Reps: Nigeria needs deliberate policy to maximise ports’ potentials

Daniel Reyenieju (PDP-Delta) has called on Federal Government to roll out deliberate policy for the country to maximize the huge potentials of existing ports across the country.

The Delta lawmaker, who decried the underutilization of the existing ports, including the four ports located in Delta State, argued that the designation of the four ports as export destination will
drastically reduce the unabated congestion Apapa port, Lagos state. He also urged management of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) not to be distracted during ongoing dredging of both the Escravos and Warri Channels.

“Delta is the only state in this country that has four ports; Warri Port, Sapele Port, the Koko Port, the Burutu Port. These are heavy cargo ports in terms of petroleum export terminals; the Warri refinery terminal and the Escravos terminal where crude oil is exported out of the country. So, the essence of the Escravos bald mouth which was
dredged about 45 years ago, became very necessary.

“When I brought the motion to the House, it went through and the executive saw the need to act on it and it has been awarded in the past three months to a very reputable company; so for the past two months.

“The first phase is ongoing. It has been very progressive. But having said this the need for us to also make sure that the port becomes very effective after the dredging, because we are not going to spend about N13 billion to dredge a place and at the end of the day the place is not going to be put into proper us.

“What do we need to do to get the four ports of Delta functional, most especially the Warri port which was built in the 80s and in 2011 it was designated as an export processing zone?

“What I am calling the federal government to do as a matter of policy; this has got nothing to do with laws; it is just operational policy of the Ministry of Transport and the Nigerian Port Authority is to designate the Delta Port as an export zone or export destination for whatever that need to be exported out of this country should go out through that corridor while whatever that needs to be imported can come in through the Lagos Port and any other port. That may not foreclose the need to export few oil and gas materials through the Warri port.

“Why I say this is for us not to dredge and at the end of the day the place is not put to use, which would not in any way help our nation “In doing this, it would generate employment to the locals, it would improve the economy of the local community and equally generate revenue to the federation. It is another way to make the ports viable,” he affirmed.

Reyenieju who held closed door meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari over the dredging of the Escravos Bama port, which gulped N13 billion, applauded the President’s directive to link all Nigerian ports to rail.

“In the process of lobbying the Executive to get the motion that was passed in 2016 to work, I was opportune to have met Mr. president twice and on those two occasions, there was something he brought out to say that why can’t the latest railways corridors not be connected to the ports?
“He (President Muhammadu Buhari) mentioned it, I did not take that to him, what I took to him was the dredging of the Escravos bama. This will also link all our ports not only Warri port. I think that is in the pipeline. I’ve also met the Minister of Transportation twice on this issue and he sounded positive but I don’t think that has taken off,” he noted.