By Yinka Aderibigbe
The Federal Government on Monday restated its commitment to ensure that the Onitsha Inland Waterways and others across the country are made viable, vibrant and functional.
The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Managing Director, Sen. Adeleke Mamora stated this, during a facility tour of the Onitsha Inland Port.
Speaking at the Onitsha Area Office, Mamora expressed concern over the level of decay at the port, both in terms of equipment and infrastructure, noting that if revamped, the port would boost the economy of the area.
“NIWA Onitsha is the most lucrative Area Office we have. I have visited Port Harcourt, Calabar and Lagos, and none of those offices have what Onitsha has in terms of equipment, manpower and availability of land for expansion,” Mamora observed, describing the NIWA Onitsha as “an economically significant area office”, which according to him, the Federal Government is determined more than ever, to run as a vibrant River Port.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to make Onitsha River Port work with the ongoing efforts to concession the facility.
“We want to decongest Lagos because it is over-burdened as out of 100 per cent of goods that land in Lagos, only about 20 per cent stay in Lagos.
“About 80 per cent of those goods come to Onitsha from where they are distributed to other parts of the country”, he indicated further.
The Area Manager, NIWA Onitsha, Mrs Uche Amadi, stressed the need for Public, Private Partnership to revive the port and boost economic activities in the area. According to her, the area office has so far generated over N46 million as revenue as at Oct. 31.
“A public, private partnership arrangement will boost and diversify the revenue base of the Area office,” she stressed, while appealing to the Federal Government for operational vehicles and necessities to ease the work.