The Minister for Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola CON, has decried low investments in inland waterways transport system, stressing that the gains accruable from the sector will be eroded without requisite investments for optimal operations.
Oyetola gave this remark while delivering the keynote address at a Maritime Business Roundtable Breakfast Meeting (MBRBM), organized by Zoe Maritime Resources on Thursday, themed: “Security and New Technologies in Inland Waterways Transportation.”
According to the Minister, low investments in the nation’s inland waterways remains a huge challenge in the sector, while he also opined that there is lack of strict implementation of regulations.
Oyetola, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Cabotage & Shipping Development, Ministry of Marine & Blue Economy, Ekanem Selia, described inland waterways transport system is an essential element of integrated transport systems.
“Inland waterways is one of the oldest means of transporting goods and services from one point to another. Nevertheless, the least developed compared to air and road transportation in Nigeria. It is worthy to note that when the inland waterways transportation system is properly developed, it will be characterized by high transport volume, low energy consumption, and low negative environmental impact,” the Minister said.
The Minister noted that a thriving inland waterways system will usher in enormous benefits to the nation’s economy.
Speaking earlier, the Consul General, People’s Republic of China in Lagos, Ms. Yan Yuqing, stated that digitalization and intelligence have become top priority in China’s inland waterway and maritime transport systems.
Her words: “The Changjiang River has consistently been the world’s busiest inland waterway transportation route, known for its high volume of traffic. In 2022, China’s inland waterway transportation completed a freight volume of more than 4.4 billion tons and goods turnover of 1.9 trillion ton-kilometers, highlighting the significant support for the regional economic development and social progress.”
“In the sector, quality productivity forces are innovation-led, oppose damage to the ecological environment, promoting the low-carbonization of economic and social development, and the collaborative development of high-quality economic development and high-level protection of the environment.”
Noting that both China and Nigeria have many important rivers, river-ports, long coastlines and seaports, she maintained that the field of waterway transportation and marine conservation provides opportunities for China and Nigeria to learn from each other and cooperate more closely.
“Currently, China has established transportation links with more than 100 countries and regions in the world, and the size of the fleet owned by China’s shipping companies has reached 249.2 million gross tons, becomes the world’s largest shipowning nation in terms of gross tonnage. Waterway freight accounts for about 17% of the national freight volume, while its cargo turnover accounts for about 54% of the total turnover in the transportation system.”
“Maritime transportation handles about 95% of China’s foreign trade volume and plays a key role in maintaining the safety and stability of both international and domestic logistics supply chains,” she posited.
In terms of port cargo volume, she observed that China has consistently ranked first in the world for many years in both port cargo throughput and container throughput.
The Chinese Consul General pointed out that among the top ten ports globally for cargo and container throughput, China has 8 and 7 respectively. “In 2022, China’s national port cargo throughput in China reached about 15.7 billion tons, with a container throughput of nearly 300 million TEUs,” she added.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Alhaji Munirudeen Oyebamiji, emphasized the role of stakeholders sensitization on global best standards in inland waterways operations.
The NIWA boss, who was represented by Hajiya Aisha Eri, Assistant General Manager, Ports and Environment, observed the Authority had robust partnership with Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Immigration Service, among other security agencies to police the nation’s waterways.
She equally affirmed that within the last two years the Authority introduced trainings for boat captains as a prerequisite for their certification.
While pointing out the high volume of non-seaworthy boats and vessels operating on the waterways, she expressed optimism that waterways operators should be able to access the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF) to acquire appropriate vessels.
Earlier, the Convener/ Chairperson, Zoe Maritime Resources, Mrs. Oritsematosan Edodo-Emore, described the breakfast meeting as a perfect place to address the multifaceted issues bedeviling inland waterways transport in the country.
She also interrogated the panelists on their latest technologies to address security issues on the waterways and innovations to generally improve the maritime domain.
The event was graced by several maritime bigwigs including; former Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr. Temisan Omatseye; Senior Partner, Foundation Chambers, Mr. Chidi Ilogu (SAN); Founder, Ocean Ambassadors Forum (OAF), Mrs. Olaitan Williams; Secretary, Nigerian Maritime Law Association (NMLA), Mrs. Nneka Obianyor.
Others were: General Manager, Security, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr. Mohammed Khalil; CP Olanrewaju Olawale Ishola, representing AIG Maritime Police Command, AIG Rhoda Olofu; Products Development Manager, Niger Benue Transport Company (NBTC), Engr. Uche Chibu who represented the NBTC Managing Director, among others.
