Admiralty lawyers lament poor operating capacity of Eastern ports

TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt

Admiralty Lawyers Society of Nigeria has decried the abandonment of the Eastern ports by the Federal government, saying that “the Eastern Ports are now ghost of their former selves and operating at a poor capacity.”

The group noted this during a capacity-building programme organised by for its members in Port Harcourt,  Rivers State.

In his opening address, National President of the group, Angus Chukwuka, observed that the Federal government had deviated attention from the maritime sector in the economics of the nation, thereby paying more concentration on oil and gas.

Chukwuka said the negligence of government in reviving some of the dilapidated ports in the region, had contributed to the security and maintenance challenges faced by the maritime workers in the area.

He said across the globe, countries were making fortunes from their seaports, lamenting that Nigerian government has allowed its own to die.

He said: “Nigerian government must revive its policies with respect to the Eastern ports, formulate and implement regulations or policies that will bring the Eastern ports not just back to life, but highly strategically improved to deal with the issues of rising unemployment, restiveness and cry of marginalisation in the East and to make businesses grow and improve social and economic relationship.”

According to Chukwuka “outside the box, is outside oil, and outside oil, is maritime. Maritime must now take its rightful place in the economic sector index. What is the use of having a sea and bathing with spittle? Nations all over the world are blessed with such seas as ours, and they are making fortunes from maritime commerce.

“They leave no stone unturned in maximising their potentials in the waters. They do not abandon ports in search of oil, nor do they formulate and implement policies that would over-congest one port and strangulate the other ports.

“On the other hand, industries that would have benefitted from the booming Eastern ports are frustrated out of business leading to more unemployment, hunger and social vices.

“So, a booming Eastern port will guarantee more job opportunities, reduction in crime, higher gross domestic product and foreign income earning,”  he stated.

The president of the group advised that, “Federal government should site the deep sea port in the South-South, being either in Rivers State or in Akwa Ibom State for everyone to breathe an air of good fortune.”

Speaking on the capacity building, he said: “The essence of this course, therefore, is to build the capacity of the participants by increasing their knowledge of the law and procedure of admiralty.”