A section of business leaders and investors in Rivers State have hailed the recent flag-off of the N120billion first-ever road project over water to Bonny Island. This is as the president of the Rivers Entrepreneurs and Investors Forum (REIF) has slammed the federal government for the revocation of the license of Intels.
REIF said in an interview with BD SUNDAY in Port Harcourt that it was important to commend the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) for showing care about the community where they do business. “For them to put down this amount of funds to bankroll the Bonny/Bodo Roadshows they are very alert with their corporate social responsibility (CSR) with the community.”
The REIF president, Ibifiri Bobmanuel, said investors were happy with both the NLNG and the federal government for enhancing the scheme. “We hope the FG will do the needful like the NLNG by putting down their quota upfront so that the job would be speedily completed.”
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In doing this, he said REIF wanted both parties to push for Trains 7 and 8 to kick in. “Now, with the road being functional, it will cut back on the cost of doing business by the NLNG. This will eventually be a very huge impact on their profit and loss (bottom-line). They will declare more profit in their business.”
He encouraged the communities on the proposed road to cooperate with the contractors to achieve a seamless execution. “If this road is done, it will boost the economy of the country and the economy of the oil region. More businesses would come to the region. It would be a win-win.”
Bob Manuel went on: “What we frown at as investors and for me as president of the investor’s forum is the fact that politicians seek to score a cheap political point. This should not be encouraged. This is an opportunity for both the state and FG to work for hand in glove. This they have done. It is in a bad state for some people to say the state government was not happy over the project. I think it is going too low. Let politicians learn to work with whoever is on the ground. Federal parastatals must work with the state government. Once again, the NLNG has proved to the business community that they are alert to their responsibility.”
The investors said the proposed project would slash the cost of construction of the dry dock now coming to Rivers State after the uproar when it was being diverted to Oshogbo. “You are aware that the REIF and partners are trying to attract investment into the dry dock. With this proposed road, further life comes to that project. It shows that the dry dock project has a brighter prospect.”
He said; “We think other projects have a chance too. If any person wants to set up a project close to the Atlantic, this road project will make it less cumbersome. The responsibility now is for us as investors in this part of the region to work very closely with the federal and state governments to attract more big businesses into the region to drive growth in Nigeria.”
Bob Manuel said: “If you talk of diversification, we need to practice what we say, which is by putting more projects in the region and elsewhere. I think this road would help that cause. A project that would have been un-bankable would now be viable. Cost of transporting items from mainland to island is now cheaper, just 30 minutes by road instead of looking for barge, tug, etc.
“It is a welcome development by the government. Even if the road was abandoned in the past, it is a good thing to restart it. If they had stayed on the course, that road would have been commissioned. I think with the amount of money the NLNG has put on the table, I think it would fast track it. We all should rally round this project and see it is done on time.
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“We reject the foul language used over the flag-off ceremony. The vice president came in the morning hours and the school hours would have elapsed and allowed the ceremony to go on. I think it is too trivial for anyone to say the state government is blocking the project. After all, if you did not make use of the primary school, there was an alternative.
“As a people, we must begin to close ranks; else, we give an avenue for such things to show up. It is the state that is hurt in these crises. We are further de-marketing the state. Whatever grievances you have, explore channels and talk to the people on the ground. In unison, you can achieve. We must always try to remove politics in what we do in this part of the country. We must borrow a leaf from other parts of the country. We must find a medium where we discuss and agree on issues. What is paramount is that the road is in Rivers State, any other thing away from that does not help. If for any reason, you are supposed to make use of the school and you know the commissioning is about 2 pm and you are made to hang on to that time, you do that.
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“I would call on our brothers and sons to work closely with each other to attract those needed projects back to the Niger Delta. This is just one of those projects. We have seaports in Rivers State that are currently moribund. We have Onne seaport and old Pot Harcourt seaport.”
On the issue of revocation of Intels license, he said REIF as investors in Rivers State were not comfortable, no matter what the FG gave as an excuse. “We are shooting ourselves on the foot because people do not come and invest billions of dollars only for you to wake up and revoke the contract. You must follow due process, pursue dialogue or go through the arbitration process. Please always think about the consequences because the way you revoke a small project is the same way you revoke a mega-investment. No investor will borrow huge funds and put in an economy where revocation is rampant. We should begin to learn the language of business, to learn what businesses need. I think that is where we are lacking.”
He said the country needed to come together and change the narrative and the opinion people have about Nigeria. “I think this kind of mistake by the port authority by is unfortunate. If you are revoking that kind of contract with Intels, it leaves a void. What are your stop gaps to address Intels issues? Do you have another company that would immediately take up the tasks Intels performs? Did you consider how much money they borrowed for these operations? These are the things we ought to look at before we slam decisions on private investors. It should be a conscious process and we must think it through before we act.”
He went on: “Intels, going by information available to me as president of REIF, has laid off a minimum of 12,000 workers. When governments begin to see businesses as a government project, then we begin to be taken seriously. The government should have an interest in the success of the private sector.
“The whole diversification or infrastructural diversification shows we do not have the fund to do it. No government takes money from its purse but you create the investment. The revocation smacks of lack of intelligence; a sign that our policymakers should go back and do the needful. That action does not portray Nigeria well in the eye of the international community. We must do something quickly to remedy that.”
Ignatius Chukwu
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