By its enabling Act, all river ports are under the purview of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), with headquarters in Lokoja.
Recently, the Managing Director of NIWA; Mr Bola Oyebamiji drew attention to the poor state of things at some of the nation’s river ports.
He specifically mentioned Baro (Niger state), Oguta (Imo state), and Lokoja (Kogi state), all of which are at different stages of completion as gradually becoming white elephant projects.
Apparently, helpless, he told Shipping Position Daily that inadequate funding, poor road connectivity, and lack of dredging continue to stall their completion and full operation.
The alarm follows moves by the Federal Government last year to revive three moribund river ports valued at about ₦9.4 billion.
In a detailed report, sent to our correspondent, Oyebamiji outlined the various challenges affecting the river ports. He said the Baro Inland River Port in Niger State, awarded in 2009 for ₦3.56 billion, has been fully-constructed, but remains non-operational due to poor road connectivity, lack of maintenance of equipment, and inadequate funding for dredging and infrastructure development. He confirmed that despite completion, the port remains inaccessible, making it difficult for cargo movement.
He said the Oguta River Port in Imo State, that was awarded in 2009 for ₦2.74 billion is only 65% completed due to lack of budgetary allocations in recent years and rising construction costs.
The NIWA boss noted that the project risks abandonment unless urgent funding is provided, stressing that a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is the only realistic way forward.
Similarly, the Lokoja River Port in Kogi State, awarded in 2012 for ₦6.4 billion, is only 56% completed, also largely due to low budgetary allocations and the rising cost of construction materials. NIWA also identified silted waterfronts as a major obstacle, stating that dredging must be prioritized before the port can function optimally.
Meanwhile, the Onitsha River Port in Anambra State, which was rehabilitated in 2009 under a ₦4.66 billion contract, has been fully completed and concessioned to a private operator. However, NIWA admitted that further dredging of the waterfronts and improved navigability of the river channels are still required for optimal operations.
There are four river ports in Nigeria. Apart from the three mentioned earlier, there is also the Onitsha River port, which painfully had been completed and commissioned. But it is yet to function.
Among all the river ports, it is the one in Onitsha that is most strategic and viable; no wonder the bigwigs in business are interested, and they succeeded in compromising officials of government at both the Ministry of Transportation (as it was called then) and at NIWA.
Initially, the contractor handling the Baro river port has said that access road leading to the port from the Gegu express way in Kogi State is not motorable and needed urgent rehabilitation by the Federal Government if the project is to be of any economic value. The road was never rehabilitated, until other issues came up and the port has been abandoned after so mush money had been expended. If all that is now required of Baro is access roads, NIWA should also know that the river port also needs to be linked by rail. The same applies to Onitsha port.
We are at a loss as to why, unlike what obtains in other climes, river ports in Nigeria have been a failure and have not contributed anything to the economy. There are examples of success stories in India, South Africa, to mention just a few.
In India, the Port of Kolkata is a riverine port in the city of Kolkata, it is located around 203 kilometres from the sea. It is the oldest operating port in India, and was constructed by the British East India Company.
Even though a river port, Kolkata handles automobiles, motorcycles and general industrial cargo including iron ore, granite, coal, fertilizers, petroleum products, and containers with Iron ore, leather, cotton textiles as it major export, while wheat, raw cotton, machinery, iron & steel are the major import. It generates about $170million annually for the Government of India.
The river port in South Africa is the country’s only remaining river port and is situated at the mouth of the Buffalo River in the East Cape Province. It also has a success story that is comparable to that of India.
At least three of Nigeria’s river ports are strategically located along the Niger and Benue trough. With her massive coastal stretch and for the purpose of harnessing her maritime potential, the Federal Government should take advantage of these ports to boost the nation’s intermodal system of transportation.
By its attitude towards actualising the dreams of these river ports, it appears that the Government is not serious about them. The river ports were meant to open up the hinterland to commerce while reducing the pressure of the conventional ports.
It is more pertinent to focus attention on river ports now that the nation is talking about Blue Economy.
The quantum of businesses that would have been ignited if these river ports are functioning is phenomenal.
