Perhaps the biggest and the most popular project embarked upon by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua on assumption of office was the dredging of the Lower River Niger, which most people see as a good avenue for revenue and employment generation.
The idea to dredge the River Niger was conceived by the colonial masters but they could not execute it before handing over the mantle of leadership at independence. The colonial masters, however, made very good use of the inland waterways for effective transportation.
At Baro, in Niger State, which served as one of the prominent river ports used by the colonial masters in local and foreign shipments, the river port was linked to a railway line that the colonialists to transport goods to and from the hinterland.
The Minister of Transport, Alhaji Ibrahim Isa Bio, in whose tenure the dredging of the lower river Niger was flagged off, told newsmen that the dredging was meant to provide an effective and well co-ordinated transport system, where government would link the airports, sea and river ports with good roads and railway lines.
Bio said the idea to dredge the lower river Niger was to provide a safe and alternative means of transporting goods through the river from one part of the country to another and to move cargoes coming to and departing Nigeria through the seaports. The dredging of the river he said would also enhance fishing and irrigation.
He said the government would also embark on the dredging of the upper river Niger, the river Benue and all other inland waterways for inland transportation, adding that river ports will be built at strategic locations at all the dredged portions of the rivers.
The minister said the contract awarded by Yar’adua was for the initial dredging of the lower river Niger otherwise known as ‘capital’ dredging and a two year maintenance dredging as a means of ensuring all year round navigability of the river channels.
The river was then divided into five LOTS for easy handling. Except for Van Oord Company that was engaged to dredge two of the five LOTS, all other companies involved in the dredging work handled only a LOT.
When this reporter sailed from Warri in Delta state through the Bifurcation to Ndonie in Rivers state, a lot of activities were going on in the river with several barges and top board conveying crude oil from oil rigs to some locations in the area.
The rider of the boat that conveyed the reporter, Dokubo Eselemo said since the river was dredged navigation activities increased. Many oil companies move their crude oil on the water thereby reducing the pressure on the road. He said goods and farm produce are mostly transported from Warri through Patani to Port Harcourt axis while crude oil is moved from Warri to Ndonie axis.
But between Ndonie and Onitsa, this reporter observed that except for local boats conveying sand and some yam farmers using locally made boat to ship yam from Benue state to Ndonie in Rivers; Ogwuta in Imo and Onitsha in Anambra state, only a few fishermen were seen in canoes from that axis.
Traffic on the river reduced as one moved from Onitsha to Lokoja. Between Onitsha in Anambra and Agenebode in Edo state, the commonest business on the river was the activities of local dredgers excavating sand from the river for construction. A lot of men and women using canoes were seen fishing on the river around Idah in Kogi State.
But most people who live along the river still said the river had not been dredged because they had neither seen ships passing nor trucks seen conveying the sand excavated from the river to anywhere.
Alhaji Kabiru Yusuf, an opinion leader in Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State, expressed doubt about the claim by the federal government that River Niger has been dredged.
According to him, in the 1960s and 1970s big ships and barges sailed the river Niger, bringing goods from Niger Delta to warehouses in Lokoja for onward movement to the North, adding that, “You don’t need anybody to tell you that the river was navigable then.
“Then it boosted the economy of Lokoja as people were paid to offload the goods to warehouses but since they said the river Niger has been dredged, we have not seen any ship sail the water. I am sure somebody somewhere has collected the money and deceived us with fake dredging,” he said.
He said during the supposed dredging, the dredging equipment ran aground, asking how many ship have been seen sailing the water ways.
“I don’t think the river Niger was dredged because there has not been any change since the supposed dredging. Communities have been waiting for business that will come as a result of the dredging but since the federal government claimed it is dredged, nothing is happening on the water ways,” he said.
Chief Dennis Okafor is a spare parts seller at Onitsha in Anambra State. He expressed concern that over two years after the rehabilitation of Onitsha river port, the port is yet to be concessioned as promised by President Jonathan during the commissioning ceremony.
He said though the port is running skeletal services, its concession to the private sector will improve business in that part of the country, adding, “When the river was dredged and the river port renovated and expanded, we thought the era of going to Lagos to hire trucks and start moving our containers of goods was over. It could have been easy shipping the goods from Lagos through the dredged river to Onitsha port. With time, all these trucks would have disappeared or reduced if the port starts full operation.
“We learnt that they even want to concession it to foreigners. I am not sure our people would like to use the port if they concession it to a foreigner or a foreign firm. That port should be concessioned to someone from the East so that we can make it a Nigerian affair,” he said.
When Sunday Trust toured the full length of the dredged portion of the river, only the renovated Onitsha river port is ready for operation with modern office, port service area, modern port equipment and staff quarters in place.
Alhaji Musa Yabagi, a transporter said he did not see the Baro River port coming into operation in the next four years because of neglect, saying, “You can see that work at the port has seen stopped because the contractor has not been paid. Even if this port is completed today, there is no road for any truck to bring in or take away goods. The roads leading to Baro from anywhere are very bad. They were last maintained during the pre-independence era.
“How can you operate a river port without access roads? During the colonial era, we had a functional river port in Baro with access road and rail line. This dilapidated building was the port office. Look at the then railway office. This was serving as the Niger Company store. Over 50 years since the white men left, no government cared to maintain those infrastructures. Can they construct the road overnight?
