S’East business leaders to query Osinbajo over failed promise to activate Onitsha Port
Indications emerged Monday that the planned visit of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to the commercial city of Onitsha on Thursday this week for a two-day Anambra MSME Clinic, may be marred by barrage of questions on why upon his face-to-face promise to activate Onitsha Port, nothing has happened months after.
Business Hilights recalls that Osinbajo had during his visit to Anambra State few months ago, assured the South East business leaders that the federal government will in no time, complete the concessioning of the reconstructed River Port at Bridge Head, Onitsha.
During his meeting with business leaders in Awka, importers in the South East decried wanton loss of goods to accidents due to transaction of import activities at distant ports of Lagos, Warri or Port Harcourt before the Vice President assured that government will in less than one or two months activate operations at the port.
But more than five months on, nothing has happened as weeds and reptiles takeover the facility reconstructed by last administration under President Goodluck Jonathan at the cost of over N4bn in 2012.
It would be recalled that the last administration was at the verge of completing concession bidding process before the election which he lost and since then, nothing has happened, but series of failed promises by the present government.
An Onitsha Head Bridge importer who spoke with Business Hilights South East Bureau chief on grounds of anonymity, decried the abandonment of the usefulness of the reconstructed port, saying “These are some of the issues that usually force us to suspect marginalization of the South East region by this government. Otherwise, what could have been the reason for the failure of the promise of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to all of us who met with him at Awka last year when he visited Innoson Motors Plant, Nnewi”.
“To me, if the Vice President is not open minded and sure that it is possible to activate the port, he wouldn’t have assured us in the first instance because as the number two person in this government, he knows what is possible and impossible.
Already, the Anambra State Shippers’ Association (ASSA), has appealed to the Federal Government to gazette and make the Onitsha River Port functional.
The President of the association, Mr. Emma Akpaka, who spoke in an interview on Saturday in Enugu, said the port if put to use, would boost the economy of the country.
Onitsha River Port was inaugurated by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012, after its reconstruction.
Akpaka said that “to abandon it for over six years after it completion and inauguration is invitation to self-inflicted hardship’’.
According to him, the people’s expectations for takeoff of economic activities in the port have been `deferred’ for too long, saying “Shippers in the South-East are begging President Muhammadu Buhari to gazette this port into the global shipping map, so that customs and relevant agencies will immediately enforce economic activities.
“Apart from revenues and jobs creation, there would be massive development of inland waterways of host communities as well.
“Recently, Kaduna Dry Port was commissioned by President Mohammadu Buhari.
“As we speak, the port in Kaduna is operational. Let the same feat be duplicated in Onitsha River Port instead of using different strokes for different folks.
“Again, let the benchmark in Nigerian ports be the same across board, instead of promoting price differentials by government agencies who use it as a ploy to frustrate shipment of containers to eastern ports,’’ he said.
He queried “If Royal Niger Company (now UAC) used this port before and after Nigeria’s independence for its imports and exports, why can’t we do same in this millennium, when technology has greatly influenced the ease of doing business?
According to the Vice president’s visit schedule, the two-day clinic to drive activities of MSMEs in the region will hold at the All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha.
The event will start on Wednesday, but the Vice president will attend the closing ceremony on Thursday which will feature two segments of activities including open exhibitions by MSMEs and a business clinic where participating MSME operators in Anambra State will be exposed to important new approaches for survival and growth.
A presidential source told our Abuja Correspondent that “The two-day event is designed as a part of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) by the Federal Government, which is targeted at driving the nation’s economy out of recession and breaking the stranglehold of oil on the economy”.
“Central to the initiative is the need to create an enabling environment for all critical stakeholders to interact with each other to enable relevant federal agencies interface with MSME operators and proffer on-the-spot solutions to problems affecting MSMEs.
“The Clinic is also expected to offer a veritable ground for effective communication of the policies, initiatives and programmes of the Federal Government that are intended to provide support to MSMEs.
