Communities say dredged River Niger yet to bring benefits

On Feb. 5, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, disclosed that the dredging of River Niger had been completed and added that work would soon commence on  the dredging of River Benue.

Amaechi made the disclosure while fielding questions from members of the Senate Committee on Maritime.

He said what the River Niger currently needed was constant maintenance work to allow for unhindered flow of goods to different parts of the country.

In 2009, former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, in a bid to boost socio-economic activities through the waterways, launched the dredging of the lower River Niger and construction of seven additional seaports across the country.

The ports were to be located in Agenebode in Edo, Idah in Kogi, Yenagoa, Baro in Niger, Lokoja, Aguata in Anambra and Ogbabe.

According to Amaechi, former President Goodluck Jonathan awarded the project contract in the sum of N47 billion out of which N34 billion was paid the contractors.

In spite of the sums the government spent on the job, the people living on the bank of the river say they have yet to benefit from the investment.

Some stakeholders have urged government to utilise the dredged channel to enable the country to reap benefits of the N36 billion spent on the project.

They say the 572km channel of the lower River Niger from Baro in Niger to Warri in Delta had not been put to use since its completion in 2014.

They blamed the situation on the non-involvement of stakeholders and experts in the project.

Baro served as one of the prominent river ports used by the colonial masters for shipment. The river port was linked to the railway line that the colonialists used to transport goods.

Activities at Baro Inland Port located in Agaie Local Government Area of Niger have been grounded because of the lack of access roads.

A resident of the community, Malam Abdugani Aliyu, said that the road leading to Baro was constructed during the colonial era.

The idea of rebuilding  Baro Port was conceived  in 2009 by the late President Musa Ya’radua’s to link five states through the river.

Aliyu said that the railroad which linked Minna to Baro town has been overtaken by forest as it was not being used.

He said the road was “extremely bad” for motorist to use and  called on the Federal Government to rehabilitate it.

Aliyu said that a journey of 27lm on the road took more than two hours because of the poor state of the road.

He said only one commercial vehicle plied the road daily from Katcha to Baro and anyone who missed the chance of travelling on it would have to wait for the next day.

Aliyu said facilities and structures in the port were on ground, including the warehouse, had been constructed but there was no access road to transport a crane to the port.

“If the port is completed, it will surely boost commercial activities and generate employment opportunities for our youths,” he said

Ibrahim Shuaibu, Technical Officer of China Gezhouba Group Company Limited in-charge of the construction of the port, said 98 per cent of the work had been executed.

He added that the dredging and construction of the shed had been completed.

Shuaibu said what remained for business activities to start at the port was the arrival and installation of the crane for lifting goods.

“Only articulated vehicles can transport the crane to this destination but because the road is bad, even the bridges constructed by Lord Fredrick Lugard, are collapsing,” he said.

He said once the road was constructed and the crane  installed, economic activities would start at the port.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of River Transport Association in Kogi, Alhaji Bala Yusuff, told NAN that no single barge had been seen on the channel since the dredging  was completed.

He called on Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to act quickly to ensure investment on the project was not wasted.

Yusuff said that NIWA should immediately acquire at least four W3 passenger boats that would ply the dredged channel.

He also suggested that the agency should buy tug boats and barges to encourage corporate organisations and individuals to start using the channel.

“The dredging is important but more important are tug boats, barges and passenger boats .

‘’The money required is not much. All these can be sourced locally in Port Harcourt,” Yusuff, a boat operator, said.

He also called on the government to complete the inland port under construction at Jamata to promote marine  transportation.

The chairman said operators in Kogi were ready to partner  the government to achieve its aims of dredging the river.

He said government must adopt a business approach to succeed on the project.

Some residents living along the river bank said they had yet to derive benefits from the project.

A resident, Malam Inusa Abu, said that they still relied on local craft to navigate through the river.

He said he was aware that the river was dredged but it had  not translated to any benefit for the people.

Another resident of Ganaja village riverside, Rahmatu Nda, also said the people still used local crafts on outboard engines to cross River Niger and River Benue.

Meanwhile, some people in coastal communities of Anambra  said they were not aware that the river had been dredged.

Vincent Okei, the President-General of Odekpe, a riverside community in Ogbaru Local Government Area, said he was not aware of the dredging.

According to him, if the river is dredged, transportation and economic activities will increase on the route.

He said the only form of marine transportation on the route  were a canoe and a speed boat provided by the state government for ferrying pupils to school.

Okei decried the unprofessional manner sand excavation was being carried out in the river by individuals.

Obiora Oba,  Commander, Odekpe Youth Development Association, also said no work had been carried out on the river.

“This is Odekpe, where did they dredge? If it was dredged, it would have created jobs for over 200 unemployed youths,” Oba said.

The youth leader added that the non-dredging of the river might be the reason erosion had claimed many buildings along the river over the years.

Oba appealed to government to assist the people with more speed boats, a hospital or healthcare centre and a secondary school, especially at Obawagwu-Odekpe village.

Nwike Okwuosa, the President-General of Atani community, said: “the dredging is a far cry from reality of opening up communities on the River Niger route.

“If it was executed, nobody will question the economic value it would have brought to government and the people of the area.”

The President-General of Osammala community, Patrick Ugboma, said: “I was not around in 2014, but my people told me that there was virtually no dredging of the river.

“By now, we expected ships will be passing through the river to berth at the Onitsha Inland Port but we are yet to feel any impact, if actually any dredging took place.

“It is a waste of natural resources not to dredge such river that would have generated a lot of revenue and promoted socio-cultural lives of the people.

“Our major concern now is for the Federal Government to dredge the river to help control the coastal erosion ravaging most communities.”

Lucky Amiwero, a member of the Shipowners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), said the dredging of the river would bring immense economic benefits.

”It is a project that has a lot of economic benefits for the host communities, in particular, and the country, in general.

”Maritime and fishing activities in those areas will be better as well as synergy and inter relationships among the communities.

”However, first thing must be done first, the impact  assessment of the dredging on the host communities to avoid any community being submerged into the sea in future,” he said.

Amiwero, who is also the President of National Council of Managing Directors of Licenced Customs Agents, said not much had been achieved since the dredging started,

He said that none of the ports earmarked to be built in some of the host communities in the master-plan had been built.

According to him, if the dredging is properly done, the hinterlands will be opened for bigger vessels to off-load containers nearer the destination ports.

He said that the Federal Government should make the dredging a top priority as a way of creating a favourable  environment  for maritime activities to thrive.

”The dredging should be likened to the Federal Government constructing a super-highway.

”It will increase sea transportation and create employment as well as increase fleets of boats and sea going vessels in the area,” he said.