Nigerian Industry Leader Warns of “Nutritional Emergency” as Fish Import System Cripples Nation’s Protein Supply

In an urgent open letter to President Bola Tinubu titled “A Cry from the Waters,” Femi Olawoore, Managing Director of Mariplus Services Ltd, has sounded a national alarm: Nigeria’s opaque and corrupt fish import quota system is pushing the country toward a full-blown protein crisis, turning one of the nation’s most vital food staples into an unaffordable luxury for millions.

Olawoore described a country on the brink of a “nutritional emergency,” where policy failure and mismanagement are deepening food insecurity and placing basic nutrition out of reach for ordinary citizens. “When fish, a staple protein for the average Nigerian, becomes unaffordable, then a protein crisis is inevitable,” he warned.

The numbers paint a dire picture. Nigeria consumes between 3.2 and 3.6 million metric tons of fish annually, accounting for over 40% of the animal protein in the national diet. Yet domestic production covers only about 1.1 million metric tons, leaving a staggering deficit of more than 2 million tons that must be met through imports. Instead of ensuring this critical gap is filled affordably, Olawoore alleges the import quota system has been hijacked by “private and greedy interests,” transforming quotas into a tradable commodity that shuts out genuine operators and inflates market prices.

“Access to quotas has effectively become a tradable commodity, shutting out genuine operators and distorting market prices,” Olawoore wrote, pointing to a system mired in corruption and a lack of transparency among regulatory agencies. This dysfunction is amplified by macroeconomic pressures, volatile foreign exchange rates, soaring freight costs, and prohibitive interest rates, that are suffocating legitimate businesses and small-scale farmers alike.

The human cost is already palpable in local markets, where the price of fish has surged beyond the reach of low-income households. “Many small businesses are gasping for survival as fish prices rise beyond what ordinary families can afford,” Olawoore noted, stressing that the crisis ripples from aquaculture farmers to market women and ultimately to dinner tables across the nation.

The call to action echoes unresolved warnings from years past. In 2017, then-Minister of State for Agriculture Heineken Lokpobiri declared that the fish import quota system “had to stop because the venture was no longer sustainable.” Yet seven years later, the system not only persists but has deteriorated further.

Olawoore is urging President Tinubu to intervene decisively, to dismantle corrupt bottlenecks, align reforms with the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, and prioritize food sovereignty. “The longer this system festers, the more it endangers both our economy and our people’s health,” he stressed.

With Nigeria’s protein consumption already falling below FAO recommendations even before the current economic turmoil, experts say the government’s response, or lack thereof, will determine whether a manageable supply gap spirals into a widespread nutritional emergency.

For millions of Nigerians, the question is no longer just about the price of fish, but about the very sustenance of a nation.