Nigerian Ports Offer Opportunities, Challenges, Says Moh'd

Nigerian ports offer a mixed bag of opportunities and challenges.This summation was the main thrust of a paper, The Nigerian Ports in National Development: Opportunities, Issues and Challenges, presented by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mallam Abdul Salam Mohammed, at the just-concluded two-day Third Maritime Stakeholders Forum jointly-organised by the Port Industry Anti-Corruption Standing Committee (PIACSC) and Ships and Ports Communication Company Limited, where he was represented by the NPA General Manager, Marine, Captain Iheanacho Ebubeogu.
Tracing the history of the Nigerian ports system through the years, including the concession component of the reform programme, Mohammed informed the participants at The Lagoon Restaurant, Victoria Island, Lagos, venue of the forum that "the location, size and population of Nigeria should naturally position her to benefit from international maritime trade".
The NPA boss said: "Current reform of the port system is the catalyst for the enormous opportunities accruable from the location of our ports.  We recognize that we can only earn our desires. The underlisted are some of the immediate opportunities: create competitive ports  opportunity for Nigerian ports to earn preferred port status in the continent; boost economic activities and accelerate national development; increase opportunity for foreign and local direct private investment in port development; reduce waiting time of vessels; increase cargo throughput; increase berth occupancy; reduce turnaround time of vessel;  decrease in the cost of port services; improved berth and channels through channel management (Lagos Channel Management (LCM) and Bonny Channel Company (BCC); improved capacity to receive bigger vessels with higher deadweight tonnages in the ports; and enhanced overall security (International Ships and Ports Facility Security (ISPS) Code)".
The reform initiative, according to Mohammed, also facilitated greenfield and further port development, including 230-metre quay length at the Tin-Can Island Port Complex (TCIPC), Apapa, Lagos, developed by Ports and Terminal Multiservices Limited, (PTML); 570-metre quay length and terminal expansion by West African Container at Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT), Onne; reconstruction and stabilization of the quay wall at berths 1-4 by Apapa Bulk Terminal Limited (ABTL) at the Lagos Port Complex (LPC), Apapa; and ongoing projects such as Olokola Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Brass LNG, Lekki Free Trade Zone, Bonny LNG, and Snake Island Free Trade Zone.
While noting that the opportunities in these projects impact directly on national development, the NPA boss, however, pointed out that there were issues and challenges.
Apart from the lingering Niger-Delta crises, he listed other issues and challenges to include:
·    Multiplicity of government agencies in the ports.
·    Security concern at the waterfront and access channels.
·    Poor port access and railway services.
·    Low activities in the inland waterways system.
·    Poor support infrastructure, e.g. power, water, telecommunications etc.
Low professional standard in the maritime sector.