You have advocated moving cargoes from Lagos seaports to the Onitsha inland port, is there any progress?
Actually, the meeting was among the management of NIWA, barge operators we have already licensed, representatives of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the president of the Barge Owners Association of Nigeria. We met to look at the programmes we have, one of which has to do with the multimodal transport system – the movement of cargo between Lagos and Onitsha, which is also meant to ease traffic on our roads.
I have also met with the Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Importers Association of Nigeria in Nnewi, still in Anambra State. I also met with the traders’ association. That tells you the extent we have gone in this regard. And at every meeting, we had in attendance representatives of the different traders’ associations and those of the importers
.First of all, you must understand the reasons behind establishing an inland port. It is to create alternative means of transportation of cargo and persons.
The Onitsha port, as far as I am concerned, is viable. It is about us making it viable since it has not been used before. It was only during my tenure that the first commercial barge with cargoes came to Onitsha port. But don’t forget that it is the same Onitsha river port that Julius Berger is using to move all the consignments and equipment they are using to construct the second Niger bridge. It still came by water, so what channel did they use to bring the consignments that they are using to build the second Niger bridge? Where is the channel Sterling Oil is using to move cargo between ports? It is the same channel.
For now, we are concentrating on ensuring that we maintain our channels to make them all-rounder and carry large barges.
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