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Stories by Isaac Anumihe
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi penultimate Friday flagged off the dredging of River Niger from Ajaokuta to Onitsha.
The dredging which is a routine maintenance of the river came several years after the first dredging in 2006.
The move to dredge the river was initiated by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004 with a view to harnessing the economic potentials locked up in that area. But the first dredging came in 2006 and included shore protection, jetties construction and the development of river ports along the River Niger and its tributaries.
Initial estimates of the dredging were put at N30 billion, with about N13 billion said to be immediately ready for disbursement.
The first dredging triggered off some skeletal commercial marine activities in and around the host communities such as hauling of about 300 tons of tiles from West African Ceramics Company in Ajaokuta Local Government Area of Kogi State to the commercial nerve centre of Onitsha and capital of Anambra State in the east by Ninon Transport Company Limited on a regular basis.
It is against this backdrop that the step taken by the Buhari administration to dredge the River Niger again is timely in view of the quantum maritime commercial activities and employment it will generate.
According to Ameachi, the maintenance dredging would enable the country to reap the benefits of the N36 billion investment in the project. Apart from enhancing economic activities in the host communities, the project would also lead to increased social activities in the communities.
The National Inland Water Ways Authority (NIWA), he said, would be empowered with qualified personnel to carry out the maintenance dredging of the 572-kilometre channel of the river.
“This is the best form of administration you can get that is being ingenious because we don’t have money to pay any contractor,” he said.
The Minister directed NIWA to include the cost of a bigger dredger in the organisation’s 2018 budget while describing River Niger as a very important and strategic channel that links the Northern region to the Southern region of the country.
He said that special allowances would be made for NIWA workers handling the job in next year’s budget.
“It would have cost us billions to carry out this dredging. So, if we are saving that money, we should set aside some money that will encourage them to continue to do the work. I would like to reiterate that this government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari seeks to fulfil its campaign promises to make Nigeria a great nation that will cater for the needs of its citizenry.
“In this regard, it is our hope to see full concession of the Onitsha River Port before the end of the year,” he said.
The Minister also said that the completion of the Lokoja River Port and supply of cargo handling equipment at Baro River Port were being given deserved attention.
The project has generated a lot of interests in the maritime domain thus prompting some comments from maritime experts.
Mr Ismail Aniemu said that apart from linking communities together, it will trigger off a lot of trading activities.
“First, we must appreciate that Nigeria is a coastal state and that the various coastal communities in Nigeria have used the waterways as part of their trade routes. With the advent of modernisation and bigger vessels—-bigger than the conventional wooden canoes that used to ply this water—-trading activities will not be seamless if inland waterways are not dredged.
From Kogi to Onitsha, from Niger, to Kebbi are areas you can link up by water. If you don’t dredge, everybody has to transport his trade by road. But when you dredge, companies like Ajaokuta that rely on supply of certain materials from other parts of the country will not function to full capacity. Also, every community relies on each other for food and material supplies.
“One community will have so much yams and they don’t have plantain. The other one will have plantain and they don’t have yam. And the easiest route to linking themselves is water. So, intra-national trade and relationship is enhanced by virtue of this dredging. A lot of market expansion will happen. People will now be able to access neighbouring communities. Communities they can reach in less than one hour by water, hitherto, they were forced to go by road for four hours. Another aspect of it is national security. Because most of these waters are not being used as conventional routes, they have been abandoned. Seaweeds called hyacinth have occupied a lot of channels. How it will enhance national security is that when people begin to ply it, it will give room for naval patrol. And when it allows for naval patrol, kidnappers and militants who have hitherto seen that place as their safe haven will be unsafe. If distress calls come to the members of the armed forces, they will be able to respond in good time.
So, if you look at it the benefits are so enormous. A lot of kidnappings have happened in the creeks. Even royal fathers have been taken away through speed boats. Then the navy that will go for search cannot go for search with only three persons. They need a gunboat. If the channel is not dredged gunboat will not access it.
So, it has economic, social and security benefit” he submitted.
Another expert, who, however, did not want his name in print, said that the project would engender optimum utilization of transport infrastructure and tourism.
“The project will open business opportunities for ferry services. There used to be ferry services from Oron to Calabar. In the 70s, there used to be transport services from Warri to Lagos. What happened to these things? It is because the channels were not deep enough. So, these dredging has opened up another channel for water transportation where people can access different communities through water.
Another aspect again is tourism. The water transport has a nexus to tourism. There are waterfront restaurants. There are floating bars. You have seen a bar where people go and drink. There are bars that are on water.
There are water front restaurants where people go. It is a luxury zone. What you buy there is more expensive than the normal bar. People go to the waterside looking at the water, sit at the waterfront to eat and drink.
It will further enhance the tourism industry because people will now be able to travel by boat to eat pepper soup delicacy away from their operational or living environment” he said.
