Former President Olusegun Obasanjo in a warning mood
Vociferous former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called the President Tinubu’s Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Scheme a corrupt and wasteful conduit pipe to milk the Nigerian economy.
Analysts say the main reason why Obasanjo labelled the ambitious highway project wasteful stemmed from the fact that the indigenous peoples which the highway intends to connect do not have a history of connectivity or business relationship that will warrant such a humongous expenses other than to starch away public fund after all.
They further argued that the best project would have been to build a West-East rail line connecting South West and South East because both regions have a clear history of business connectivity over the years.
Former President Obasanjo also disclosed this in chapter six of his new book, ‘Nigeria: Past and Future’ where he painted the portrait and characters of chief executives at both the federal and state levels.
The book was one of the two new books unveiled to mark Obasanjo’s 88th birthday last week.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, had revealed that the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will cost N4.93bn per kilometre, stating that the contract was awarded on a counterpart-funding basis and not a Public-Private Partnership.
About N1.06tn has been released for the pilot phase, or six per cent of the project, which begins at Eko Atlantic and is expected to terminate at the Lekki Deep Sea Port.
Many prominent Nigerians, including the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar, have questioned the Federal Government’s decision to award the contract to Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech Construction Company without competitive bidding.
Business Hilights gathered that NSC and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are currently working out strategies to develop a standardized module for the CBN on the CRD Portal and also integrate the Confirmation-based platform, CRD Portal with six major modules, including modules for shipping companies, vessel charterers, shippers, and authorized dealer banks.
How Automation of Demurrage Fee Confirmation Saved Billions for FG—Akutah
The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Dr. Akutah Pius, has affirmed that the agency saved a humongous N31.1 billion for the Federal Government between January and June 2024.
He said “This substantial saving was achieved through the automation of demurrage fee confirmation, representing a 400% improvement compared to the manual process used in 2023”, noting further that the automated system has streamlined the confirmation process, reducing the risk of excessive charges and promoting a more balanced shipping cost structure.
Dr. Akutah averred that the NSC has developed a web of Demurrage, Freight Rate and Charter Party payments (CRD Portal) and the Trade Monitoring System (TRMS). The integration when completed will allow seamless data collaboration between the NSC and CBN and mitigate undue pressure on FOREX.
In promoting Fair Trade Practices, the NSC boss stated that the system helps curb excessive charges by vessel charterers and promotes a balanced shipping cost structure that aligns with international best practices.
