The Federal Government is perfecting arrangements to declare and gazette Onitsha River Port as Port of Origin for cargoes coming into the country from any part of the world and Final Destination to those going out of the country as export, Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), has said.
This process is commencing nearly seven years after the Federal Government, under the then administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, invested over N4.6 billion in rebuilding the abandoned Onitsha River Port, without serious business activities taking place at the river port.
At the completion of the process and upon the declaration, Onitsha River Port, will be recognised by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), as a port to which goods came be consigned from, and from where goods can also be consigned to, from another destination, which could be sea or inland port located anywhere in the world.
According to NIWA, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, Minister of Transportation has granted the approval for the commencement of the declaration and gazetting process, which if completed is expected to give some measure of comfort to shippers.
As part of the process, the port which has the capacity to handle about 1.2 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs), is expected to be provided with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Port Health Services (PHS) and other relevant agencies of government to enable clearance of import and export cargoes upon arrival.
Olorunnimbe Mamora, managing director/CEO of NIWA, who disclosed this in an advert publication in the Nation newspaper, described the move as part of the Federal Government’s efforts to decongest Lagos Ports, extend shipping services to the hinterland, revitalise inland waterways transport and promote intermodal transport connectivity in the country.
Mamora said that when the process is completed, it will also boost the image of NIWA, stimulate economic activities and encourage patronage of the Eastern ports apart from enhancing the productivity and revenue drive of the government.
Recall that NIWA in July 2018 said that it has finally secured a concessionaire (name yet to be known) to manage the river port for 25 years and make it viable for business activities to take place.
The long awaited concession of the Onitsha River Port holds huge economic implications to businesses located in the commercial Eastern cities of Onitsha, Nnewi and Aba, which would as a result of the concession, have the privilege to forgo the transportation cost of coming to Lagos to take delivery of their consignments.
Pundits believed that this move when completed, will also save as much as over N1.1m to N1.2 million put into cargo clearance as haulage cost of transporting cleared consignment from Lagos ports to the states in the East and also help to decongest the already stretched Lagos port.
Also, NIWA said it plans to purchase some barges for the transshipment of bulk cargos from Lagos Ports to Onitsha. The plan, the authority said was to drive transshipment in a sector that has been neglected for a long time.
It was on record that the authority was also perfecting arrangements with about three companies to move cargo from Apapa, Tin-Can to Mile 2 (Festac) where trucks will be picking cargo, while the another will move cargo from Apapa; Tin-Can to Epe and there is another one that wants to move cargo from Warri, using the authority’s dockyard in Warri.
The concession of Onitsha River Port lasted for a very long time, and according to NIWA, it was due to the fact that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) took over funding of the concession exercise. “The apex bank was said to have come up with a methodology that was cumbersome, even as it also took over the responsibility of appointing a transaction adviser, which has the power to advertise for concession.
AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE
