Calabar port moves towards full recovery

By Dele Aderibigbe, Lagos.

A ship on the sea THERE are strong indications that the Calabar Ports Complex is finally on the way towards being re-stored to its former glory, going by unfolding developments said to have been brought about as a result of a synergy between government and a core investor, the Eco-marine International.

Consequently, the port which was once abandoned for several reasons which included absence of required cargo handling plants and rapidly growing navigation-hindering siltation of the channel is said now to be awashed with standard time saving equipment, including four newly procured ridge stackers, as attested to by Eco-marine Chairman, Alhaji Bamangar Tukur, who also pleaded for urgent dredging of the Calabar channel to enable the operations of bigger ships which could enhance through-put.

“There has been so much transformation that has taken place in Calabar now that several people are not aware of yet. We are working to actually advance the commercial angles in Calabar and I find that we have so much work to do together” he said, explaining why the media was not yet fully brought into the picture until now.

“But we are doing every thing possible to actually be able to enlighten members of the public on the activities of Eco-marine in Calabar and as well as Eco-marine as it is. Of course, what we are doing will affect majority of Nigerians, particularly the workers and the business class. We are orientating the workers to see the link between efficient service delivery and a positive and supportive patronage. And we are doing this with everything at our disposal.

“It’s the most expensive technique; our resources are shared, almost everyday buying equipment and re-training workers. We have taken some of our earnings to contribute towards evolving a functional transportation regime and its costly” he explained.

Tukur, who is also the Chairman, Africa’s Business Roundtable however also called Nigerians to see the need for the development of the country’s transport system, especially the maritime transport sector beyond the realm of profits, despite its being so capital intensive in nature. Africans, he insisted, must consider water transport holistically: thus acknowledging its multiplier effects in economic, political and social terms.

“The transport in the maritime sector is of great importance, which is why its cost is in volume. Therefore you gain what we call the economy of scale. While the cost is also on the water, the more you pass through those oceans or around water, so also you maximise your efforts; a good reason why we must treat that (the oceans) very seriously; but we are not doing that yet in Africa. May be, its not that we don’t know, may be its just that we don’t yet have the expertise in this kind of business.

“Where are the Black Star Lines, the Togolese Lines today? If today, the United Nations quits service, not a single ship may be found in Togo. The Nigerian land scope is dominated by the foreign shipping operators. These people get the needed encouragement; but here we rarely get the same, hence, we rarely also participate in the transportation of goods and service the economy.

“We are not in participation yet, not in anyway connected and that has been a major setback to us. The business is so expensive that it requires government support in order for operators to be in firm control from on-set. It was for this reason that African Business Roundtable, under my watch, decided to create Eco-marine International as our own field of service because I realised that the impact of cost/ marine cost of transport to our general economy is so high.

“We need to start building our capacity now, in order to master the terrain and prosper from the business. I have seen in Dakar, Senegal potatoes been imported by Netherlands, blend tomatoes etc and they transport them across the oceans to their destination. But, we can not make money from these until we develop appropriate policies; we need requisite maritime policy; on immigration to boost interactions amongst Africans. How easy is it for now, within or amongst other African countries to distribute what you produce?

“Allow free movement from one port to the other, employ our people, make it open to them, but we keep on sitting on everything; from the local governments, to the state, to the federal level. We must create the trust so that we love and own what we have and feel responsible for it. To do so, you need a road map; marking out one by one, identifying with the time to arrive on each particular objective and that requires a vigilant leadership, committed and focused towards the Promised Land.

“If you facilitate this, of course, definitely the economy of the country would move forward. That is why I always advise; let us allow freedom in all area. Help us to build capacity in maritime industry; to compete with others, to secure our future” he stated tasking the Nigerian media to assist the industry to develop a credible voice and formidable voice.

“You people must give the industry a voice. You must implore our leaders to be patriotic; you must make it known to all that there are people, professionals who are willing to contribute to the development of the country. It’s all about encouraging indigenous ship owners in the country.

“We must train and retrain our people, providing them with specialised skills in all ramifications. And not only that, we must build our infrastructure and capacity and help those we call seafarers to carry on the responsibility of the demands of their profession effectively; then, they would be as good as their counterparts elsewhere in handling ships; and also earn the scarce resources like them too.”, he added.