The minister of transportaion flanked by AMJON members

Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi recently hosted the executive of the Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON) in Abuja. In the course of discussions the minister spoke on what government is planning and doing on issues affecting maritime development in Nigeria; excerpts:

Piracy and other criminal acts continue to affect ships and crew on Nigerian waters. What is government doing to reduce this and its negative impact on the economy?

Piracy is a global menace, as a government were are very concerned. The Nigerian Navy and other security agencies as well as MDAs of government are working round the clock to arrest all criminal elements and restore normalcy. I also know that the president has approved a new security framework for the maritime sector and I will not be able to say much on it until we meet because for me it is only when the chairman inform us on their plans that we, as members of the committee will know.  I think we should leave it at that for now because if we go beyond that we will be revealing the architecture of the national security.

The economy is not how it should be and everybody is worried. Are you looking at the maritime industry as an industry which if better managed/harnessed could pull Nigeria out of her present economic pains?

Efforts are being made and the solution is not even in importing, because it is not as if anyone banned our vessels from traveling out and coming with goods into the country. The fact is that Nigeria’s economy is import dependent and so if there is downward trend in dollar demand then, the chances of importation will also be lower and the implication therefore will be that businesses both big and small will not be rising, it will rather be going down.  when you ask if I have any particular time frame when the economy will start to boom again, I will say that I am not a magician to know but I am confident that the economy will soon be out of the woods, the Federal Government is working towards the growth of the economy, the Federal Government has said that they are looking for money to pump into the economy so that people will have money to buy and sell. When there is more money in the economy, then business activities will increase.Government is doing everything it can to put money in the system. I will not be able to mention other parts of the country because I am not there, but in Abuja here as I was coming to work, I was surprised to see that work has resumed on the road that was abandoned for a long time, near NTA, the man who owned the company was not driving the Caterpillar, someone else was also driving the tipper. The ripple effect of this single work is that more people would be employed, that is part of the way in which we can grow the economy. Julius Berger is working on the airport road, even if you are flying, you will still take that road to enter Abuja that is what the Buhari government is doing to reflate the economy.

The governor of Cross Rivers State has been talking about the need to dredge the Calabar port, how long shall we continue to spend money on the dredging without any value added to the economy?

I don’t know if it is viable or not, let our professionals make that decision because that is why they are engaged by government. What I will advise, because I am aware that the state government is partnering with the private sector to develop what they called Bakassi deep sea port, as an alternative to Calabar port and that will bring development to the area. Let’s encourage the state government to develop the place and we should find solution to the dredging of the port, and government will decide what it wants to do with the place but I will advise along that line under my ministry.

 Your Ministry has shown a lot of interest in bringing the national carrier back to life since you assumed office, how soon are we going to see the ships?

I will tell you what is not gossip and what I think is gossiping. It is not a gossip that we attended a meeting with investors in Singapore and we signed a Memorandum of Understanding MOU, with them.  The foreign investors are ready. The problem is Nigerian investors. In that case, if you talk of Nigerian investors, we are talking about those who will bring in the money, I mean their own funds. Foreign investors have big vessels and the money, while Nigeria investors are yet to bring out their money. We need to buy vessels that can go to other countries for international and coastal trading. So we are waiting for the Nigerian investors and what is gossip is that the local investors went to banks and banks did not give them money. I asked them to write, when they put it in writing, then I can tell the country that banks did not give the investors’ money. Both parties have their obligations to provide their equity funding. 

Maritime safety and security remains a global challenge. What are you doing to ensure safety of ships and crew on Nigerian waters?

I have said it before that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a new security architecture for the maritime sector, and we are to meet next week. I will not go beyond that because if you tell a thief that you are coming to arrest him, you don’t expect him to remain there till you arrive.

 On rail transportation, there were controversies over a statement credited to President Buhari that General Electric (GE) of United States of America is coming to invest $2 billion in the Nigerian rail transport system, in a 25-year concession arrangement; but the US firm in a statement said it was investing $150 million only. Which is the correct position?

It is either you don’t read anything outside maritime stories or you are being mischievous because GE has come out with a statement, explicitly saying that they were misunderstood when they said that they are going to invest a hundred and fifty million dollars. They came forward to say that the hundred and fifty million dollars is their current investment in the Nigerian Railways. Going forward, they said they are in negotiation with a consortium and that the consortium will invest $2 billion. I said $2 billion, but they have stated that the consortium will invest more than $2 billion.

The ports access roads are in a deplorable condition, what is your Ministry doing to make sure that the roads leading to and from the seaports in Lagos are vehicles worthy?

 The Federal Ministry of Work is doing the roads, although NPA wanted to do them but somehow the Ministry of Works wants to do them. If work has not started, I am sure work will start soon.