Blue Economy: Nigeria Ports Authority urged to brace up for 24hours Daily Operations

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has been urged to brace up for rendering 24 hours service daily, if it must play an effective role in the blue economy.
The Marine and Blue Economy is the sustainable use of ocean resources to boost economic growth, improve livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem..

The former Executive Secretary, Nigeria Shippers Council, Barrister Hassan Bello made this call in his remarks as the Chairman of the 10th Anniversary Lecture and Awards of Primetime Reporters held in Lagos yesterday.

According to him the Nigerian Ports Authority, should bring itself up to speed with the international standards of having its office open 24 hours every day and instead of seven to eight hours a day and five days a week which it offers currently.

**Adegboyega Oyetola, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy**

**Executive Secretary Nigerian Shippers’ Council**

Bello argued that “if the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) renders 24 hours daily, why should not NPA do same”, he asked.
He said that NPA can do that which is an international standards practice , by leveraging on technology.

“Without Technology we have limitations. We have to look at Port efficiencies. Our ports are not efficient.”
” While at Shippers Council we discovered something very tragic, that some terminals had only 11 percent application. We have to set a deadline that all terminals must be technologically compliant. And before we finished some of the domestic terminals were up to 60 or 80 percent compliant and that is the beauty of it. It makes it competitive. “why will l take my cargo to Cotonou if l can have it cleared in seven days instead of 21days.It is a business decision and not patriotism, the ship likes to go to a port where captain signs one document and clear his cargo sitting in his office. Now we have freight forwarders who go to inquire the expected arrival time or shipping position. Why can’t they do that from their office, know the bill of lading and pay from their office and clear a serious cargo out. “

According to him, port is not driven by people, Port is driven with technology , stressing that
that how we do 100 percent examination here is not done anywhere.

“We have devices that can do cargo examination in 5 minutes, but we spend 5 hours doing one cargo examination. And this is the cause of corruption, once you have one or two people come together, that is the source of corruption.
“Let me reduce this or that for you will arise .But if it is the scanner there is no room for that, our ports operate efficiently only 5 days a week and that is from 9am to 5pm. By this hours of service and staying away on weekends does not show seriousness and that is what the blue economy should look address.”
Bello further argued that Ports and port system generates a lot of wealth to countries like Italy and Singapore adding that is their maximum source of their revenue.

“But how can we have a port that works from 9am and by 5 pm everybody goes home and on weekends we stay away. “

He emphasized that NPA has to operate 24 hours that is what the blue economy must do .
And then the inland waterways should drive its economy like the river Mississippi is driving billions of dollars in the United States.That is what we should be doing now, he enthused.

He regretted that our waterways, are not chatted that is why we have a lot of accidents.” If it is on the road you have to see a bend or pothole but across the river, nothing is done. So it is not navigable ,the blue economy should focus attention on the economy of the inland waterways.
He explained that road transportation is still high because there is no competition from the inland waterways; emphasizing the transport cost will reduce if the inland waterways offers alternative to road transportation.
He said the policy document that is looking and the regulatory terminals, the entry and exit must be in place adding that the laws should not be left drifting .
He beaconed no the journalists is to criticize and remind the government of what should be done.
He said that without Technology, we can not survive , so the organisers chose an apt theme: leveraging Technology to maximize the potential of Nigeria’s Blue Economy adding that even “the Belgian who wrote about the blue economy could not have been more succint as we are doing here today to create an alternative to oil and gas sector.”
While describing the universe of blue economy to include the transport sector and inland waterways, rail, fisheries and aqua culture,tourism, shipping and non shipping,the hinterland , dams, renewable energy sources and even desert enchroachment, Bello said the central point is to use of of ocean and water resources and the inland waterways for the diversification of the economy. He averred the all the subsets of the blue economy must comprehensively crafted stressing the the blue economy must depend on technology to achieve all the desired benefits.
He contended that most businesses are down today because they failed to deploy technology.
He stressed that leveraging on technology to maximize the Potential of Nigeria’s blue economy, shows that the blue economy will depend on other stakeholders. For instance,”what are you going to do with fisheries , given that there is a school of fisheries? what are you going to do with tourism, what are you going to do with energy and renewable energy that you generate from the oceans.They are all ocean based but it does not stop there.

“But what will make the nation benefit from the blue economy is efficiency of Ports.
He warned that the Nigeria must not make the mistake it made with cabbotage, arguing that cabbotage was for coastal and lnland ship, but that inland shipping was not emphasized.It was just to supply oil and gas to other bigger vessels. We could not trade from Asaba to Baru in Niger State or carry cement, or even petroleum products. So we cannot restrict it to customs and secondly don’t create a new agency and designate it as a lead agency because everybody has something to contribute to the blue economy, l have seen agencies struggling to have a seminar on this and that”
The NSC former scribe , asserted that the blue economy is a private sector thing. The government should not create agencies that will overload or colonise it like cabbotage. It should be allowed in the private sector so that all benefits from all ramifications will trickle down”

In all these technology is central, without technology will are limited . There are enormous resources available to us, what are we going to do with them. We should not be talking about it till the next decade with our actions. We have to harness it, the private sector has to be involved. It has to be deliberate, conscious and calculated to make sure that all the stakeholders contribute to harness resources for maximum benefits and not any thing pretentious or fanciful about the Ministry of blue economy.

Government must allow the private sector contribution so that we can maximise the benefits”.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Managing Director/ Editor in Chief of Primetime Reporters Mr. Saint Augustine Nwadinamuo said that the theme of the conference was chosen to draw attention to the newest ministry in Nigeria, The Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy and how Technology could be used to Maximize the Potential inherent in the sector. He said that worldwide the ocean economy is valued at 15 trillion dollars per annum, making it the seventh largest economy in the world and and 350million jobs world wide are linked to fisheries, adding that blue economy is the turnkey of economic development.