As-benin-republic-reportedly-cries-out-over-nigeria-federal-governments-partial-border-ports-closure-why-cant-the-federal-government-make-our-dormant-ports-functional-again
September 7, 2020 | News
AS BENIN REPUBLIC REPORTEDLY CRIES OUT OVER NIGERIA FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S PARTIAL BORDER (PORTS) CLOSURE - WHY CAN'T THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MAKE OUR DORMANT PORTS FUNCTIONAL AGAIN?
It is no news that Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari unexpectedly closed Nigeria's borders to goods trade in August 2019 declaring the time had come to end rampant smuggling across the porous frontiers. And as expected, the closure has had a devastating impact on Benin, Nigeria's neighbour to the West, which has been a key exporter of foodstuffs to Africa's most populous country. It has also pushed up prices for staples such as rice at markets around Nigeria. But more important to note is the fact that with the said Federal Government’s directive, it means that all imports should now come through the country's ports where they can be monitored more easily and generate much-needed revenue. The only problem with this is the fact that Nigeria, despite being blessed beyond measure with so many coastal regions, especially in the Delta region areas of Delta State, is only known to have one functional Port – Onne Port. That, in itself is anomaly that urgently needs to be reversed.
With the evident fact that Nigeria is heavily reliant on imports to feed its booming population of about 200 million, and the government is seeking to bolster domestic agriculture as it looks to diversify the oil-dependent economy, the fact still remains that the nation’s maritime industry and Ports activities are still ‘one-sided’ and underutilized, considering the enormous potentials we have as a nation in this regard. Why should we have the concentration of Port activities within the Maritime industry in Onne (Port-Harcourt), and Apapa, Tin can (Lagos) – leaving other Ports like Delta Ports Complex not working as they should? Is it not appalling that majority of the goods imported into Nigeria comes only from the Lagos Ports, which leaves a large number of people from other regions in Lagos State alone for various business activities. The one that baffles us most is the policy that has made the Onne Port the only Port in the country to receive Oil and Gas Cargoes. Thereby rendering the Delta Ports useless and unutilized, despite being closest to the country’s deepsea areas where the Oil and Gas exploration and production business activities are predominant. Why should a country that is blessed with more than Seven Ports still be having problems of congestion, overtime cargoes, logistics problems, road infrastructure overuse, etc., only in the Ports in Lagos? Why do we like giving ourselves unnecessary headaches and untold hardship to the general masses with the way we do things in this country? it simply does not make sense!
We have reiterated severally that Ports infrastructure are by far one of the most important support of economic activities of the economy of any society, especially those in the hinterland since they act as a crucial connection between sea and land transport. As a supplier of jobs, Ports do not only serve an economic but also a social function. In terms of load carried, seaway transportation is the cheapest and most effective transportation system compared to other systems. Industries require a safe and cheap means of “exporting finished goods and importing raw materials.” Hence the majority of industries in the world are located in the ‘coastal belts’, in the vicinity of major Ports. These industries in turn, influence the lives of the employees and indirect benefactors of that economy, as well as the entire citizenry of that society.
With this at the back of our mind, we would then realize the urgent need for other Ports in the country, particularly the one in the city of Warri and other ‘coastal areas’ of Delta State, to have their Ports functional again and operating at optimal level/usage, as an important revenue-yielding avenue for the development and growth of the State’s economy as well as that of the entire nation. With a coastline of over 850 kilometres, Nigeria is said to have recognized Seven port complexes, and Delta State alone has four that are located in Warri, Burutu, Koko and Sapele, each of them built at huge costs and still in relative working conditions. There is also the Okwagbe Wharf in Delta State, which was used by the Portuguese/British Colonial masters. Almost the entire Delta State are ‘natural ports. In effect, industries and business communities in the various regions ought to be enjoying the advantages of multiple choices and closeness to their operational bases as a result of these Ports, but sadly, that has not been the case. The other fully equipped Port complexes are located in Port Harcourt and in Onne (both in Rivers State), and in Calabar, Cross River State. Unfortunately, despite this spread, every business concern “unwittingly feels compelled” to use Lagos Ports for their import and export transactions. This nationwide drift towards Lagos Ports by importers is what has brought about the unprecedented number of overtime cargoes that now litter Apapa and TinCan ports. Both ports handle more than 80 per cent of containerized and general cargoes shipped into the country.
