Engr Aikeroje Isaac is the Acting Rector of Global Maritime Academy in Warri, Delta State. In this chat with Roland Ekama, he spoke about the present state of Warri port, the maritime industry in general and sundry issues. Excerpt
As a maritime academician, how can you enlighten stakeholders about the industry?
Because the maritime industry has been abandoned for a long time before now, those that are trying to awaken the industry are basing their concept on what they already know about the industry. Therefore there is a little fall in that regard and the only way that we can lift the industry up again is for stakeholders to come together with one voice and it is also the duty of the maritime press to promote the industry as well. Though we have a gross perspective about the industry because the industry is not only talking about the cadets and you will agree with me that the industry is very broad, thus if I am to segment the industry as an academician, I must start by stating categorically that we have the ship builders and they will not be there if cargo owners are not there; thus the cargo owners are also key stakeholders in the industry, so it is the type of cargo that they export or import that has motivated the ship builders to build the kind of ships that could help them to move the goods faster that has led to the development of the types of ships you have in the industry .Now you have the freight forwarders who I must say are the administrators in the maritime sector and they will not be there if the ship or cargo owners are not there because it is the cargo that the freight forwarders are trying to move in and out of the ports through export or import. Therefore because of the existence of the cargo owners, the ship owners come into play as well as the freight forwarders, then where is the freight forwarders going to move the goods if the ports are not in existence is another question that need answers, because the port is in existence in order for vessels to berth for the ship owners and move the goods to the cargo owners. Now, how can the freight forwarder carry out the import and export if you don’t have the ship management schools to teach them along with the importers on government regulations about import and export, what you need to know on ship management, and what you need to know about cargo handling as well? In other words, if you do not have the maritime schools that will teach the cadets on how to man vessels, the ship builders won’t build ships and there will be nobody to man the vessels so you now have a segment of the maritime school teaching cadets who are later called merchant navy on how to navigate ships .However we also have shipping administration schools, teaching the freight forwarders on how to move the goods therefore both schools have important roles to play to ensure effective movement of cargoes . With that, you can see how unique and broad the maritime industry is. We also have the government regulatory bodies which involves NIMASA, NPA and even the IMO which has a regulatory role on every maritime nations of the world and in Nigeria the regulatory body that is saddled with that responsibility is NIMASA, therefore NIMASA is there to regulate all the ships by providing safety, security, surveillance and every other things that is required for a ship bringing goods into the country to be safe on our territorial waters. In a nutshell the key to our country’s economy success is the maritime sector because without the maritime industry we cannot export our crude and we all know that our crudes are been carried by ships and who are those propelling the ships, they are cadets.
Are you satisfied with the performances of the Nigerian ports?
I am not satisfied because the people running the ports are foreigners, though we have local operators who have been taken over by the foreigners, for example INTELS is a foreign company owned by Italians so I don’t see how INTELS will want to respect your rules and regulations when they have their personal interests. In other words a foreigner cannot protect the integrity of our nation‘s territorial waters or protect our interest like we Nigerians. Therefore if you want to protect your ports and your maritime domain you must have your nationals to tackle the contraband items that can call at our port because in the regulations you have goods that are prohibited to enter your country through the ports. For example, weapons and if for instance the Italians and Americans manufacture weapons and if such commodity is heading to Nigeria, INTELS might be able to protect their interest as a foreign terminal operator in the country, therefore giving rooms for such items to come into the country. So the interest of the nation matters a lot and apart from that, we have issues of port congestion, power outage in the port is a problem that needs to be addressed as well.
Apart from the Lagos ports, is congestion being experienced in other seaports of the country, for example Warri, Onne and Calabar ports?
Funny enough, Warri port is not fully engaged and I must say that we do not have vessels going to Warri port. The reason some people say is that Warri port is a river port therefore ships have to navigate through the creeks. But in 1960s and 1970s, vessels were coming to Warri port because there was this conscience and commitment in government that the ports are fed with vessels and I do not understand why Warri port must be left idle and that port can take a lot of vessels, because if it is dredged to the draught of the ship, vessels can come in and discharge cargoes and that is will help the youth restiveness in the state because the port operates for 24 hours and with ships calling at the port, it will create employment for Nigerians.
