Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola Oyetola has said that he would “obtain presidential endorsement of the use of scanners at the nation’s seaports”.
The Minister disclosed this on Tuesday while speaking during a panel discussion at the 29th session of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), with the main theme “Pathways to Sustainable Economic Transformation and Inclusion”.
He disclosed that the Federal Government has initiated plans to launch a roadmap for the marine and blue economy sector, acknowledging that charting a policy agenda for the sector is critical to transforming it into the best in class, regionally and internationally.
“Tonight’s session is the latest in our consultation with industry stakeholders, the maritime and the blue economy sector. We understand the critical role the maritime sector plays in enabling business in an import dependent economy, such as ours.
“It is imperative that we move more quickly towards improving the navigability of our waters, engage the draught of our ports, achieve 24 hours cargo clearance and ensure adequate connectivity of our ports to hinterlands with efficient road and rail networks.
“Challenges of the maritime sector are well known and documented: slow pace of legislative reforms and weak sector governance to infrastructure deficits, inefficient port management, poor road network, multimodal facilities, the dominance of foreign shipping companies, non-competitiveness of our ports compared to our West African neighbours, port inefficiency and congestion and other malpractices,” he said.
The Minister said over the next four years, it is imperative that the ministry, having identified these inhibitors, “works towards improving the navigability of our waters, engage the draught of our ports, achieve 24 hours cargo clearance and ensure adequate connectivity of our ports to hinterlands with efficient road and rail network creation.”
“We seek to introduce new business models that can ultimately develop our capabilities and ensure the continual dredging of our inland waterways,” he said.
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