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By Steve Agbota [email protected] 08033302331
Around the world, every serious maritime nations have dedicated fishing terminals and jetties for economic growth and to expand industrial scale of fishing. These fishing terminals are designed to drive job provision from the non-oil sector of the economy.
The terminals within these nations’ ports have fish processing, ship maintenance and dry dockyard facilities, storage facilities for boats to berth and preservation of fish among others. For instance, Ghana has dedicated fishing terminals for industrial scale.
Unfortunately, Nigeria as a maritime nation and blessed with over 200 different special specie of fishes in its oceans and seas with economic value has no functioning fishing terminal in any of its ports. The reason why fishing vessels from Europe came into the Nigerian territorial waters and fish for prawns and all kinds of marine life, take them back to Europe and other countries, process them and send them back to Nigeria.
Currently, Nigeria loses approximately $70 million to illegal fishing by the Chinese and European trawlers in nation’s territorial waters due to insecurity and lack of modern fishing terminals in the country while Nigeria is spending billions of naira on importation of fish
This has become a major concern for stakeholders in the maritime industry and the fishing community as they are calling for a dedicated fishing port and terminals.
Historically, Nigeria used to have two vibrant terminals located in Ebughu and Ibaka terminals in Mbo Council in Akwa State. The two fishing terminals were in existence before the creation of Akwa Ibom State in 1987. But successive governments at the state and federal levels reportedly paid little or no attention to the facilities as they are rotten away.
Last year, the Federal Government promised to resuscitate the Ebughu fishing terminal.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Ita Enang, when he led the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Fisheries and Ship Building to assess facilities of the two fishing terminals in Akwa Ibom state, said the Ebughu fishing terminal has fish processing, ship maintenance and dry dockyard facilities.
Enang said the committee was in the area to assess the multipurpose jetty which was initially conceived, designed and constructed primarily as fishing jetty terminal but has now been turned into vessels berthing for all kind of economic activities.
However, Enang said that the government would require about N100 billion to achieve the goal of revamping the fishing terminals, with a design that the project would drive job provision from the non-oil sector of the economy.
Speaking with Daily Sun, Mr. Joseph Usufo Dan, said it is also unfortunate that Nigeria is yet to take full advantage and harnessed enormous potential in the ocean economy.
“In the 60s, apart from earning revenue from both import and export, one of the major focus of Nigeria in the blue economy is fishing. Nigeria used to habour so many trawling companies and over 300 fishing boats.
“But today, the trawling companies have packed up while the over 300 fishing boats have all gone due to lack of political will, insecurity and safety on the nation’s waters,” he added.
According to him, at the moment, Nigeria is producing only 1.1 Metric Tonnes (MT) of fish, while the total demand for fish in the country is 3.6 MT, which shows the huge gap that needs to filled.
Former member of Presidential Task force for the Reform of Nigeria Customs Service and Presidential Committee on Destination Inspection, Luck Amiwero, said that Nigeria should go to Ghana and study their model and what they have done.
He noted that Nigeria has Onne in Rivers and other ports that can be used for fishing berth but the problem is that Nigeria do not have professionals to get things right.
“What other countries have done like Ghana, they have dedicated berths for fishing and that is what is done all over the world. Nigeria has some ports that are not functioning but viable in different areas.
“You go to South Africa, they have old port. Nigeria can develop the old ports like Warri and Calabar, which are shallow ports. These are ports that are supposed to have been used for trawlers. Nigeria is supposed to have developed them for fishing port and commodity port,” he said.
He said that Nigeria has different ports and all of them cannot be used for cargo ports. He said Nigeria is where foreigners will come and take fish and take them to their country because government is not ready to do things properly.
“We have massive coastline and ocean in every area. Nigeria is not doing anything about making use of it. When you talk about establishment of a fishing port, it has the potential to grow the shipping industry. That is what happened in Morocco and other places. Ghana now is taking over the whole thing.
“It is not only in fishing, they are many areas we are supposed to have used our unutilised ports for commodity promotion and export. You don’t need to dig the whole ports and make them seaports. What we need is a load centre, that can attract all our cargo and that can supply other thing,” he added.
