Will new Ministers of Transportation achieve immortality in 10 months?

The President in July 2022 approved the appointment of Alhaji Mu’azu Jaji Sambo as Minister of Transportation, and Mr. Ademola Adewole Adegoroye as the Minister of State for Transportation nearly 10 months to the end of the current administration of President Mohammadu Buhari. In this report, TOLA ADENUBI examines if the new leadership of the Federal Ministry of Transportation has time on its side to deliver on what is expected of it:

The appointment of Alhaji Mu’azu Jaji Sambo as Minister of Transportation, and Mr. Ademola Adewole Adegoroye as the Minister of State for Transportation has been greeted by enthusiasm by stakeholders in the nation’s maritime industry given the fact that the newly appointed Minister of Transportation has been an industry person for more than 30 years, serving in various civil service capacities in the nation’s maritime industry before his retirement in 2019.

With the appointment of Alhaji Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, expectations are high among stakeholders that many ills plaguing the industry will be addressed since he had always been a maritime industry person most of his career as a civil servant.

While the new Minister seems to already have the renewal of port concession agreement wrapped up in the bag, following assurances by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko that it should be sorted in the next 45 days, it will be very important for the Minister to focus on quick-wins that could etch his name in gold given that the current administration of President Mohammadu Buhari has about 10 months left in office.

Commencement of operations of the Lekki Deep seaport, connection of Apapa port quays to the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail, disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) amongst some few others are some quick-wins that, if either implemented or left undone, could make or mar the success story of the tenure of the new leadership of the Federal Ministry of Transportation under Alhaji Mu’azu Jaji Sambo.

Lekki Deep Seaport

For the new leadership of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, the $1.5bn Lekki Deep seaport is top-most of all the quick-wins that can write its name in gold since the project is more than 90 percent completed and is expected to commence commercial operations in the last quarter of 2022.

The Minister has started on a strong footing by visiting the Lekki deep seaport during his maiden tour of port facilities and also making it clear that the focus of the Federal Government is to see to the commencement of commercial operations at Nigeria’s first deep seaport.

“If the Minister gets it right and the nation’s first deep seaport begins commercial operations during his time as Minister, that will not only write his name in gold but also cement his place in history as being the Minister of Transportation who flagged-off commercial port operations at Nigeria’s first deep seaport,” a senior official at the Federal Ministry of Transportation told the Nigerian Tribune exclusively.

Connecting Apapa Quay to standard rail gauge

The Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail is yet to be connected to the Apapa port quay side despite the project getting to the ports since 2021. The idea of the Lagos-Ibadan rail service which is expected to move cargoes from the Lagos ports to Abeokuta and Ibadan, was designed to lift containers from ships directly onto the standard gauge trains at the port quays. However, a number of encumbrances have ensured that the rail project connection to Apapa port quay side remains unfulfilled few months to the end of the President Mohammadu Buhari administration.

Notable among the encumbrances which have since been resolved are various petroleum pipelines around the Ijora area of Apapa, just some few kilometers to the port. While problems around these pipelines have been resolved, a Customs building sitting on the path of the rail project still remains an issue towards the connection of the port to the rail project.

During the maiden tour of the ports by the Minister of Transportation, the Customs building was still sitting comfortably along the path of the standard gauge rail, thereby raising questions on when the first cargo will be offloaded from a ship onto the standard gauge rail trains.

“The removal of the Customs building has been delayed by the fact that the Nigeria Customs Service said that the building houses some scanners which are radio-active in nature, and cannot just be removed by non-experts. Except the new Minister finds a way round the Customs building or finds experts to help remove it, connecting the Apapa port quay to the standard gauge rail might remain elusive in the next few months before general elections,” Mr. Segun Esan, Secretary General of the Nigerian Union of Railway Workers (NURW) told the Nigerian Tribune recently.

Disbursement of cvff

All through the almost eight years tenure of former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, the issue of enhancing capacity for indigenous ship owners remained on the front burner of maritime discourse. Due to arguments whether the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) is a public or private fund, the Federal Ministry of Transportation couldn’t disburse the funds for almost eight years, much to the chagrin of indigenous ship-owner.

Speaking on the challenges of disbursement inherited by the current leadership of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, the President of the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), Dr. MKGeorge Onyung explained that the new Minister of Transportation has the chance to write his name in gold by doing the needful as regards the disbursement of the fund.

“The new Minister may be newly appointed, but he is not new in the maritime industry. He knows much about lack of funding facing indigenous capacity when we are talking about ship ownership, and we expect him to do what is right, which is disburse the CVFF to enhance indigenous capacity in our maritime industry.

“The fund belongs to indigenous ship owners. The Cabotage Act describes the fund as a two percent contribution of indigenous ship owners from every contract executed. We are the ones contributing the money. It is our sweat. The new Minister of Transportation owes it as a matter of duty to approve disbursement of the fund. He should learn from the mistake of his predecessor and do what is right,” the SOAN President told the Nigerian Tribune.

Projects out of reach

With barely few months left in office, the new leadership of the Federal Ministry of Transportation cannot afford to start chasing long term projects that might take more than six months to accomplish. Projects like the repair of failing port infrastructure, movement of cargoes by barges from Lagos to Onitsha, establishment of a national shipping line, amongst others may foot drag if targeted, even though the Minister can initiate processes on them for future leadership of the ministry.

While repairs of failing port infrastructure looks more like something that won’t be completed in six months, movement of cargoes by barges from Lagos to Onitsha have foot-dragged over the years because cargo owners have refused to release their cargoes for the exercise. Also, effort to establish a national shipping line won’t happen within six months due to knotty issues surrounding fiscal rules that impose a 14 percent tax on new ships acquired in Nigeria. This led to the termination of an MoU signed with Nigeria by the Pacific International Lines (PIL) in 2018, and the search for a new investor is still on ever since.