There is therefore the urgent need to make the other identified Ports in Delta State and other places in the country, functional to maximum usage. The Federal Government also needs to have a favourable-and-business-friendly-working policy for importers to be encouraged to patronize these other Nigerian Ports apart from Lagos, instead of using Cotonou Port in a foreign country, for every good coming into Nigerian. From what it seems, it appears the Cotonou Port is the only viable means of revenue in their country, especially when we consider the recent outcries from citizens of that country over President Buhari’s contraband policy on some goods and partial closure of Nigeria’s borders. In some reports recently, huge quantities of frozen chickens, rice, fabric and cars arrive at the port of Cotonou, Benin’s economic capital, where they are taxed locally before being routed — often illegally — to Nigeria. Benin has few functioning petrol stations, and its fuel is far more expensive than in Nigeria, where it is subsidized by the Government. In Benin, business people in some parts of the economy are panicking, and unfounded rumours that Nigeria will even go so far as to cut off its electricity supply are spreading in their local newspapers. In the words of one Beninese, “Buhari and his country want to put an end to us,” said Barthelemy Agon, a pineapple producer. He, like many others have been hard-hit by fruits and vegetables no longer being exported to their big neighbor - Nigeria.
While we understand the fact that the President Buhari-led Federal Government is trying to encourage Nigerian manufacturers/producers and farmers alike, and for Nigerians to patronize locally manufactured goods, but one would have thought that the Federal Government would have put some certain measures in place that would encourage domestic production, and come to that point where Nigeria has attained some measure of reliance on local goods to satisfy domestic demands; before reeling out its contraband policies and ban on importation. How does the Federal Government expect domestic production/manufacturing to increase when the nation’s power supply is nothing to write home about? How can local production and business/economic activities thrive when there are evidently no/dilapidated basic infrastructure across the country? How can food production increase to satisfy the demands of Nigeria’s teeming population, when our Agricultural production processes are majorly still not mechanized but peasantry? These are the issues the Nigerian Government at all levels ought to have addressed squarely before considering this partial/complete ban on importation of some certain essential goods.
Again, the Federal Government ought not to ban non-harmful goods that we don’t have, or don’t produce enough here in Nigeria. If the Government’s objective is to stop smuggling activities across Nigerian borders, then there are certain goods, which we do not have in abundance here in Nigeria to satisfy domestic demand, that the Government ought not to have banned. The truth is that, as long as demand outweighs supply of some certain goods, smugglers will always find a way to bring these things into the country. If qualitative non-harmful goods are produced locally with affordable prices, no one will even want to patronize such non-harmful goods that are made-in-foreign countries, which are often smuggled into the country through our borders. Also, the Federal Government should not give avenue to the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) to exploit and extort genuine Nigerian businessmen/women as a result of these recent importation policies.
The truth is that, all of these issues can be addressed through a well-strategized import and export policies. Let us look at how countries like Singapore and Mauritius were able to succeed in their importation policies and get to where they are presently. If we have quality and affordable non-harmful goods in abundance, and functional ports across the country (not concentrated in one area), no one will smuggle them in the first place. A policy of any kind, should be seen to “reduce poverty” in the land, rather than inflict poverty on the people the Governments are meant to govern. If the Nigerian political/ruling class and their families are well-fed, while the majority of the ordinary Nigerian masses are daily suffering in lack and want, then of what essence is what the Government is said to be doing? It simply means their style of governance is meaningless. The purpose of good governance is to improve on the living standards of the majority of the people. All of this has to do with the provision of basic and accessible infrastructure. The Federal Government under President Buhari should be seen to be addressing poverty, and improving on the nation’s infrastructural foundations, which will of course stimulate and promote economic growth.