As a rector to a maritime academy, have you sold this idea to the state government?
We have held series of seminars with stakeholders in Warri to explain to government that one way of reducing unemployment is to enable our port to work because if vessels come in to the port, it will attract workers and majority of these workers are graduates who are riding ‘okada’ all over town. But this people can go to the port and work there, not only will they work, truck owners or cargo owners will no longer go to the Lagos port, rather they will come to the Warri port and with that people from Onitsha, Owerri, Aba and Benin can come to the port to clear their goods instead of driving from the east to Lagos. With that the spare parts dealers will be engaged with one business or the other, the mechanics will have something to do to repair broken down trailers and trucks, so also the vulcanizers, the market traders will have something to sell within the port environment and to crown it all the place will be a center for commercial activities because goods will be discharged there and it will become cheap at the market. Therefore you do not need to go to Cotonou to buy cars because there will be a RORO terminal in the port as well. But I don’t know why the port has not been dredged because the only thing that I feel is stopping the port from performing, is dredging and apart from that if vessels are not interested in berthing in Warri, Burutu is a sea port which can be expanded in other to create opportunities for vessels to come in so that other ports like that in Lagos can be decongested, therefore I am calling on the government to look towards that direction and bring development to the place.
What is your take on the recent commissioning of Onitsha port?
It is a welcome idea for as many ports that we can create in the country will have to reduce congestion and it will bring the goods to the people on time and I must say that there is no country in the world that does not benefit from import and export directly and indirectly, therefore if it is possible to get the seaports closer to the people the better, as it will ease congestion and also reduce the cost of buying the goods as well, because everything goes back to the end users, therefore if the ports are nearer to the people, it will reduce the cost of buying some commodities from the market. However the Onitsha river needs constant dredging because of the influx of sand, but we already have the existing ports in the country that we can maintain and improve upon for bigger vessels to come in there .For example do we need an Onitsha port when the Warri port is there ? Which is a natural port and from Onitsha to Warri is just a two-hour drive, so why must we have that port?
How is maritime activity faring in Warri?
There is no maritime activity in Warri because what we have in the port are just fishing trawlers that call at the port and discharge fish, but apart from that, we don’t have vessels bringing goods to the port in Warri as we used to have in those days, but we feel that we need to educate and enlighten the young ones coming up because the government has been trying to uplift the industry, but the extent they have gone is not encouraging at the moment.
What will be your advice to the government towards the development of Warri port?
We have advised the Delta state government for importation to grow in the Warri port because with that the issue of youth restiveness in the state will reduce because what is actually making these boys to steal and kidnap people boils down to the fact that they have nothing to do and apart from that, the type of money they receive from politicians to carry out their deals don’t come to them after the election, but they can get such money from the port if the port is operational.
What are the challenges of maritime education in Delta state?
The students are yet to understand that the maritime industry has not been fully exploited, but we are still calling on them to understand that the knowledge obtained from the industry will draw them closer to the government, therefore maritime education is necessary for the young ones in the state and I see that government is serious to wake up the maritime industry.
Has the maritime industry in Nigeria fared better since independence?
That is what we are saying, that since independence the maritime industry fared well during the time of late Awolowo up till when oil became the mainstay of the nation’s economy and I remember that Awolowo said that import and export alone can save the economy of the country which I strongly believe, because customs derive a lot of revenue from import alone outside oil and majority in the sector deals with one goods or the other. There is a lot of money from the sector that can go into the government coffers. But as soon as oil became the mainstay of the economy, government forgot about the maritime industry and left it in the hands of those who cannot handle it properly, as a result of that, the maritime industry is not faring well because government’s attention is not there, government seems not to understand that they can generate a lot of revenue from the sector and apart from import and export, the ferries plying the inland waters is another way of making money for the government.
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