Eleven months ago, the Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), George Moghalu, announced plans by the agency to move cargoes from Lagos to Onitsha via barges. Almost a year after, paucity of cargoes among other reasons seems to have left that ambition hanging in the balance, TOLA ADENUBI writes.
Despite the announcement in October 2020, by the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) that the agency would be evacuating about a thousand containers from the Lagos ports to Onitsha via barges and the subsequent licensing of eight firms to carry out that assignment, the move seems to be hanging in the balance over the refusal of shippers and importers to consent to their cargoes being moved by barges from Lagos to Onitsha.
According to investigations, despite the over flooding of the Lagos ports with containers and the need to decongest the ports through alternative means of cargo evacuation, issues surrounding long voyage time and insecurity seem to have nailed the NIWA efforts at utilising the inland waterways from Lagos to Onitsha as many cargo owners have vowed to stick to road haulage of containers.
Rejection by shippers
For the Shippers Association of Lagos State (SALS), the move by NIWA to freight containers from Lagos to Onitsha remains a blind ambition given the current situation of the nation’s inland waterways. Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, The President of SALS, Reverend Jonathan Nicol explained that he already informed NIWA that such effort could only work maybe in the future when the environment becomes conducive for such ventures.
According to Reverend Nicol, “If you look at the number of days that it will take to move a container from Lagos to Onitsha by road and then also calculate the number of days that it will take to move container from Lagos to Onitsha by barges, you will realise that the risk associated with going by water is not worth it. I have told NIWA that it is a blind adventure.
“One of the NIWA licensed firms came to me to ask that I talk to some of our members to release cargoes for the Lagos to Onitsha barge operation; that NIWA will engage security operatives to follow the barges from Lagos to Burutu port, and then from Burutu port to Onitsha. I asked the NIWA licensed firm that how many days will the journey from Lagos to Onitsha take on water, and he said between four to five days. I told him that it is a blind adventure because it will take cargoes less time to get to Onitsha from Lagos by road.
“From Lagos to Onitsha by road, it will take a truck driver about two days. This is because most truck drivers have stopped driving at night due to insecurity issues. When a truck driver leaves Lagos very early in the morning, he will get to Benin by evening of that day and rest for the night. By very early morning of the next day, he will continue his journey to Onitsha and arrive before evening of the second day and discharge his cargo. By the third day, the truck driver is on his way back to Lagos with the empty container.
“If not for the security situation in the country that forces the truck driver to sleep in Benin, the container will get to Onitsha very early in the morning of the second day. So I told the company that called me that it is more economical to move cargoes by road than by water. If my containers have to spend between four to five days on water to get to Onitsha and same container will get to Onitsha in two days by road, then why should I put my container on the water?
“In terms of security of such cargoes, we shippers will still prefer the road to the water because from Burutu port to Onitsha, no cargo owner will pray to have his or her cargo on that stretch of water. I told the NIWA licensed firm that moving containers via inland waterways is currently a very high risk. The security issue from Burutu to Onitsha is not something somebody should even talk about.
“Yes, it might be cheaper compared to road transport of cargoes, but for now, the time spent on movement of cargoes and the security issues around Burutu waters inward Onitsha has not made water transport look appealing to shippers. I will rather spend money to move my cargoes from Lagos to Onitsha by road and sleep very well than save money to move my cargoes from Lagos to Onitsha via barges and lose sleep. At my age, such situation is not good for my health. The risk is just too much. Maybe things might improve tomorrow, but as of today, road haulage of cargoes from Lagos to Onitsha is number one for us shippers.”
Continous dialoguing
For NIWA, the agency is optimistic that continuous engagement with critical stakeholders might just make the effort to move cargoes by barges from Lagos to Onitsha a reality. In the words of the NIWA General Manager, Public Affairs, Mallam Jibril Dadau, “The MD has been dialoguing with stakeholders involved in this arrangement. You know we don’t own the cargoes. We don’t own the goods, so the MD has been talking to all the business men in the South East through their Chairman who is from Nnewi, the same town with our MD.
“The MD has been discussing with them (business men) to release their cargoes for the test run of the Lagos to Onitsha barge operation. However, some of them have expressed their fears to the MD about the safety of their cargoes. Remember some containers fell into the Lagos waters at a port in Lagos recently and the video went viral on social media. This particular incident made many of them to express their fear about the safety of their goods. Others talked about security issues, particularly in the Niger Delta area, from Burutu to Onitsha.
“This is why the dialoguing has persisted. NIWA has been talking to the stakeholders to ensure there won’t be any issues or mishaps. The MD has been meeting with the major security agencies and has also been meeting with some Niger Delta youth groups. The MD wants them to be part of the exercise so that it will be devoid of any issues.
“We are determined to do it. NIWA is focused on achieving this feat, and that is why the MD has set up committees to continue to liaise with critical stakeholders. I don’t have the report of such meetings yet, but I know that there have been engagements towards achieving this feat.
“The last time I spoke with the MD, he told me that the licensed firms have increased from eight to 14. More people are still applying, but the committee in charge has said that we should stop at 14 for now so that it doesn’t become an all comers affair.”
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.
and then