Zik Gbemre.
October 17, 2019
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
It is no news that Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari unexpectedly closed Nigeria's borders to goods trade in August 2019 declaring the time had come to end rampant smuggling across the porous frontiers. And as expected, the closure has had a devastating impact on Benin, Nigeria's neighbour to the West, which has been a key exporter of foodstuffs to Africa's most populous country. It has also pushed up prices for staples such as rice at markets around Nigeria. But more important to note is the fact that with the said Federal Government’s directive, it means that all imports should now come through the country's ports where they can be monitored more easily and generate much-needed revenue. The only problem with this is the fact that Nigeria, despite being blessed beyond measure with so many coastal regions, especially in the Delta region areas of Delta State, is only known to have one functional Port – Onne Port. That, in itself is anomaly that urgently needs to be reversed.
With the evident fact that Nigeria is heavily reliant on imports to feed its booming population of about 200 million, and the government is seeking to bolster domestic agriculture as it looks to diversify the oil-dependent economy, the fact still remains that the nation’s maritime industry and Ports activities are still ‘one-sided’ and underutilized, considering the enormous potentials we have as a nation in this regard. Why should we have the concentration of Port activities within the Maritime industry in Onne (Port-Harcourt), and Apapa, Tin can (Lagos) – leaving other Ports like Delta Ports Complex not working as they should? Is it not appalling that majority of the goods imported into Nigeria comes only from the Lagos Ports, which leaves a large number of people from other regions in Lagos State alone for various business activities. The one that baffles us most is the policy that has made the Onne Port the only Port in the country to receive Oil and Gas Cargoes. Thereby rendering the Delta Ports useless and unutilized, despite being closest to the country’s deepsea areas where the Oil and Gas exploration and production business activities are predominant. Why should a country that is blessed with more than Seven Ports still be having problems of congestion, overtime cargoes, logistics problems, road infrastructure overuse, etc., only in the Ports in Lagos? Why do we like giving ourselves unnecessary headaches and untold hardship to the general masses with the way we do things in this country? it simply does not make sense!
We have reiterated severally that Ports infrastructure are by far one of the most important support of economic activities of the economy of any society, especially those in the hinterland since they act as a crucial connection between sea and land transport. As a supplier of jobs, Ports do not only serve an economic but also a social function. In terms of load carried, seaway transportation is the cheapest and most effective transportation system compared to other systems. Industries require a safe and cheap means of “exporting finished goods and importing raw materials.” Hence the majority of industries in the world are located in the ‘coastal belts’, in the vicinity of major Ports. These industries in turn, influence the lives of the employees and indirect benefactors of that economy, as well as the entire citizenry of that society.
With this at the back of our mind, we would then realize the urgent need for other Ports in the country, particularly the one in the city of Warri and other ‘coastal areas’ of Delta State, to have their Ports functional again and operating at optimal level/usage, as an important revenue-yielding avenue for the development and growth of the State’s economy as well as that of the entire nation. With a coastline of over 850 kilometres, Nigeria is said to have recognized Seven port complexes, and Delta State alone has four that are located in Warri, Burutu, Koko and Sapele, each of them built at huge costs and still in relative working conditions. There is also the Okwagbe Wharf in Delta State, which was used by the Portuguese/British Colonial masters. Almost the entire Delta State are ‘natural ports. In effect, industries and business communities in the various regions ought to be enjoying the advantages of multiple choices and closeness to their operational bases as a result of these Ports, but sadly, that has not been the case. The other fully equipped Port complexes are located in Port Harcourt and in Onne (both in Rivers State), and in Calabar, Cross River State. Unfortunately, despite this spread, every business concern “unwittingly feels compelled” to use Lagos Ports for their import and export transactions. This nationwide drift towards Lagos Ports by importers is what has brought about the unprecedented number of overtime cargoes that now litter Apapa and TinCan ports. Both ports handle more than 80 per cent of containerized and general cargoes shipped into the country.
