Captain Tajudeen Alao (National
Taking a cue from the case study of the port of Vancouver and a container port built some miles south of it in the early 1980s, the new port was a failure. Be it private or government venture, any concept of a deep seaport in this economic situation without production for export and forex for import as foundation requires Need Assessment and Outline Business Case. Sapele port built at the same time as Warri early 1980s failed woefully, because the concept was political. In summary, Nigeria does not need many deep sea ports at this time. We need a holistic Maritime Transport Policy as a matter of urgency.
Captain Thomas Kemewerigha
Escravos Deep seaport is uncalled for based on the following reasons: First, Warri main port is under-used due to politics. Also, Burutu port is not fully on ground or operational. Another reason why the Escravos Deep seaport should not be considered yet is because of the current bad economic situation. They should rather fund other pressing projects. The state needs for education as well as health funding etc.
Babatunde Mukaila (Immediate Past National Secretary, ANLCA)
I strongly believe that it is absolutely necessary to cater for the specialised oil and gas sector. That is a major reason why the Escravos Deep Seaport is greatly needed. When completed, the Escravos deep seaport will enhance trade facilitations; especially to that particular sector and greatly enhance national economic growth. It is a welcome development.
Francis Omotosho (Registrar, NAGAFF Academy)
The Escravos Deep Seaport is a welcome development. I think we need more of it in order to bring in more competition among the ports that we have, especially among the federal and state government ports. The government should make it realistic and the timeline should be realistic, so that the people in that axis will benefit from the dividends of democracy. So to me, it’s highly welcome and it brings more competition.
Simeon Nwonu (Deputy National President, NAGAFF)
Every state that has a link to the sea is supposed to have a deep seaport. Do you know how many deeper seaports we have in China? Do you know how many deep seaports we have in India? Do you know how many deep seaports we have in Singapore, not minding the population because Nigeria is more populated than Singapore. You will discover that there are still some big ships that don’t even come to Nigeria or don’t even access Nigerian ports. That’s why sometimes we get transshipment from Ghana to Nigeria. So we don’t even have enough.
So when you are talking about whether the number is getting too much, No! We have not even started. There are supposed to be at least five deep seaports in the East alone and also about three or four in the west in order to feed the dry ports in the north. So when we are talking about deep seaports, we should also think about the economy and imports. The cargo throughputs have dropped drastically.
Barr Chris Ebare (Chairman, Institute of Chartered Ship Brokers)
We need as many as possible. Warri incidentally, will be a very good and viable place for the economy. I think concessioning is a welcome development because it will bring more revenue for the federal government and for the marine and blue economy ministry. It will bring more development to the state, more internally generated revenue to Delta state government and more employment opportunities for Delta state citizens and Nigerians at large. I think the only thing we will pray for is that this deep seaport is given to a very good investor. Not the one that will go there and just scratch the surface. So, I think it’s a welcome development and I am totally in support of the deep seaport.
Frank Obiekezie (National Secretary, AREFFN)
I don’t know what special purpose the deep seaport will serve that the current one cannot contend with. The conventional sea ports right now are not getting sufficient transactions. One thing with us is this penchant for continuous awarding of new contracts. Right now most of the ports in Lagos are operating under-capacity including the one in Onne. Most of the little things that come in are taken to bonded terminals. So I don’t see any seaport in Nigeria today that is working at three quarter capacity. No matter how they say it the deep seaport will be PPP, at the end of the day everything will be in corruption. I call it misplaced priority. There are so many other things yearning for attention in the port industry. There should be no sane person that will tell you that he supports the establishment of a brand new deep seaport. So my personal opinion is that it is not necessary now. It may be necessary in future, but right now it is not necessary.
