Posted on November 10, 2016
Board of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) says it will do its best to ensure that infrastructure such as the dredging of the much talked about Calabar port channels is carried out very quickly to curb revenue loss and attract foreign investment.
Emmanuel Adesoye, the board chairman, gave this assurance at an interactive session with stakeholders and investors as part of the ongoing maiden working tour of facilities at the Calabar Port.
According to Adesoye, the Board, which is aware of the vast potentials and opportunities abound at the nation’s seaport, assured the operators at the Calabar port that no stone would be left unturned towards the actualisation of budgetary provision and implementation of the existing projects.
Adesoye urged all to ensure that there was the optimal synergy towards achieving an efficient delivery of port operations, adding that the Board would ensure that Nigerian seaports take their place in the community of maritime nations.
He however promised to ensure that Nigerian ports attain 10 million Twenty Equivalent Units from its present 1 million TEUs annually. This would in turn put Nigerian ports in a position to compete with South Africa that handles an annual TEU of 4.8 million and Egypt, 8.8 million.
Earlier in his welcome address, AbdullahiGoje, general manager of Eastern Ports, solicited for the assistance of the Board through policies of government to help revive the ports.
Goje, who frowned at the present scenario that made Nigeria a dependent nation where inferior goods were dumped in spite of the rich human and financial resources at our disposal, said there was need for the Board to ensure that Calabar port was fully utilised through the exportation of farm produce and mineral resources to earn foreign exchange.
He further called for the formation of a multinational joint task force in the Eastern ports to curtail the act of criminality such as kidnapping and piracy to attract investors. He affirmed that the Eastern ports axis is seen as a black spot within the international community, hence the need to attain a level one security status, just like the Lagos ports, to effectively stimulate trade facilitation with our neighbours such as Cameroon, Congo, Sao Tome.
According to Goje, dredging of the Calabar channels would not only increase vessel patronage but would also enhance revenue generation and bring port business closer to the users.
The Calabar port at present has a depth of 6 metres compared with Lagos with a depth of 13 metres, and shallow depth has often led to the diversion of bigger vessels to Lagos, which has reduced the revenue generation in the Eastern ports.
Source: Business Day
