The Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi yesterday said that the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to the $1.5billion Lekki deep seaport will mount pressure on the developers to fast track the completion of the project
The President who came into the first deep Seaport in Nigeria after commissioning Dangote fertilizer located a few kilometers away from the deep seaport, inspected the breakwater, quay wall, and other landside facilities of the port.
The Lekki Deep Seaport, when operational, will help regain lost cargoes from neighboring Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, and other African countries.
Speaking earlier, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, said the president toured the deep Seaport, to publicize the project to Nigerians.
He said after the completion of Lekki Port, the federal government would begin construction of Bonny Deep seaports after completion of the Lekki Deep Seaport.
“I am convinced that we would commence work in Bonny’s deep seaport before we leave Office. Also, Ibaka Deep Seaport has gotten the government’s approval and we are fast-tracking the approval of Badagry Deep Seaport, so they can also get their own approval.
“By the time we leave office, all those people who would have been granted approval are all private seaports. The only one that government will participate in on its own is the Bonny seaport.
He, however, said that the deep seaports are almost ready as the cargo handling equipment will be ready in June while commercial operations will begin in September.
“The reason for asking the president to come to Lekki Port is to publicize the seaport so that people will know this Government is building the first deep seaport in Nigeria. The other ports in Nigeria are all river ports.
“The next reason for the president coming, is also to put the heat on them (promoters), you know that the port is almost ready, if not for the equipment, they can actually get this place ready before June, but they said the equipment is arriving by June 2022 and installation will take them till September and then it can be commissioned in September,” he said.
Also speaking, Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko, said the Lekki Deep Seaport, which has been under construction for years, would help regain lost cargoes from neighboring Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, and others.
He stated that the Seaport will be ready for a test run in September, after which the first commercial vessel can be received at the port.
“Some of the businesses we have lost to other neighboring West African countries due to drought limitation will be regained.
“There will be employment creation and increased revenue for the government. It will create competition and compel other terminal operators to up their games to reduce cargo dwell time at their terminals. Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports have been operating far beyond their capacity which means that the excess cargoes that have been going there would be diverted to Lekki Port,” he explained.
According to him, the port is located on about 90 hectares of land, is supposed to have three container terminals, and will be the first automated port in Nigeria that will enable the speedy clearing of goods.
Bello-Koko, who noted that the commencement of Lekki Port will reduce the rate of traffic at Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports, said there will be Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes that will enable faster processing of goods.
On the connectivity of the port to the rail line, Bello-Koko said there is already a plan and the Minister of Transportation has given the Nigerian Railway Corporation a directive to carry out a survey on the possibility of linking the port to the Lagos-Ibadan railway.
Also speaking, the executive secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Emmanuel Jime explained that the Lekki port will change the face of maritime in Nigeria.
“From the point of view of an economic regulator, it has been something we have been looking forward to. We have dreamt that this day would come for a number of very important reasons. We have to understand that because of the draft that we are going to have here at this Lekki seaport and for the first time in our maritime domain, we are going to have the kind of vessels that have never birthed in our ports.
“So this is the first deep seaport we are having in our country. From that perspective alone, that gives us the comfort and recognition that as far as the economies of scale are concerned, we are going to have a boost in commercial activities in ways that we have never envisaged and experienced before.
“We at the Shippers council are indeed very happy to see this port happening. Because of the automation that this port will provide, businesses will be conducted in a way and manner that is efficient and service delivery will be done in a way that it will be cost-effective,” he added.
