The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko said Onne Port Complex is the fastest growing port in Nigeria.
Speaking at the Ministerial Media Briefing anchored by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday, he said the port is active, not just in terms of importation, but also in terms of exports.
The NPA chief said the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) Onne has made multimillion dollars investment to develop the container terminal at the port.
“Ports of Tin Can, Onne, Calabar are now ISO certified, and because of this we have seen a tremendous increase in cargo traffic in Onne. Year to year, in terms of percentage, Onne is the fastest growing port in terms of business and activity in Nigeria currently. We are happy to see that a port outside of Lagos is also active. And it is not just active in terms of importation, it is also active in terms of export,” he said.
Bello-Koko said the Onne port handled 11,800 metric tons of cargo in the first half of 2022. He attributed the volume of trade to the ease of doing business at the port.
“Even in our cargo throughput, what I am saying is in terms of percentage increase, half year, Onne has done 11,800 metric tons. We are seeing that the increase in percentage is high. This is because it is easier to do business there naturally because we have deployed more equipment, more personnel, paid attention to ensure that we make the port more competitive,” he said.
He said NPA, in partnership with the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), has licensed 10 export processing terminals in Lagos and Ogun states.
“These export processing terminals, which will be linked with NEPC’s domestic export warehouses in the hinterland, have been programmed to eliminate all the delays that hitherto rendered Nigerian exports uncompetitive in the international marketplace,” he said.
The NPA Managing Director also said that rogue vessels involved in stealing Nigeria’s crude oil turn off their Automation Identification System (AIS) to evade detection and tracking by the authorities in the Nigerian waters.
Such ships, according to him, go off the radar and evade arrest because they switch off their onboard automated tracking system that help to locate the vessel’s position and others in the vicinity.
However, he said the NPA had begun the process that would culminate in the procurement of Vessel Tracking Services (VTS) to enable it identify, locate and monitor all vessels in the nation’s waters.
According to him, NPA has been trying to acquire the VTS for about 10 years, saying that a certified consultant has now been identified to take up the process, just as he expressed optimism that the facility can be procured before the end of the current administration.
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