By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has assured that it is poised to provide the necessary infrastructure and advocacy required to grow the vessel traffic to the Eastern ports, which comprise Onne, Rivers, Warri, and Calabar.
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, stated this yesterday during the commissioning of a 4.8km road and Marine craft at Onne port, Rivers State.
Mr Oyetola said deepening efficiencies and full capacity utilisation of the Eastern ports constitutes one of the tools deployed to achieve the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) assigned to the ministry under the Presidential Performance Bond.
The Minister who expressed happiness that the Onne and Calabar Port Complexes have met the requirements of the International Organization for Standardisation and are ISO certified said the newly commissioned mooring boats would further enhance the security and safety at the Eastern port.
According to him, providing an enabling environment for investors to patronise the Eastern ports is the top priority of the Marine and Blue Economy Ministry.
“This road infrastructure constructed by the Nigerian Ports Authority and the mooring boats we are gathered here to commission is another testament to the commitment of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy under my watch to maximize the entire gamut of opportunities conferred on us by our maritime endowments, in line with the directives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The Mooring Boats are used to safety berth and unberth vessels calling at various pilotage districts. These six Mooring Boats is our way of further enhancing the security and safety of our maritime space,” Mr Oyetola stated.
On his part, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr Mohammed Bello-Koko, stated that the commissioning of the newly constructed road and deployment of the marine craft will positively impact cargo dwell time and win back huge revenues hitherto lost to terminal operators’ inability to meet their performance targets on account of inaccessibility to their lease areas due to bad road.
According to him, the vast expanse of reclaimed land already leased for port development is a link to growth in new business opportunities and increased revenue for the national economy.
“The Phase 4B houses a significant portion of the untapped potentials of the Onne Port Complex, thus the completion of Road “D” which is the major arterial link to the new Berths 9, 10, 11 & 12 at Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT) and vast expanse of reclaimed land already leased for port development is a link to growth in new business opportunities and increased revenue for the national economy.
“This road which stretches over a total of 4.8 kilometres, covering two container terminals and caters to almost 1,000 trucks daily is indicative of the Authority’s positioning for growth, competitiveness and future readiness.
By promoting the ease and speed of doing business in the port, this infrastructure deployment will positively impact cargo dwell time and win back huge revenues hitherto lost to terminal operators’ inability to meet their performance targets on account of inaccessibility to their lease areas due to bad road,” he stated.
Aduragbemi Omiyale 
Business Post Contributor