By: Felix Ikpotor
The Niger Delta, which constitutes more than 70 per cent of the Nigerian coastline, has enough human and logistics resources to lead the maritime industry.
This is because of over 68 years of oil exploration which has taken place mostly in the coastal states and within the waters, thus discovering many locally-made solutions for the associated maritime industry.
This was the position of the National Vice President of the Nigeria Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dr. Emi Membere-Otaji, at a seminar/maritime award event organised by the Energy Maritime Reporters (EMR) Corp in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.
He stated this after handing the Best Maritime Reporters Awards in Port Harcourt to the winners and after his firm, Elshcon Nigeria Limited bagged the industry award of the year.
One of such solutions, Membere-Otaji said, was the use of locally-made and manned flat-bottomed tugboats to move containers away from the Apapa Port in Lagos to other areas where trucks could pick them to ease the traffic gridlock at the nation’s sea ports.
Membere-Otaji said; “Since crude oil was commercially discovered in 1956, exported from Bonny Terminal in 1958, the likes of Wheat and Bush of old, many years ago, had been building these flat bottomed barges and tugboats, because those are the things they used in ferrying the oil and gas tools to the rigs.
“But then it was not offshore, it was mainly in the rivers and creeks. So, the flat bottomed barges can just avoid the gridlock.”
He said as part of solutions to the Apapa gridlock, “I went to NPA headquarters and made presentations on how to solve the gridlock. They accepted the idea, and thus used solution from the Niger Delta experience to solve a national emergency in terms of trucking and port congestion plus gridlock. Today, if you go there, Marina, you will see a lot of the
tug boats.
“There was no single flat-bottomed boat in Lagos. So, all of them came from Port Harcourt to Lagos. It takes about 14 days by the creek to move a tugboat from Port Court to Lagos, because of security and other challenges. We know its faster through the coast (ocean).”
Membere-Otaji who commended the Energy Maritime Reporters for taking the initiative to boost maritime reportage in the Niger Delta, said his foundation, Dr Emi Membere-Otaji Foundation, will continue to support the ‘Best Maritime Reporters Award.’
He also commended developments in the maritime sector in the region, such as the Charkin Maritime Academy and innovations there, and the marine engineering departments at the Rivers State University.
“I thought I would meet my friend Charles Wami (Charkin). What he has here in Port Harcourt is something commendable. There’s a lot happening there. If he had put the academy in some other locations outside the Niger Delta, they’d be reporting it every day.
“Also, the maritime engineering department (at Rivers State University), I think it’s one of the best and one of the oldest. I know this because I studied at the College of Science and Technology (CST) that gave birth to it as the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST) and now Rivers State University (RSU).”
He maintained that it would not be a surprise to find the RSU coming up with startling innovations as mentioned by the head of department (HOD), who is chairman of the seminar, Dr Daniel Tamunodokubipi, because it was first among higher institutions in Nigeria. “And they’ve consistently kept the pace.”
He added that his company, Elshcon, has for the past 10 years supported the award for the best graduating student in Marine Engineering in the RSU.
