President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday formally acknowledged the irregularities in the port reform of 2006, that resulted in concession of port terminals to private operators and has set up a high powered committee, comprising six ministers and other notable Nigerians.
The President disclosed this at a forum with freightforwarders held in Apapa, Lagos. This comes as stakeholders accused the Presidency of paying lip service to issues in the port, from where government rakes in trillions of naira annually through its agencies. These include; Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Ports Authority, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, etc.
Represented at the forum by the coordinator, Jonathan campaign organisation, southern states, Peter Obi, the President who has been holding meetings with organisations, groups, and traditional rulers ahead of the 2015 general elections, noted that the Presidency has decided “to set up a committee to really look into the ports.
“However, I consider the committee in place a powerful one because that committee comprises six ministers and major players in the industry,” he said.
Faulting the port concession done under the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo, the President said the porous port concessioning agreement in 2006 gave rise to the major problems being faced by the practitioners.
“The crisis we are having in the port today is based on the bad concessioning at the port and supposing the ports were properly concessioned, I don’t think we will be here lamenting,” he said.
The audience was told that President Goodluck Jonathan was worried about the sector’s slow development, contrary to claims by government agencies,and plans are ongoing to ensure that especially the eastern ports are made viable to decongest the western ports.
“The President has decided to look into the ports and why they are not functional, why the port is not working the way it ought to even when the government has done a lot in the ports. I can tell you people that the port is not working and we need to know why it’s not working” Obi said at the programme, mostly speaking in Ibo language because the freightforwarders were mostly members of the Igbo maritime forum.
“The second thing the President is looking at is how the eastern ports will be fully functional and more effective,” he said, indicating that the President is aware of the ports’ situation and will soon proffer solutions to solve it.
He, however, assured the practitioners that the Federal Government will get it right in a couple of months’ time when re-elected into office. He explained that the Federal Government has passion for the eastern ports and that urgent steps will be taken to revamp all idle ports in the South South and South Eastern zones.Obi, who is a former governor of Anambra state, said that them eeting with freight agents was based on the President’s commitment for the maritime sector.
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