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Dredging the River Niger
After a
protracted delay, the Federal Government recently issued a directive to the
Transport Minister, Dr. Abiye Sekibo and the Managing Director of the National
Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Rabiu Abubakar, to commence a fresh process
for the dredging of the River Niger. The project which involves a total of
572km stretching from Warri in the heart of the oil-producing Niger Delta
region to Baro, near Abuja, had hitherto been estimated to cost N10 billion
during the regime of the former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar.
Financed by the defunct Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund, PTF, the project which
had already gulped a whopping N1.5 billion (paid to contractors as mobilisation
fee), was abandoned because the PTF allegedly failed to sign an execution
agreement with them. But the President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, while giving
the directive for the commencement of the project, also ordered the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to liaise with the NIWA to unravel the
circumstances which
surrounded the failed contract. He also asked the EFCC to prosecute those
found erring and recover all monies paid to the contractors.
Yet, the dredging of the River Niger has been a
thorny issue for a long time. While environmentalists argue that the dredging
project could be counter-productive, other marine operators aver that it would
facilitate the development of riverine communities and to boost commercial
activities between the northern and southern parts of the country as well as
generate employment in the areas. Even when marine experts had ascertained the
genuineness of the project, the people of the Niger Delta, under the umbrella
of Ijaw National Congress, had dragged the Federal Government to the Federal
High Court in Benin City seeking an injunction to prevent its commencement
unless the Environmental Impact Assessment, EIA, of the affected areas was
undertaken and released. But, according to the plans drawn by NIWA’s
surveyors, not all the stretches along the River Niger would be affected when
the dredging work commences. The areas that it would have much impact on,
according to them, are the sigma bonds said to be narrow and needed to be
expanded to provide the required width for at least two convoys of barges to
pass easily.
Indeed, the economic
benefits that would naturally accrue from making the River Niger more navigable
are numerous. As of now, there is very little, if any, economic activities
going on in the coastal communities. Effective functional waterways are
virtually non-existent. The dredging of the river will no doubt greatly
enhance the economic potential of these communities thereby curbing the
incessant restiveness among their youths. Most importantly, it will effectively
open up the East Coast of the Niger, perhaps Nigeria’s most vibrant
commercial zone and the one part of this country that is virtually indispensable
to establishing any meaningful industrial and technological base for our
national economy. In addition, a more navigable River Niger will help alleviate
the transportation component of the myriad of problems plaguing the Ajaokuta
Steel Complex.
In fact, sea transport
is most ideal and cost-effective for the heavy haulage which the steel industry
entails. The port city of Warri and its environs also stand to benefit
immensely from heightened commercial activities along the coast of the Niger.
This could also reduce the over-dependence on the petroleum industry which has
led to the unbridled tension in the area.
While we acknowledge
these obvious economic benefits, we are however wary on a number of scores.
First, we feel uncomfortable with the timing of the commencement of the
project. There is a lot of tension in the Niger Delta right now. This has
resulted in sporadic cases of violence that led to a great loss of lives and
properties that adversely affected the activities of the oil companies. All of
these have engendered a strong under-current of resentment which, if not
tactfully handled, could lead to chaos of unprecedented proportion in our
country. Second, the indigenes of this area are immediately concerned with more
fundamental infrastructural issues. For them, things that are basic to human
existence like running drinking water, basic health facilities, educational
opportunities for their children, gainful employment and adequate compensation
for the relentless denudation of their land and degradation of their
environment, would make a lot more sense than the dredging of the Niger river
at this point in time. In other words, given the multi-faceted economic
problems facing us as a nation today, we doubt if this project is really a
priority now.
From all indications, we
want to believe that this is yet another attempt to revive a pacifist project
which was abandoned (and is likely to be repeated) once its temporal placatory
aims are achieved. Our national landscape is replete with projects that have
been abandoned halfway with all the funds put into them. We fear that given the
prevailing circumstances, this might just turn out to be yet another drain-pipe
on the nation’s dwindling resources. Granted that due to its subjection
to scrutiny in the Due Process department of the Presidency, the project is now
estimated to cost N3 billion instead of the erstwhile N10 billion by the
defunct PTF, and in spite of the fact that the EIA has finally been produced,
the World Bank has decried the unprofitability of the exercise. If the Steel
Complex is a compelling argument in support of the project, we dare say that a
much cheaper means of alleviating the haulage problem would be to extend the
most proximal rail line to Ajaokuta and extend same to the coast - specifically
Onitsha, which ought to be the ideal site of the Steel Complex in the first
place.
If the Nigerian
experience is anything to go by, such jumbo contracts have a way of engendering
and attracting corruption of jumbo proportions. Given the spate of revelations
of unprecedented cases of fiscal brigandage in high places, like the N1.5bn
lost in the contract of this same project involving six dredging firms and four
banks, our discomfort over what may happen thereafter is well founded. However,
we urge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to get to the root of the
failed dredging contract to assuage the anxiety of Nigerians. Such huge amount
could go a long way in restoring the nation’s dilapidated infrastructure.
For now, the River Niger dredging is one project too many.
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