Democracy Day: Buhari pledges to end bureaucracy in cargo clearance process at Nigerian Ports

By Dapo Olawuni

President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that trade bottlenecks and bureaucratic processes hindering efficient cargo delivery at Nigerian ports would be addressed in his second term in office.

Buhari stated this yesterday at the celebration of the ‘June 12 Democracy Day’ in Abuja

Buhari lamented that despite the enormous resources pledged to infrastructure development in the past four years of his administration, more is still desired to be seen in the area of port development, efficient rail system, modernize of roads and bridges, and electricity grid.

The president said “It still takes too long for goods to clear at our seaports and the roads leading to them are congested. It still takes too long for routine and regulatory approvals to be secured”

“These issues affect our productivity and we are committed to addressing them permanently”

He also said that despite the fact that Nigeria exports over 2 million tons of cooking gas, it consumes less than half a million tons.

He assured that the federal government will work to address the gas challenges and support rural communities with challenges of safely switching from firewood to cooking gas.

“Felling of trees to provide energy for domestic use is taking its toll on our rain forests, our ecology and our climate. Accordingly, we are taking steps to harness cleaner and more sustainable sources of electricity. We export over 2 million tons of cooking gas, yet we consume less than half a million tons”

“Over 2,000 kilometers of ongoing Federal road and bridge projects across the country will be completed to reduce journey times and the cost of doing business. As I mentioned earlier, critical feeder roads will be built to facilitate easier transportation for people and goods from rural areas to major roads”

“Several rail, seaport and airport projects are at various stages of completion. We will open the arteries of transportation nationwide”

“It is a fact that Nigeria has more gas reserves than it has oil. Over the last four years, we have become a net exporter of urea, which is made from natural gas. We invite investors to develop more natural gas-based petrochemical projects”