There is therefore the urgent need to make the other identified Ports in Delta State and other places in the country, functional to maximum usage. The Federal Government also needs to have a favourable-and-business-friendly-working policy for importers to be encouraged to patronize these other Nigerian Ports apart from Lagos, instead of using Cotonou Port in a foreign country, for every good coming into Nigerian. From what it seems, it appears the Cotonou Port is the only viable means of revenue in their country, especially when we consider the recent outcries from citizens of that country over President Buhari’s contraband policy on some goods and partial closure of Nigeria’s borders. In some reports recently, huge quantities of frozen chickens, rice, fabric and cars arrive at the port of Cotonou, Benin’s economic capital, where they are taxed locally before being routed — often illegally — to Nigeria. Benin has few functioning petrol stations, and its fuel is far more expensive than in Nigeria, where it is subsidized by the Government. In Benin, business people in some parts of the economy are panicking, and unfounded rumours that Nigeria will even go so far as to cut off its electricity supply are spreading in their local newspapers. In the words of one Beninese, “Buhari and his country want to put an end to us,” said Barthelemy Agon, a pineapple producer. He, like many others have been hard-hit by fruits and vegetables no longer being exported to their big neighbor - Nigeria.
While we understand the fact that the President Buhari-led Federal Government is trying to encourage Nigerian manufacturers/producers and farmers alike, and for Nigerians to patronize locally manufactured goods, but one would have thought that the Federal Government would have put some certain measures in place that would encourage domestic production, and come to that point where Nigeria has attained some measure of reliance on local goods to satisfy domestic demands; before reeling out its contraband policies and ban on importation. How does the Federal Government expect domestic production/manufacturing to increase when the nation’s power supply is nothing to write home about? How can local production and business/economic activities thrive when there are evidently no/dilapidated basic infrastructure across the country? How can food production increase to satisfy the demands of Nigeria’s teeming population, when our Agricultural production processes are majorly still not mechanized but peasantry? These are the issues the Nigerian Government at all levels ought to have addressed squarely before considering this partial/complete ban on importation of some certain essential goods.
Again, the Federal Government ought not to ban non-harmful goods that we don’t have, or don’t produce enough here in Nigeria. If the Government’s objective is to stop smuggling activities across Nigerian borders, then there are certain goods, which we do not have in abundance here in Nigeria to satisfy domestic demand, that the Government ought not to have banned. The truth is that, as long as demand outweighs supply of some certain goods, smugglers will always find a way to bring these things into the country. If qualitative non-harmful goods are produced locally with affordable prices, no one will even want to patronize such non-harmful goods that are made-in-foreign countries, which are often smuggled into the country through our borders. Also, the Federal Government should not give avenue to the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) to exploit and extort genuine Nigerian businessmen/women as a result of these recent importation policies.
The truth is that, all of these issues can be addressed through a well-strategized import and export policies. Let us look at how countries like Singapore and Mauritius were able to succeed in their importation policies and get to where they are presently. If we have quality and affordable non-harmful goods in abundance, and functional ports across the country (not concentrated in one area), no one will smuggle them in the first place. A policy of any kind, should be seen to “reduce poverty” in the land, rather than inflict poverty on the people the Governments are meant to govern. If the Nigerian political/ruling class and their families are well-fed, while the majority of the ordinary Nigerian masses are daily suffering in lack and want, then of what essence is what the Government is said to be doing? It simply means their style of governance is meaningless. The purpose of good governance is to improve on the living standards of the majority of the people. All of this has to do with the provision of basic and accessible infrastructure. The Federal Government under President Buhari should be seen to be addressing poverty, and improving on the nation’s infrastructural foundations, which will of course stimulate and promote economic growth.
Zik Gbemre.
October 17, 2019
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes