N13.65b abandoned River Ports Rot Away!

Seun Abiola I

Four River ports in the country are currently rotting away despite government intervention of N13.65billion on rehabilitation.

While two of the River Ports, Onitsha and Baro have been completed, the Oguta and Lokoja have allegedly been abandoned by the contractors.

The four River Ports are Lokoja in Kogi State; Baro in Niger State; Onitsha in Anambra State and Oguta in Imo State.

Findings revealed that work on Baro, Lokoja and Oguta river ports have attained 100, 57 and 75 per cent completions respectively, the Onitsha port has been completed and awaiting concession.

Recall that the Lokoja river port in Kogi State was awarded in 2011/2012 at a cost of N4, 112,346,572.26 to Inter Bau Construction Ltd to be completed in 57 weeks.

This is even as another River port project, awarded at the same period is Oguta, Imo State to Scott Amede Engineering Ltd for a fee of N2, 743,625,787.15.

Also ‎the Baro River port in Niger State was awarded at a cost of N2, 563,499,248.00 by the Federal Executive Council to a Chinese company, Messrs CGGC Global Project.

But, the Onitsha River port which was built by ex-President Shehu Shagari and rehabilitated by the former President Goodluck Jonathan at a cost of N4.6billon in 2012 has been completed but awaits concessioning for over six years.

The Baro port though has been completed is presently awaiting equipment and construction of the road leading to the port.

But, the Oguta and Lokoja ports have been left in ruins after it was awarded to Nigerian contractors who allegedly abandoned the ports after mobilisation.

Speaking over the weekend, a senior management staff of the agency informed our correspondent that the equipment in Onitsha port are fast deteriorating because it has never been put to use six years after it was rehabilitated and commissioned by the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

The source who craved anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to speak said the Baro port in Niger state which has also been completed lacks accessible roads.

The source said, “I learnt that Baro port is completed but how will they put the port to use without an access road? How will the trucks move cargoes to and from the port?”

“On Lokoja, the contractors have not done enough, they got mobilised and nothing was done. This is the second contractor working on it. For instance, a contractor was mobilised with N800m and nothing concrete came out of it till today.”

Another source in the agency who also craved anonymity said government has refused to concession the Onitsha port six years after it was completed with state of the art equipment.

The visibly worried senior management staff queried why concession of a river port will take government six years to actualise leaving multi-million dollar equipment rot away.

“What type of concession will take government six years to actualise?” he asked rhetorically. He further reiterated that Baro river port has been completed since 2014 but without any access road.

The concerned staff advised the government to award the construction of the road leading to the Baro port and also connect it with rail.

“Government should allow Baro river port to function; they should award the road and connect Baro with rail line so that when a barge brings cargoes it can be evacuated by rail.”

“It is a pity that none of the river ports is functioning.

Lokoja and Oguta were given to local contractors and they did not do anything appreciable so government should follow up with the contractors to know why they refused to do the job.

“We are able to have Baro port because it was given to Chinese and they finished far ahead of time.”

Onitsha port which was built by erstwhile President, Shehu Shagari and rehabilitated by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is ready for operation but government planned concession is stalling operations years after commissioning.

He however charged the government of Niger state to come to the rescue of the port by building an access road.

His words, “Niger state Government can also come to the aid of the Federal Government by building the roads.”

However, stakeholders have asked the federal government to use its political will to ensure that the river ports are functional.

In a chat with journalists recently, the Managing Director, Kaduna Inland Container Dryport, Yusuf Ismail advised that the Port should be given to private investors to turn around and make attractive for activities to commence.

“I have told you before; if government wants it (River Ports) functional they will call investors to come and invest in them and give them the guidelines.

“They should put policies in place and there should be a regulatory body that will make sure it works. So that is how it is going to work.

“Everything lies with government, even the seaport we are looking here in Apapa, Tincan and everywhere; if government wants it to work it will work. It wasn’t like this in the early 90s and early 2000 where people did not have capacity to even run the port, that time it took us 30, 40 days to take container out of the port, but when they invited investors, things changed for the better. We all are seeing the changes.”

On his part, Otunba Kunle Folarin, a frontline maritime stakeholder and chairman of Nigerian Ports Consultative Council (NPPC), called on the federal government to revisit all the river ports on the Niger and Benue and elsewhere, and make a deliberate policy to turn them around for the benefit of the government and its citizens.

He explained that with her massive coastal stretch and the benefit of harnessing its maritime potential, Nigeria could attain intermodal system of transport easier than imagined.

“Governments, from time to time, are shying away from building intermodal system of transportation and this is not good at all. We are a maritime nation and what this means is that we can do so much with our marine environment. People should be able to move from any part of the country using water transport, rail, air or land depending on their choice, which should be economically informed.

When contacted, the Spokesman of NIWA, Tayo Fadile confirmed that the Baro River port is not being used due to lack of access roads linking the port and Onitsha River port is awaiting concession.

In his words, “the Baro River port is completed, but there is no access road linking the port. While the Onitsha port is awaiting concession.

Fadile was however silent on the Oguta and Lokoja River ports.