be built on ideas, innovation, enterprise and collaboration. Through NIMASA-BEAP, we are creating a platform for young Nigerians to develop practical solutions, transform innovative ideas into viable enterprises and contribute meaningfully to the growth of our maritime sector,” Mobereola stated.

The programme therefore goes beyond a one-off innovation competition, with its timetable taking selected participants from application and evaluation to the hackathon, accelerator stage and eventual demonstration of their solutions.

Why the programme matters

Nigeria’s blue economy covers economic activities linked to the country’s maritime and marine resources, including areas where technology and entrepreneurship can create new services, businesses and jobs.

For young innovators, NIMASA-BEAP provides a route into a sector that can sometimes appear dominated by established companies and traditional maritime businesses.

The agency said it wants to foster innovation and support a new generation of maritime entrepreneurs whose solutions can contribute to the development of the sector.

However, the success of the initiative will ultimately depend on how effectively promising ideas are supported after selection and whether they can move from prototypes and concepts into solutions capable of operating in the real economy.

NIMASA-BEAP timeline

October 5, 2026: Application portal opens

November 13, 2026: Application deadline

November 16–December 2, 2026: Evaluation and due diligence

December 8–10, 2026: National Innovation Hackathon

First quarter 2027: 12-week accelerator programme

Second quarter 2027: National Demo Day

NIMASA is encouraging eligible Nigerians aged 18 to 28 with ideas relevant to the maritime and blue economy to apply when the portal opens.

The agency said the initiative forms part of its efforts to promote innovation, youth participation and entrepreneurship within Nigeria’s maritime sector.

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, says the Service plans to deepen its use of artificial intelligence in public communication after receiving international recognition for its approach to stakeholder engagement.

Adeniyi received a Special Award of Excellence at the 2026 International Public Relations Association (IPRA) Golden World Awards in Athens, Greece, on Friday, 25 September.

The recognition focused on the NCS’s communication, stakeholder engagement and public relations efforts around its ongoing reforms, including initiatives aimed at modernising Customs operations, facilitating trade and improving institutional transparency.

Adeniyi: Recognition should drive more innovation

Rather than viewing the award as an end in itself, Adeniyi said the recognition should encourage the Customs Service to explore emerging technologies in communicating with citizens and stakeholders.

“We have started using AI tools in our public communication, and we view this recognition as an invitation to do more.”

He said the Service hoped that by 2027, the NCS and more Nigerian government agencies would feature more prominently among global award recipients.

The comments place artificial intelligence within the wider communication strategy of the Customs Service, as government agencies increasingly face the challenge of explaining reforms in an environment shaped by rapid digital communication and misinformation.

Why Customs says communication matters

Adeniyi said communication was central to the success of government reforms because citizens, businesses and other stakeholders needed to understand why policies were introduced, how they were being implemented and what outcomes were expected.

He linked the NCS reform agenda to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic policies, particularly efforts to improve Nigeria’s trade competitiveness, facilitate exports and increase the country’s participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

For businesses that rely on cross-border trade, clearer communication from Customs can affect how traders understand regulatory requirements, compliance obligations and changes to border processes.

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Nigeria also wins IPRA Grand Prix

The Athens ceremony also brought another international recognition for Nigeria.

The IPRA Grand Prix was awarded to Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR), publishers of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential, for its campaign titled “AI for Crisis Communication: From Study to Strategy.”

The campaign emerged from a research project led by IMPR Chief Executive Officer Yushau Shuaib in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Centre for Crisis Communication.

The research examined challenges associated with artificial intelligence, including misinformation, deepfakes and wider digital information disorder, before translating the findings into a strategic communication campaign.

The two Nigerian recognitions place public-sector communication and the emerging role of AI in crisis communication at the centre of the country’s showing at the 2026 IPRA awards.

IPRA returns to Athens

In her welcome remarks, IPRA President Esther Cobbah said the return to Athens had historical significance for the global public relations body.

According to Cobbah, the association developed its Code of Conduct for public relations practice in Athens 60 years ago.

“Sixty years ago, in Athens, we built the code of ethics for public relations practice. Today, we have come back to Athens to see how we have deployed those ethics in our work.”

The 2026 gathering therefore combined recognition of communication achievements with a reflection on professional ethics and the changing communication environment.

For the Nigeria Customs Service, Adeniyi’s award comes as the agency continues to position communication as part of its broader reform programme, with artificial intelligence now identified as an area it intends to develop further.

Ondo State has introduced a digital human resource system that will allow civil servants to access payslips, monitor their retirement timelines and support the electronic movement of workers from active service into pension.

