Onitsha traders decry delay in take-off of River Port

The organised private sector (OPS) and other stakeholders in Onitsha business community have decried the delay in the take off of the Onitsha River Port.

Speaking during the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Anambra State Shippers’ Association held at Top Rank Hotel, Fegge, Onitsha, the President of the association, Hon. Emma Akpaka, lamented what he called the continuous, intentional delay of economic activities in the Onitsha River Port which has  brewed  suspicion of sabotage that the port was suffering because  it might dominate south west ports and diverts shipping activities from  west to east.

He recalled that minor economic activities were recorded in the port as far back as  1950 to 1977, then between 1978 and 1982 it was reconstructed for major shipping businesses by the administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari..

Although, Akpaka said it was commissioned in 1983 by former President Shagari, as a port of origin and final destination of cargoes, 36 years after no single container came into it or has been lifted.

He said President Jonathan re-commissioned the same port in 2012  as a bonded wharf, where Nigerian Customs and other agencies will generate revenues through export and import of cargoes, four years after, it has remain a fantasy.

“Now, the latest trick on Onitsha River Port is concessioning.  The question that is begging for answer here is this; how long does it take to concession a port? The request for a conventional port by shippers from this region of the country is not even a big deal. Let Federal Government gazette the Onitsha River Port now. Let us handle this port as if Nigeria has no oil at all”

In his contribution the Director-General of the Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Mines, Industries and Agriculture, (ONICCIMA), Mr Dominic Ajibo, said the Onitsha River Port has become an embarrassment to relevant stakeholders, especially the federal government.

Ajibo  said by now they ought to have gone beyond the mere talking to actual implementation, saying that the problem of the River Port was  not concessioning as they were meant to understand.

He said stakeholders have set up committee as well as  organised forum, where the successful take –off of the River Port was the key issues discussed, saying that ONICCIMA in its last lecture made it the theme, yet all to no avail.

He said although, they might not have piled  enough pressure, the problem remained that the federal government was not just keen in the River Port.
He then urged the Nigeria Shipper’s Council to help the Onitsha business community push this issue of Onitsha River Port to the front burner so that it would become a reality.

Voicing his frustration over the delay in completing the Onitsha River Port, the Vice-chairman  of the Association, Mr. Kavin Ukaebi,  condemned the inconsistency of Federal Government policies as regards the South East, wondering why the Government was dilly-dallying  in  tapping  the great economic  potentials  in Onitsha.

The Vice-President said Onitsha has 17 international markets built by the traders themselves, asserting that if Onitsha was in any other country like China, both the traders and governments would be smiling to the  bank with billions of naira revenue from the River Port.