SECURING NIGERIA BLUE ECONOMY: A MILITARY-CIVILIAN LOGISTICS FRAMEWORK FOR THE GULF OF GUINEA

Maritime insecurity remains a critical challenge to Nigeria Blue Economy development and operational resilience in the Gulf of Guinea. This study examined the influence of maritime-security capacity dimensions: Integrated Infrastructure (INTINF), Joint Operations and Logistics (JOPLOG), Information Sharing and Maritime Domain Awareness (INSMDA), and Governance and Institutional Coordination (GOINCO) on Maritime Security Outcomes, Blue Economy Performance, and Operational Resilience. A survey research design was adopted, and data were collected from 384 respondents across the Nigerian Navy, NIMASA, NPA, and other maritime stakeholders using structured questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis was employed to test three hypotheses at the 0.05 significance level. The results revealed that the four predictors jointly and significantly explained 65.7% of the variance in Maritime Security Outcomes (F = 149.872, p < .001), 60.2% of the variance in Blue Economy Performance (F = 143.647, p < .001), and 61.4% of the variance in Operational Resilience (F = 151.138, p < .001). Joint Operations and Logistics emerged as the strongest and most consistent predictor across all three outcome variables (β = 0.465, 0.407, 0.413; p < .001), followed by Governance and Institutional Coordination. Integrated Infrastructure significantly predicted Maritime Security Outcomes and Operational Resilience but not Blue Economy Performance, while Information Sharing and Maritime Domain Awareness significantly predicted only Blue Economy Performance. The study concludes that coordinated joint operations, strong institutional governance, enabling infrastructure, and functional information systems are essential for enhancing maritime security and Blue Economy outcomes in Nigeria. It recommends strengthening joint command structures and logistics frameworks, establishing a high-level inter-agency maritime coordination body, and integrating surveillance systems with shared infrastructure to maximize operational effectiveness. These measures will improve Nigeria maritime-security capacity, foster Blue Economy growth, and build a resilient maritime-security architecture in the Gulf of Guinea.