BusinessDay 26 Feb 2018

Monday 26 February 2018
C002D5556
BUSINESS DAY
9
NEWS
Niger Delta to blame for death of eastern ports
IGNATIUS CHUKWU
Minister of
T r a n s -
portation,
Chibuike
R o t i m i
Amaechi, former of Rivers
State, has asked the Niger
Delta people to blame themselves,
not anybody from
Lagos or westerners, for the
steady decline of ports in the
east. He spoke in tense voice,
saying the truth must be told.
Amaechi spoke while in
Warri, Delta State, at a day
stakeholders’ conference organised
by Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety
Agency (NIMASA) in conjunction
with his ministry to
harvest ideas and issues in the
maritime economy.
The minister said the accusation
had been that west-
TUC wants state
of emergency
in power sector
JOSHUA BASSEY
Saddened by the deteriorating
power supply
in Nigeria and
resultant economic
losses, the Trade Union
Congress of Nigeria (TUC)
has asked the Federal Government
to declare a state
of emergency in the power
sector.
The union, which rose
from its National Executive
Council (NEC) meeting in
Lagos, wekend, said this had
become absolutely necessary,
“as no nation can develop
without power.”
The TUC also urged the
Federal Government to be
decisive in its bid to rebuild
the confidence of the citizenry
in the system, by arresting
and prosecuting killers
of innocent Nigerians,
masquerading as herdsmen
and militia in different parts
of the country. The union in
a communiqué issued after
the meeting, expressed
concern about the ceaseless
killing by the Boko Haram
sect, noting that it was time
the insurgents were made to
face the law.
On the volatility of the
political system, ahead of
the 2019 general elections,
the TUC in the communiqué
signed by Bobboi Kaigama,
president and Musa Lawal,
secretary general, called
on politicians and their followers
to act in a manner
that would guarantee peace
within the polity.
“Politicians should avoid
hate speeches so that both
the common man and workers
can attain fulfilment.
The NEC also called on governors
owing workers to pay
such monies and warned
converting public funds and
workers’ salaries for election
purposes.
The union also blamed
the recurring fuel crisis on
the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC)
as the sole provider of fuel
for the country and called on
the government to, however,
reimburse the corporation
and marketers of money
spent on subsidy.
… ‘blame yourself, not Lagos’
ern Nigeria did not want eastern
ports to survive and thus
waxed all manner of policies
to achieve the plot, saying he
too believed it. How however
said the moment he took over
as minister, he went into the
issue and found that the issue
was not true at all.
Returning the blame to
his people, Amaechi said the
youths had taken to piracy
and theft, turning the waters
to the region unsafe. He said it
was wrong for someone in the
conference to call for military
escort for ships sailing to the
South South.
Amaechi referred the
stakeholders to the war insurance
system, which made
cost of taking goods to the
Niger Delta water double the
cost of Lagos. “I once called
Peter Obi, former governor of
Anambra State, to educate me
on why importers in Onitsha
and Aba shun Port Harcourt
ports. He said they preferred
paying to transport containers
for eight hours from Lagos
and pay bribe on the way to
Onitsha and Aba than import
through Port Harcourt that is
mere 30 minutes drive.
“He said it was still far
cheaper to import from Lagos
because of insecurity and
the war insurance charged
by international shippers to
venture into risky waters,” the
minister said.
The minister urged the
Niger Delta people to look
at issues objectively instead
of looking for who to blame
always. “They say I am not a
good politician. I could come
here and speak good English
and promise how we are going
to make eastern ports to
overtake Lagos, and you will
clap, but it will be untrue. Instead,
we must stop looking
at outsiders, call ourselves
in hall and tell ourselves the
truth. That is where to start,”
he said.
He went on: “We are not
the hungriest people in Nigeria.
We are not poorer than
those in Lagos or north. We
must admit that violence
and piracy do not help any
economy.” He told the ship
owners to consider protests
and petition to the President
because, as he put it, some
saboteurs were frustrating
moves by the Federal Government
to protect Nigerian
waters through the $195 million
(about N70.2bn) contract
signed a year ago. The fund is
meant to acquire three helicopters,
three aircrafts, three
big battle-ready ships, 12 vessels
and 20 amphibious cars
to combat the menace of piracy
in the Gulf of Guinea. The
contract had been approved
to an Israeli security firm, but
it has rather become a mirage.
Amaechi alleged that
some government officials,
and “People making money
from water” were sabotaging
government’s effort in restoring
peace on the nation’s
troubled waters.
He said: “For ship owners,
you need to do a petition
to the President, you need to
behave like an activist. The
President approved a contract
of $195 million and there are
people in the system sabotaging
that contract. The contract
is to restore security in the nation’s
waters.”
He threatened to disclose
the names of those behind
the sabotage if pushed to the
wall. “I won’t say who they
are until it gets out of control.
We are still battling for the
contract to take place, but if it
gets out of hand, we will name
them, including the security
people.
“These are people who
make billions of dollars from
the waters so they don’t want
security on the waters, because
if we secure the waters,
all this rubbish will go. We
need to ask ourselves what
happened to an approval that
was given about two years ago
by the President,” he said.