The system, known as “Ondo AI”, is also designed to give authorised government officials instant access to personnel records and provide real-time information for workforce planning and administrative decisions.

The state government unveiled the platform on Thursday at the Cocoa Conference Hall, Governor’s Office, Akure, describing it as part of efforts to move civil service administration away from manual processes.

The launch comes as Ondo continues to address pension administration and retiree welfare. The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has previously proposed amendments to the state’s pension law, including measures aimed at protecting vulnerable retirees and ensuring more consistent pension remittances.

What Ondo AI means for civil servants

According to Godwin Odoma, Managing Director of SmartApps IT Limited, the company responsible for demonstrating the platform, Ondo AI will combine personnel administration, payroll management, retirement processing and pension migration.

The system is expected to hold digital records including photographs, appointment details, promotion letters, academic qualifications, complaints and other relevant documents.

Authorised officials will be able to retrieve the information electronically rather than depending solely on physical files.

For workers, one of the most visible features will be the self-service function.

Odoma said civil servants will be able to check their monthly payslips and determine the number of days remaining before their retirement.

“With the self-service application, you don’t have any reason to say you don’t know when you are going to retire.”

The platform will also alert government when an employee is approaching retirement, allowing the relevant authorities to identify workers due to leave active service in a particular month.

Pension transition is a key part of the system

The government says the system is designed to reduce gaps between retirement from active service and entry into the pension process.

Odoma said the automation would support pension migration and was intended to prevent unnecessary delays in moving retiring workers from the civil service to pension administration.

He also said the system would help Ondo meet automation and transparency requirements under the World Bank’s HOPE-GO programme.

The claims concern the system’s intended functions; the longer-term effect on pension payment timelines will depend on implementation, the accuracy of personnel records and the state’s ability to meet its pension obligations.

A wider pension reform picture

The digital launch comes against the backdrop of ongoing pension reforms in Ondo.

PenCom has previously called for changes to the Ondo State Pension Law, including a Minimum Pension Guarantee and an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order to support more consistent pension remittances. It also raised the possibility of making Pension Compliance Certificates a requirement for certain business activities in the state.

PenCom’s 2025 state implementation report listed Ondo among the states fully implementing the Contributory Pension Scheme and/or Contributory Defined Benefits Scheme at the time covered by the report.

That means the new digital system is being introduced within an existing pension framework rather than creating a new pension scheme.

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Aiyedatiwa: Data must be accurate

Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa said the purpose of digitisation extends beyond replacing paper files with computers.

He said government decisions depend on the quality of information available to those making them.

“We are living in an age in which information is power, data is an essential resource, and speed and accuracy presently define effective administration.”

The governor said the state could not continue operating a modern public service with systems designed for an earlier era.

“We cannot expect the 21st-century public service to operate an analogue system indefinitely, with systems designed principally for another era. This is the technological era. We cannot remain and be working with an analogue system.”

He linked accurate personnel data to the quality of government decisions.

“Leadership is about decision-making. And every leader takes decisions based on the information at hand. If the information is accurate, the decision will be near accurate. And if the information is inaccurate, the decision will be false.”

But Aiyedatiwa also warned that introducing technology would not automatically guarantee accurate administration.

He told officials responsible for the platform that the integrity of information entered into it must be protected.

“The integrity of the information entered into the system must be sacrosanct.”

Head of Service highlights workforce planning

Ondo State Head of Service, Chief Segun Odusanya, said the digital platform was necessary because personnel administration had relied substantially on manual records and traditional procedures.

He said the new system would strengthen personnel records, support workforce planning and reduce delays in administrative processes.

The platform is also expected to give management a clearer picture of the state’s workforce, including staff deployment, competencies, career progression and areas where additional development may be required.

Odusanya urged officials to pay attention to confidentiality, data protection and the security of personnel information.

What happens next?

Aiyedatiwa urged civil servants to adopt the system while acknowledging that implementation could bring challenges and adjustments.

“For us, digitisation is not technology for its own sake. It is a means of simplifying processes, reducing unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks, improving institutional memory and bringing government closer to the people.”

He added:

“I urge every public servant to embrace this innovation. There may be adjustments and challenges along the way, but reform is never achieved by standing still. We have to keep moving.”

Odoma said civil servants can access the OndoPay self-service application by scanning the relevant code or downloading it from the Google Play Store and entering their CS number.

The effectiveness of the system will ultimately depend on the completeness and accuracy of the data entered, the security of workers’ personal information and how efficiently government departments use the platform.

For civil servants, however, the immediate change is straightforward: personnel records, payslips and retirement information are being moved closer to their fingertips rather than remaining solely within government offices.