Following the recurring traffic gridlock at the entrances to Apapa, and bad state of Nigerian roads, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has highlighted the need for government to ban movement of heavy cargoes, especially petroleum products and cement by road.
The NIWA is also pushing that all such cargoes should be moved out of the port by barges and rail.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos last week, Lagos Area Manager of NIWA, Mr. Sambo Muazu also revealed that NIWA is set to build a jetty and a terminal at the Oyingbo area of Lagos State where containers would be moved from Apapa and Tin Can Island Port to Oyingbo through barges.
He said that the agency is equally in a strong partnership with a Chinese company on how to take over some of the jobs of Nigerian terminal operators.
According to him, the Chinese shipping company would be importing cargo into Nigeria and be moving them strictly with barges. He said the company has acquired 20 barges and a number of tug boats.
He revealed plans by NIWA to construct a terminal at the marina jetty in Lagos, where sea-going vessels can berth and offload cargoes.
Sambo said: "The government has the right to say that certain cargoes should not be moved by road, we give you three years of moratorium, after this, nobody should move petroleum products and cement on the road, it should be done through water or rail"
"These are the types of cargoes that kill our roads, cause accidents, claim lives, whereas you can move them cheaper, faster and more environmental friendly by rail or by water".
On the deal with the Chinese company, he disclosed that, "in the last six months, I have been in China two times, the Chinese have visited us four times already, the last visit was three weeks ago, as we speak now, we are awaiting their final proposal which we would take to the ICRC for approval"
"We are going to turn this place into some first class, Dubai-like, we intend to bring down all the buildings here, we are going to have ultra-modern super structures here as well as a terminal where sea-going vessels can berth and offload", he explained.
Speaking further, he added that: "At Oyingbo jetty, we want to build a bonded terminal so that containers would be moved from Apapa and Tin Can to Oyingbo through barges, and from there it could be taken by road or we continue by water all the way to Warri and Onitsha".
"The Chinese have identified a shipping company in China that would be bringing cargo into Nigeria, another challenge would be that if you have the barges and the tug boats, the question is where is the cargo? Our competitors who are the terminal operators may not want to lose their business, so what we did was go to the source and tie up the source, reached an agreement with shipping companies"
"Most of these goods are coming from China, most of our trade and imports are with China. Already they have got the market share, it is the containers that they would now be moving, we are starting with 20 barges and a number of tug boats"
"We are sure that when people see these things start working and it is viable, they will divest from the road and come into water", he said.
Sambo also said that NIWA is having an agreement with a company that would be moving people and goods between Ghana (Tema) and Nigeria (CMS).
"There is a company that we are finalizing with on the movement of cargo and persons between Lagos and Tema in Ghana, and their take off terminal will be here at the marina"
He lamented that, “the basic challenge inland water transportation has in Nigeria is that it is so grossly under developed that the private sector is not interested in sinking money into it, the way to go is for the federal government to lead by example, if we lead by example and ensure that it is viable, then we can make profit from it and the private sector would key in".
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