Maritime expert Babalola James says Nigeria’s Eastern seaports have the potential to generate huge revenue and create considerable employment if adequately developed and supported.
The Eastern ports include the Port Harcourt Port, Warri, Calabar, Onne, FLT and FOT, Sapele, Koko Port, and Onitsha River Port. These ports have been largely underutilised, mainly due to some uncanny political decisions by the Nigerian federal government.
According to James, there is a lack of political will to promote and ensure patronage of the eastern ports.
“The geographical location of the ports also posed challenges, as they are located within creeks, unlike the Lagos ports which are situated on the open sea,” he said.
Secretary of the Rivers and Bayelsa Shippers Association and former spokesman of the Shipping Trade Practitioners Association of Nigeria, he lamented that most of the infrastructure at the Eastern ports were old and dilapidated.
“The federal government should create incentives to attract shippers and investors to the Eastern ports. Also, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is to blame for neglecting the Eastern ports, which was remarked following a visit by the American Coast Guard.
According to him, Lagos Port was used as a case study during the visit, and all recommendations made were implemented there, while the Eastern ports were not given similar attention.
“However, despite the poor state of infrastructure, the Eastern ports were still generating significant revenue for the federal government. Millions of dollars and trillions of naira were being paid into the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account from maritime activities at the Eastern ports,” the Shippers Association secretary said, calling on the federal government to give urgent attention to the ports for more revenues.
“With improved infrastructure, it would lead to increased revenue generation and create more employment opportunities in the Niger Delta region,” James said, describing the Eastern ports as strategic to the nation’s economy.
“I call (on the federal government) for the dredging of channels and rehabilitation of berths. Ports in Delta State and parts of the Port Harcourt Port complex require extensive dredging, due to low draft levels”.