“The terrible road you came through, you know how many times you had to jump from the pick-up van that brought you and pushed it before getting here. This is the best we have in the past 30 years. Even this one was courtesy of William Lloyds Company that dredged the river. They graded the road when they were bringing their equipment. Baro is certainly a port that may not function in our time,” he said.
Mr. Goodluck Chinaka, the General Manager, Project Administration Fung Tai Nigeria Limited that dredged LOT 1 of the river Niger covering Warri to Bifurcation told Sunday Trust that the lower river Niger had actually been dredged.
“Our company is one of the companies that dredged the lower river Niger and we were in charge of LOT 1 from Warri up to Bifurcation. We started with the capital dredging, and capital dredging was supposed to be originally a contract for one year, but because of some delay, because the time we started there were militant activities, it affected the process of mobilization.
“When we eventually succeeded in mobilizing, the capital dredging was finished. It was executed within 24 months. Between 2009 and 2011, and thereafter we were supposed to start the maintenance year one dredging. Ordinarily, you wait for some period before you start. But you know in 2012, there was flood disaster that actually devastated the channels; not only the channels but also communities in those areas.
“That also caused the delay in terms of commencing the maintenance year one dredging. So, it was in the later part of 2012 we now started the year one maintenance and finished it. In 2013, we did maintenance year two. It is important to state here that the 2012 flood disaster actually affected the channels. Because it brought unwanted materials to so many areas which led to siltation. That particular development ought to have received serious reporting,” he said.
He said the contractors that dredged the river reported to the government that the flood had divested the channels of the river and recommended the need to carry out a survey that would reveal the extent of siltation and review the contract with a view to paying for the excavation of the excess sand and dirt.
He said that was necessary because the initial contract agreement for the dredging of the river was based on certain quantity of sand to be excavated and when any of the dredging companies met up with the required quantity, it completed its job.
“That channel was supposed to be maintained periodically. It required periodic or yearly maintenance; which had not been done. I believe that maybe is a question of funding, but we really have to because the federal government of Nigeria has spent a lot of money dredging river Niger.
“As at today, it is not that all the areas are silted up, there are some areas that you can still find more than 3.5 metres deep. There are some areas when we dredged, we were asked to do a minimum of 2.5 metres but in some areas we did much more than that. Some areas also you would find more than even 4 metres, but those were areas that were prone to siltation; so those areas NIWA knows about them, because they carry out periodic survey, so those areas are regarded as critical points.
“It is true that some parts of the river channel have problems of over siltation from that flood. Like I explained to you, there would have been a deliberate and conscious effort towards surveying the place. No contractor ought to be allowed to start anything until that was done. My company reported what was on the channels to be dredged but we were not given that approval. What they told us was that there were limited funds, so if anybody complains today that there are challenges in the channels it is because of that,” he said.
When asked on what to do to ensure proper navigation in the river, Mr. Chinasa said, “Like I said, Lower River Niger is from Warri to Baro. Sometimes the axis of Baro could dry up quicker than the lower axis. But the important thing is that you know also that river ports are being built. The one in Baro is coming up very fast; there is one in Lokoja, may be there are other ones. The fact is that because these ports must be utilized, they have to be functional. Vessels must come from Warri from other parts and make use of the channels.
“The port must be active. If the channel is not navigable, then the ports will not be active. Therefore there must be very conscious efforts to make sure there is maintenance of the channels. If it is done yearly, the concentration will be in critical areas to make sure there is navigability of the channel all year round. You also know that the federal government concluded plans to dredge river Benue. “If you don’t get river Niger very well dredged, and guarantee navigability, you may find it difficult to use river Benue. That is the truth! Whether is river Benue or Niger, there must be maintenance of the channels
“The federal government is right to really think that there is need to make our river channels navigable and usable because of the advantages. Everybody knows that there are quite a lot of advantages in using the river channels much more than the roads. So if that has to be done, NIWA must be supported, the supervisory ministry of transport must be supported. They should be encouraged to come up with the programmes, not really thinking about money all the time. We must make sure all the river channels are very well utilized for the benefit of Nigerians,” he said.
Though efforts to reach the Minister for Transport, Senator Idris Umar were not successful, the minister while giving his stewardship said government had completed the dredging of the Lower River Niger from Warri in Delta state to Baro in Niger state covering a distance of 572 kilometers to facilitate all year navigability.
He said maintenance dredging as contained in the initial contract was completed while processes were on-going for the formation of a channel management company for maintenance dredging under a Joint Venture arrangement.
“Goods are now being transported over long distances at relatively low rates. 1.6million tonnes of Cargo moved as at the 3rd quarter of 2014. Number of passenger traffic as at third quarter of 2014 is 6,685,000.
“The River Ports at Baro is 92% completed, Oguta 73% and Lokoja is 62% completed. They are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2015. Procurement process for the construction of Makurdi River Port is in progress. The contract will be awarded this year (2014).
“Contract for the dredging of critical parts of River Benue has been awarded to be completed in 36 months. The Onitsha river port will be concessioned. An inception report by the Transaction Adviser has been forwarded to the Federal Ministry of Finance for further action. Baro, Oguta and Lokoja river ports will also be concessioned upon completion. Yenagoa and Igbokoda Jetties were completed this year (2014),” he said.
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