By Adedapo Adesanya
The Governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has called on stakeholders, especially investors, to take advantage of the geographical location of the Benin River Port project, a critical and strategic link to all parts of the country, to boost the Nigerian economy.
Mr Obaseki made the call in Benin City during a courtesy visit of a team from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) led by the Director-General, Mr Bashir Jamoh.
In a statement issued by NIMASA’s Assistant Director, Public Relations, Mr Edward Osagie, the Governor said his administration was ready to partner with the agency in bringing the project to reality.
Mr Obaseki explained that “Edo State is a nexus for Nigeria hence the strategic role the Benin River Port would play in the transportation of goods to other parts of the country.”
“You can connect the east and west from Edo within two hours, so that means in six hours, goods from Apapa in Lagos will be everywhere in the country,” he added.
Speaking on the project, he further said, “We are locating this port in a place that is perhaps Nigeria’s largest and richest onshore gas reserve. You can imagine that this energy exists to drive whatever amount of industrialisation that needs to be.”
The Governor commended the NIMASA management for the blue economy initiative, insisting that the Nigerian economy must be diversified.
On his part, Mr Jamoh had restated NIMASA’s commitment to human capacity development as the basic catalyst to growing the maritime sector.
He acknowledged the Benin River Port project as proof that Edo understands the benefits of shipping and expressed readiness to partner with the state in exploring the blue economy opportunities.
The agency’s head further stated the agency’s readiness to fully fund Edo indigenes below 25 years to Greece to study maritime-related courses, stating that human and infrastructural capacity development is key to the growth of the nation’s maritime industry
He further disclosed that NIMASA’s drive to develop the blue economy in partnership with littoral states was aimed at achieving a diversified economy for the country because “shipping is the alternative to oil and the shipping sector in Nigeria can produce three-quarter of the nation’s earnings from the oil sector.
“To achieve this, we at NIMASA are engaging the littoral states in Nigeria to develop strategies that would lead to maximising the potentials of the sector within the next 10 years, when countries are targeting to end the use of fossil fuel.”
Mr Jamoh commended the state government on the river port project, which he said would be a revenue booster for the state, noting that Kano, Plateau and Gombe states have also invested huge resources in inland dry port development as non-littoral states.
Dipo Olowookere