Maritime operators and regional advocates have criticised the Federal Government over plans to channel the United Kingdom-backed loan to develop Lagos ports which they said would deepen infrastructural imbalance.
The accused President Bola Tinubu of giving priority to already functional facilities over neglected ones in other parts of the country.
According to the stakeholders, the policy underscores a persistent favouritism towards Lagos, despite several calls for the revitalisation of ports in the eastern and Niger Delta corridors, many of which had been neglected over the years.
They accused Tinubu of lack of fairness in his plan to invest fresh loan funds in Lagos, where port activities are already thriving, adding that the ports in Onne, Warri, Calabar and Ibom, and lately Baro Port in northern part of Nigeria, lack infrastructure, low draught levels, as well as face insecurity and limited connectivity to major economic centres.
Head of Research of the Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC), Dr Eugene Nweke, said in a statement titled ‘Re-balancing Nigeria’s Maritime Future: Integrating Port Decentralisation into National Reform Agenda Amid Lagos-Centric Investments’, that the centre acknowledged the economic importance of ongoing upgrades in Lagos ports, it was worried that “the continued structural neglect of other national port assets” which, according to him, poses long-term risks to trade efficiency, foreign exchange stability and inclusive economic growth.
Dr. Nweke said after a critical review of the government’s recent port infrastructure financing arrangement supported by UK Export Finance, alongside the broader trajectory Nigeria’s maritime development strategy, it was discontinued that “Nigeria’s maritime system remains heavily concentrated in Lagos, which currently accounts for the majority of cargo throughput.
“However, this concentration has resulted in persistent congestion and logistics inefficiencies, increased cost of imports and exports, overstretching of port and road infrastructure.
“At the same time, strategic ports in: Port Harcourt, Warri, Calabar and Onne, without mincing words, remain significantly underutilised due to policy neglect, inadequate infrastructure linkages and inconsistent investment priorities.”
A former Director of Operations at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Captain Warredi Enisuoh, said the government should redesign the available space at the different ports for ports automation, warehouse automation so that “Ñigeria could rake in more money instead of the economy stuck in traffic and ships waiting at anchorage which is the order of the day.”
Enisuoh, who’s a maritime expert said the Nigeria-UK deal “should have been geared towards decentralization and automation which will bring down the operational cost of shipping.”
According to a businessman, Okey Okonkwo, Tinubu should have upgraded ports in other parts of the country as well.
He said: “This deal is a clear example of the Federal Government’s lack of commitment to developing the Niger-Delta region. We have ports in Warri, Port Harcourt, and Calabar that are in dire need of upgrade, but the government is only focusing on Lagos.”
A shipping expert and maritime industry activist, Lucky Amiwero, also questioned the rationale behind signing the loan deal for ports infrastructure upgrade.
Amiwero, who is also the president of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents and CEO of Eyis Resources Limited, said revenue from the port is more than enough to carry out any upgrade.