Group discredits committee set up to restructure MAN, Oron
A frontline advocacy group in the Niger Delta region, the Niger Delta Development Initiative (NDDI), has sent a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari condemning the committee set up recently by the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, to restructure the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, describing it as something done in bad faith.
A statement by the President of the association, Gabriel Thompson, and the Secretary, Ita Umiom, said the recommendations of the committee, which is chaired by the former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Chief Adebayo Sarunmi, should be disregarded as it is capable of igniting fire in the region, which has been calm for some time now.
Outlining the reasons for condemning the committee’s report, the group said the Sarunmi-led committee is made up of men that have lost touch with modern realities in the maritime industry and as such did not interact with professionals in the industry.
“These professionals include the best sailors and mariners all over Nigeria who have deep knowledge of how maritime institutions are run internationally.
“The committee was wrongly constituted because when you put together a committee of such magnitude, you don’t bring people that do not have the knowledge of the requirements of STCW (Manilla Convention of 2010 as amended), the laws that guide international maritime activities now. The committee, the group said, even criticised the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) standards adopted by the institution.
“There is no way a committee can restructure an institution like MAN, Oron, without interacting with the critical stakeholders, including the host communities.
“The committee was skewed to negativity because its attention should have been focused on bringing recommendations that should make the academy a world-class institution that could compete favourably with countries such as Philippine and Singapore whose mariners occupy nearly all the vessels on the world maritime waters.”
The group argued that provision of training vessel is critical to the academy because it will enable the cadets to participate in the mandatory sea time experience as required by the Standard of Training Certification and Watch-keeping (STCW Convention 2010); provision of relevant equipment, infrastructure, proper funding, creating enabling learning environment with qualified lectures, are the critical areas that need restructuring and not the human beings in the academy.
“The recommendation that directors of Oron extraction in the school, who have committed no offence whatsoever should be compulsorily retired, is a misnomer.
“To show that the committee lacks required knowledge, the recommendation that the procurement department of the institution should be merged with works department is against the Procurement Act of 2007 and it also negates the spirit of due process and world best practices.
“The committee’s recommendations to tamper with the original organogram of the school which was approved by the federal government is also a misnomer.
“The membership of the committee is not only lopsided but is full of those who have one grouse or the other against the people of Oron nation..
“The problem of MAN, Oron is basically funding which should be properly addressed. Since the demise of the Nigeria National Shipping Line (NNSL), no cadet from the institution has had sea time experience because of absence of training vessel. This is an area the committee should have directed its energy at.
“Presently we commend the current leadership of the academy as it has been able to stabilise and reposition the institution for rebranding.
The minister should create an enabling environment that will sustain the present leadership, which the Niger Delta people are quite confident will steer the institution until such a time the institution is fully transformed into a maritime university.
“NDDI is fully aware of plans by the government to ensure that peace is fully sustained in the Niger Delta region.
“That any move to provoke unnecessary tension in the region through such restructuring is human sabotage to the people of the region.
WARTU flays Shippers Council over maritime haulage
West Africa Road Transport Union (WARTU) has warned that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) may not be able to shoulder the responsibility of a regulator if it eventually transmutes into the Nigerian Transport Commission following its failure to handle maritime haulage.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Nigerian chapter executives of WARTU, the President of the West African body, Aloga Ogbogo berated NSC for failing to be proactive in carrying out its function as port regulator.
Ogbogo urged the council to be seen as being active in its mandates and umpire roles in port operations, adding that the regulatory agency has not performed as expected in so many areas on issues affecting maritime haulage operators.
According to him, the quest for the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to transmute into the National Transport Commission (NTC) might be hindered if it failed to address factors affecting transportation and bad roads linking the ports.
Ogbogo who also doubles as the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, (NARTO), appealed to the council to up the ante in discharging its responsibilities.
Worried about the new freight, Ogbogo said that the freight rate when implemented, will lead to divergent and negative reactions from stakeholders. Even at this, he said, the council has not shown any interest on how to intervene and determine the way forward.
On the cargo movement from Nigerian seaports to neighbouring countries in the sub region, Ogbogo lamented that lack of infrastructure in Nigeria might hinder the business.
“I am aware that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council is supposed to introduce freight rate to the industry.
“We expect that since the price of gas will increase, the cost of tyres will increase, drivers will demand salary review from their employers, council would take it up and discuss with transporters on the freight rate.
“It is better to be proactive most times as a regulator before issues like this escalate. Therefore, I am appealing to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to be proactive.
“I think it will be wise for the council to look into issues ahead before it becomes a big problem and it is advisable for the council to always meet with the transporters otherwise it will be difficult to solve that problem when it eventually escalates” he said.
Also, spokesman of WARTU, Alhaji Nasiru Salami expressed worries on the council’s regulatory mandate as the commercial port regulator saying that it is yet to address issues affecting roads and freight charges.
Responding on behalf of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Director, Consumer Service, Mrs Christy Jatau assured the transporters that the council will call for an elaborate meeting where such an issue can be discussed.
