NPA seeks funding partners for rehabilitation of port infrastructure

NPA seeks funding partners for rehabilitation of port infrastructure 

        M.D, NPA, Muhammed Bello-Koko

By: Bisi Akingbade

 Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA,  is seeking funding partners for the rehabilitation of its port infrastructure which is the number one priority of the Authority, its Managing Director, Mr. Muhammed Bello-Koko has disclosed.


 Bello-Koko who was speaking at a breakfast  meeting on the collapsing Tin Can Port quay apron organized by the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria, MARAN,  noted that the issue of reconstruction of port infrastructure is very important and that NPA is not taking it lightly.


Represented by the General Manager in the Managing Director's office, Mr. Ayodele Durowaiye, the NPA helmsman stated that the Tin Can Island Port built in 1977 and the Apapa Port handle 60 to 65 per cent of cargo coming to Nigeria and therefore can't be taken with levity.


He disclosed that NPA has explored various options to fund rehabilitation of the port infrastructure and had discussed with some organisations to help drive the rehabilitation and renewal efforts as funding partners.


Against insinuations that  the port may suffer little or no patronage, he stated that though the facilities at Tin Can Port are bad but can still accommodate ships, noting that largest RORO vessel just came around and berthed successfully  at the port.
"There is infrastructural challenges but the situation is not so bad to the extent that people are avoiding the ports", he remarked.


He restated NPA's commitment to take specific steps to develop port infrastructure across the country with a focus on Tin Can Island Port.

In his contribution, a former Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Barr. Temisan Omatseye, decried the state of Tin Can Port, saying that it has become a mess.


Omatseye stated that the Lekki Deep Seaport is not a solution to the problem at hand as the problem being witnessed in Apapa and Tin Can Port will only be transferred to   Lekki. 


The former NIMASA boss said that if he has his way, he will close the gates of Apapa and Tin Can Ports and let barges and smaller vessels carry containers to Epe, Ikorodu, Warri, Koko, etc.
With this he believed that the trucks littering Apapa and its environs will disappear. 


 Speaking earlier, the President General, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, Prince Adewale Adeyanju, accused terminal operators of not believing in maintenance of standards.
Adeyanju who doubles  as the Deputy President of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, lamented that the terminal operators are not taking care of the facilities entrusted to them by the federal government and commended MARAN for bringing the issue of dilapidating Tin Can Port quay apron to the fore.


Adeyanju seized the occasion to call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to appoint technocrats who are not aliens to port operations as heads of maritime agencies. 


In his remarks as the chairman of the occasion, the former President of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF, Dr. Eugene Nweke, averred that the issue of decaying quay apron is a serious matter that should attract urgency in order for the port to sustain patronage.

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