By Stephen Ubanna
Nyensom Wike, Rivers state governor who is not happy that the Rivers seaport built in the heart of Port Harcourt city, has been deliberately abandoned by President Muhammadu’s government to rot can now heave a sigh of relief.
This is because Mohammeed Bello –Koko, Managing Director , Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, after a recent tour of the south eastern port, aimed at’’ familiarizing the management with state of infrastructural facilities has given his words to proffer solutions to areas of challenges in order to attract more ocean going vessels to the port’’.
Until the NPA Chief Executive Officer, CEO, and his management team, took the bold initiative to boost the state of infrastructural facilities at the Rivers port, Wike was said to have asked Nigerians ‘’to put pressure on the Katsina state born Nigerian President to force him to give a matching order to NPA, to revive the abandoned rivers port’’.

He had repeatedly said that ‘’the inactivity of the Rivers port, is the reason why Trans Amadi Industrial layout in the state is no longer what it used to be anymore, noting that even the Onne seaport which is a free trade zone had collapsed because it was also been abandoned by the government. He is optimistic that if the Rivers port could be revived by the government, most of the Multi-national Companies which had left the state would be forced to come back to state resume production.
Adamu Michael, the Rivers port Manager may have painted a gory image of the state of infrastructural facilities and why ocean going vessels are coming to the port as expected to poor state of infrastructural facilities. The rivers port, which is made up of PortHarcourt Quay, with length of 1,259 meters, according to informed sources is capable of accommodating at least eight modern ocean -gong vessels leading and discharging at the same time if revived.
In spite of the strategic location of the Rivers port in one of the world’s largest oil production regions, creating the tanker market being witnessed at the Federal ocean terminal through the Bonny Fairway Buoy, it cannot be compared to the Lagos ports of Apapa and Tin -can Island in terms of vessel traffic and volume of business.
Investigations by the Value News shows that the vessel traffic to the Rivers port had remained below 500 yearly over the last five years. Take for instance, in 2017, vessel traffic through the port was said to be 312, with a Gross Registered Tonnage of 32,932,784, while that of Tin-can Island port was 1,350 vessels with GRT OF 41,477,915.
As a prelude to the planned revival of the rivers port and other south eastern ports of Delta, in Warri, Delta state and Calabar, Cross river state, and make them more attractive to importers and shipping companies, the Nigerian government was said to have invested huge resources in tugboats, pilot cutters, Navigation systems, upgrade of facilities around the ports in the last couple of years.
The government was said to have also granted 30% rebate for importers and shipping companies patronising the Rivers and other south eastern ports to make it more attractive to the importers, by routing their cargoes through the south eastern ports destined for the south eastern states of Anambra, Abia, Eboyi, Enugu and Imo .
A source in NPA , had told the Magazine that instead of embracing the opportunity provided for them by the Buhari Administration at the instance Hajia Hadiza Bala-Usman, the then Managing Director of NPA, the importers have continued to shun the south eastern ports including the Rivers port, due in part to the high level of insecurity in the Niger Delta region forcing the government withdraw the incentive. That much was said by Bello-Koko, the NPA, Managing Director, who had said the Concessionaires who had managed the incentive on behalf of the Authority aid ‘’it did not make good use of the opportunity’’.
TheNPA, CEO, had asked that ‘’what is the essence of granting such tariff relief for importers and shipping companies that was facilitated by the terminal operators , for ‘’the purpose of attracting more vessels to the south eastern ports when it could not attract more than four vessels in a month to the Rivers port alone.
With the increased fresh pressure on the Nigerian government by the industry stakeholders to open up the south eastern ports, may have encouraged the Authorities room to introduce fresh set of tariff relief for importers and shipping companies to encourage them to patronise the south eaten ports, which the NPA, boss had said could be lower or higher than the initial 30 % granted them which they failed to utilize the opportunity during the Administration of Hajia Bala-Usman.
Giving an insider information on the planned new tariff relief for the importers and shipping companies using the Rivers and other south eastern ports as part of measures to increase the patronage of the ports, Bello-Koko, the NPA, boss, had said that ‘’the Authority is considering a tariff relief that would percolate down to the importers, shipping companies and other users of the south eastern ports, to ensure they increase the level of at which they use its infrastructural facilities that are idle and further enhance the port ‘ level of their monthly and yearly revenue generation’’.
The importance attached to the revival of the Rivers port because of its strategic importance to the nation’s oil sector, may have informed why the NPA, helmsman who could not hide his feelings had said that the Authority is considering ‘’the seriousness it attaches to boosting of the vessel traffic and activities at the ports had informed why it empanelled a Committee, which is expected submit its report the management next month for consideration and implementation. He noted that the tariff relief that may be approved for the importers and shipping companies this time around would be in the region of about 30%.
Perhaps, to encourage the importers and the multi-national shipping companies to put their vessels on the route to the south eastern ports , which is begging for patronage may have given the Bello -Koko, led NPA , management room to take a decision ‘’to dredge the port channels to boost their draft’’.
Maritime analysts had said that NPA, management should go a step further by ‘’marketing the south eastern ports to importers and the shipping companies about the reduction in the charges for cargoes at the ports to encourage them to patronise the ports.
They averred that NPA, on its own cannot compel importers and the shipping companies to route their cargoes and ships through the south eastern ports, noting that ‘’the importers are at liberty to route their cargoes through whichever port they like’’, meaning the Rivers port and other south eastern ports would continue to be underutilized.
This is a big challenge the port Managers at the various south eastern ports and their marketing staff to intensify their efforts to market their ports to attract more importers and shipping companies.
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