Growing import volume and imperative of rejuvenating dormant Onitsha river port

After what seems like a total overhauling of cargo handling operations in Nigerian seaports, which brought in private terminal operators in 2006 to handle cargo at the port, the nation’s seaport has been witnessing a stable growth in the volume of cargo imported cargoes. The growth in import volume has only become pronounced in the two major seaports (Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports) while other seaports are yet to key into the economic benefits of the boom.

With high level of traffic congestion that is currently taking place in the port city of Lagos (Apapa) due to the increased number of trucks coming and leaving Apapa at the same time either to take delivery of consignment or return empty containers, one will align with the school of thought that says Nigeria needs to start utilising other dormant seaports especially the river ports to decongest Lagos port.

Statistics has it that Nigeria is endowed with inland navigable waterways of about 3,000 kilometres and an extensive coastland of about 852km, which presents great potential for movement of goods from the coast to the hinterland by water transport. It is in this line that the Federal Ministry of Transport through the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) initiated the river port projects, which brought about the ongoing port development in Lokoja; Degema; Onitsha; Baro; Okrika and Oguta.

The ready-to-use Onitsha River Port is located in the heart of the commercial city of Anambra State and it was developed to service importers and other South-Eastern based businessmen, after the Federal Government invested the sum of N4.6bn to rehabilitate the port. Unfortunately, the River Port, which was commissioned in 2012 by President Goodluck Jonathan to enhance timely cargo delivery and bring port facilities close to its target market, is yet to be put to use two years after it was commissioned.

Investing N4.6bn by the Federal Government for the rehabilitation and dredging of River Niger, was meant to decongest the Lagos ports, whose growing volume of activities have overstretched the available infrastructure and space. A recent BusinessDay visit to the port revealed that the port facility is still un-utilised as no business activity was seen taking place at the port.

Confirming this, Ifeanyi Obi, a Nnewi-based spare parts importer, stated that all the Eastern states have been waiting endlessly for the port to become active so that importers would start bringing in cargoes directly through the port. This, according to him, will save them the stress and cost of travelling to Lagos to take delivery of their consignments.

“The port needs to commence operations so that the River Niger, which government has dredged will not return back to a shallow state,” Obi added.

Explaining the important of reviving river ports especially Onitsha, Tony Anakebe, a maritime analyst, who noted that over 60 percent of the containerised cargo imported into the country annually were owned by South-Eastern based businessmen, urged Idris Umar, the Minister of Transport, to see to it that the port becomes active.

“This will help in growing the economy because if a ship berths in Lagos ports, containers can be carried by barges to the hinterlands for the importer to take delivery of his consignment without having to travel to Lagos. All the importer needs is to pay for the transfer charges and clear his goods,” he added.

The delay in putting the port into use, Tayo Fadile, public relations officer of NIWA, attributed it to the delay in concessioning the port, which basically was due to the inability of private sector people to take over the cargo handling operations of the port.

“We have appealed to private investors to come and invest in the port, we have also set an example by allowing our ferries to ply from Lokoja to Onitsha and we hope to do more. We have done our part which is to develop the port and it is not NIWA that would buy barges and tugboats that ply the water,” he explained.

He said that although the port has not been as busy as it ought to, there is a company called ‘All Transmarine International’ that currently moves tiles from Ajaokuta to Onitsha once in a while. The port, Fadile stated, is supposed to be a private sector driven port. “The private sector needs to step in to make the river port functional. However, the government is still on the process of concessioning the port to private operators but the concession date is yet to be known,” he added.

On the other economic benefits of ensuring that the port commences operations, Adamu Biu, former executive secretary of Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), said months back that Onitsha River Port will assist in reducing the cost of cargo clearing in the South-East. “The river port would effectively consummate the dreams of the Federal Government to create a platform for boosting the economy and create employment for the people in that area.

“As the River port takes off and people clear their goods there, it would automatically translate into a significant reduction of clearing process at the port such that most traders in the South-East, especially those without the capacity to go to Lagos, Port Harcourt, or Warri, could henceforth operate from Onitsha at a cheaper cost,” he noted.

To close industry watchers, concessioning the River port does not need to be a hindrance to the commencement of operation of the port as government can go ahead to commence the cargo operations in the port so that investors would be encouraged to invest their capital in the river port project.

This is owing to the fact that the river port will enable increased volume of ocean-going vessels calling Nigerian ports; bring efficiency service delivery; reduced the cost of doing business; reduce pressure on Nigerian roads and free Lagos port of congestion because imported goods would be transferred directly to the river port.