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By Moses Akaigwe
Government’s efforts to decongest Lagos ports and make the roads safer by reducing the presence of container trucks got a boost on Friday when the Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, inaugurated the technical working group on the management of waterways to Onitsha and Baro ports.
The Technical Working Group (TWG) on the Proposal for Channel Management from Escravos to Onitsha and Baro Ports on the Niger River on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) platform, is expected to ensure navigable channels for the passage of containers to Onitsha and Baro,
The technical working group is to be chaired by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, while the Managing Director of NIWA, Dr. George Moghalu, is the Alternate Chairman
The activities of the committee are expected to lead to a situation where the population of trucks delivering cargo in containers to the east [for instance], and those returning the empty containers back to the Lagos ports, is considerably minimised to make the roads safer and last longer.
Inaugurating the group, the Minister of Transportation, described the nation’s Inland waterways as veritable channels to Nigeria’s prosperity which has been long overdue for harnessing.
Sambo said the waterways have economic potentials that are capable of boosting the country’s economy through the creation of thousands of jobs across multiple sectors and wealth for citizens.
Speaking further, the Minister said: “I am the most excited man in the world today because Providence has challenged me to bring into reality a project.”
As the General Manager Lagos Zone of National Inland Waterways Authority – NIWA, the minister, had travelled to China three times on separate delegations, marketing the waterfront lands owned by the authority.
The Marina NIWA area office was later zeroed in on with a proposal to reclaim the lagoon adjoining the land area, to build a container, as well as a passenger, terminal for passengers crossing between Lagos Island and Apapa.
According to him, the idea of inaugurating the technical working group to ensure proper management of the water channels is that when vessels come into Lagos, they do not have to discharge in Lagos goods meant for Onitsha and the hinterland.
Rather, they will be transported on barges or vessels that can traverse low draughts to Onitsha port to be picked by trucks for distribution in the hinterlands.
“The primary objective is to invest in, maintain and operate a high grade, well-secured Inland Waterways channel from Lagos to the hinterland for the movement of cargo thereby decongesting the ports of Lagos, ensuring a long life span for our roads, lowering pollution levels, creating diversified jobs for our people, drastically reducing the cost of imported goods while making our exports competitive in the international market”, Sambo said.
The Minister said Nigeria can learn from the United States of America’s example, where “the economies of 38 states depend on inland waterways for the movement of about 630 million tonnes of cargo annually valued at over 73 billion dollars”!
It is interesting to note that 28 states of Nigeria are connected by water.
The terms of reference of the TWG include: Carry out Legal, Financial and Technical Due Diligence on Messrs DIDS Nig. Ltd, the project proponents, in Nigeria and abroad; and document all data and materials collected from survey/charting and the operational processes, for the purpose of security and future use for the development of a robust Project Structuring Report (PRS).
The technical working group is also expected to X-ray policies applicable for the purpose of putting the inland waterways channel to economic use; and negotiate what is accruable to FGN/NIWA at every level of operations and any other responsibility as may be directed by the Honourable Minister.
The 18-Man TWG has technocrats from the National Inland Waterways Authority, Nigerian Ports Authority, and the Nigerian Navy among others, with the Permanent Secretary, Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, as Chairman, the Managing Director of NIWA, Dr. George Moghalu as Alternate Chairman, Hassan Kaka, the Deputy General Manager, Business Development, NIWA, as Secretary.
