By PAUL ORIE

DREDGING the Calabar port has flared a lot of controversies because some parties involved argue that the process of awarding the contract was fundamentally flawed. Some of the controversies relate to contravention of the bidding process whereby the bidders did not adhere strictly to due process. In some cases the manner of awarding the contract was not satisfactory to either the Bureau of Public Enterprises or the Nigerian Ports Authority. Also, those who control the levers of power were often accused of hijacking the process of the contract award and come out triumphant. For instance, the management of NPA had accused some of brazenly contravening the Public Procurement Act’s laid down rules. All these factors conspired to produce the ignoble start-and-stop syndrome in the award, reaward and execution of the Calabar port dredging.

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This was the proximate reason why the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority, Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman recently took a decisive action to terminate the contract of dredging the port. No one quarrels with the cancellation of the contracts, but what worries Nigerians is that no one is sure when the contract will be reawarded to a new and credible contractor, when he will deploy his men and materials to the site, commence work and complete it on schedule for the resumption of business in the Calabar port. The uncertainty surrounding the Calabar port dredging has given birth to endless grave doubts among business operators there including Terminal Operators who had since 2007 deployed huge sums of money to acquire modern facilities needed for cargo handling operations. They and other port stakeholders in the Calabar port environment had over the years been engulfed by disillusionment because of huge losses they continue to incur by the cascade of events in the elusive dredging of the port.

Indeed all business operators there remain nettled and port development halted. All port users in Calabar port and indeed Nigerians will inevitably contend with a port with low draught in addition to other Nigerian sea ports that have not been dredged to the depth being demanded by shipowners. This alone contributes enormously to the uncompetitiveness of the nation’s sea ports, a negation of cardinal objectives of port reforms. The disquieting experience of the dredging of Calabar port is the numerous odds against it, and unless they are dismantled, dredging it will remain a mirage. While serving as a senator, Professor Ben Ayade was obsessed by the non dredging of the Calabar Port. I recall when in November 2012, the senate committee on marine transport of which he was a member, visited the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority. He and the late Senator Pius Ewerihdo from Delta State, decried the neglect of Warri and Calabar ports as regards dredging of the two ports. Both senators also queried the rationale of the attempts to site a deep sea port in Badagry while Warri and Calabar ports have not been dredged. Professor Ayade and his late colleague were serious and vehement on this matter.

What baffles everyone today including investors in Calabar port environment, is the volte face by Professor Ayade when he became the Governor of Cross River State. Rather than sustaining his agitation for the dredging of the Calabar port, he conceived the idea of the Bakasi Deep sea port and vigorously worked for its approval by the Federal Executive Council, what a magnificent achievement! The elated Cross River State governor at a press briefing in Abuja, shortly after receiving the approval, profusely thanked Professor Yemi Osibanjo, the Vice President, Mallam Abba Kyari, the chief of staff to the president; Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Federal Government; Rotimi Amaechi, Transport Minister and Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman for their contributions towards the approval granted his government to go ahead with the establishment of the Bakassi deep sea port.

It is crystal clear from the foregoing that if the governor had devoted his time and energy to lobby the above personages to approve and ensure that the Calabar port was dredged on schedule, it would have been through without any hindrance. But his special interest in his pet project – Bakassi Deep seems to outweigh that of the existing Calabar port. Why did the governor jettison his interest in the dredging of the port. Why did he not lobby the same power holders to ensure that the port is dredged to the advertised draught of 9.8 metres in compliance with the tripartite agreement signed by NPA, BPE and the Terminal Operators. The governor could not have done that because his interest remains scant.

Since Professor Ben Ayade assumed duty as the governor of Cross River State, his dance step changed, dropping his sympathy and passion for the dreging of the port. First, he joined other Nigerians to argue that it is worthless pursuing this venture, because it has a draught that oscillates between four to ten metres at some points and at other points two metres. He was quoted as saying, “for you to dredge 97 kilometres from two metres to 14.5 metres to allow for bigger vessels, you definitely need the whole money on earth which is between $200m and $300m just for dredging which must be done often, thereby making it prohibitive in terms of capital and maintenance”.

This was his response to question on why resources are not deployed to fund the dredging of Calabar port. Former Managing Director of NPA, Engr. Omar Suleiman, presented similar argument, noting that the “the Calabar Port has a big problem: Anyone in the maritime industry understands that in NPA archives, the port of Calabar was not designed for Calabar, it was designed for Oron. Oron is on that paper until it went to the Military Council. It was the military council that cancelled Oron and put Calabar. It is 120 kilometres of high sea meandering channel. If you dredge it this month with $100m, in six months’ time you will need to dredge it again. That is the problem of Calabar port.

Both Professor Ayade and Engr. Omar Suleiman felt disgusted about the problem of Calabar port. Are these facts known to the Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of Transport? Why were investors especially the terminal operators invited to bid for the terminals and allowed to move in to operate? Will the government accept the reasons advanced by Ayade, the governor of Cross River State and former NPA boss and allow investments there to waste. Why did NPA management spend huge sums of money on bathymetric survey about a decade ago in Calabar port?

Can the nation afford shutting down Calabar port? Can other maritime nations elsewhere allow this? Definitely no, it will be a stupendous joke. The contention of Professor Ben Ayade and the erstwhile chief executive of NPA, that the huge amount needed to dredge the port is colossal, suggesting in the most subtle and oblique statements that the venture should be discarded, should not be acceptable to the Federal Government. Their stance is unhelpful to port development and national economy. The Federal Government should not be dismayed, it should continue with the project.

It is worth stressing that once the port is dredged to 9.8 metres being clamoured for by the anxious port users based on the tripartite agreement between NPA, BPE and the Terminal Operators, the economic returns will be tremendous. We are referring to a sea port, its importance to the national economy. The sea port anywhere, is a money spinner with its multiplier effects, beneficial to the government, the private sector and generating unprecedented employment.

The impressive performance of Lagos ports attest to this, notwithstanding the fact that they have not been dredged to satisfy the yearnings of shipowners. Today, no Nigerian sea port has been dredged above 15 metres unlike their counterparts in Lome, Abidjan, Teme ports that have been dredged to 17 metres.

The Calabar port should not be allowed to slide into further decay, the Federal Government should provide funds to the Nigerian Ports Authority to effect the dredging of the port and carry out regular maintenance dredging. The zeal of the young NPA boss, Hadiza Bala-Usman in ensuring that the port is dredged, is very assuring. The Federal Executive Council should without delay continue with its programme of dredging the port with renewed hope and vigour, provide copious funds to Nigerian Ports Authority. The Authority’s managing director will accomplish this assignment without qualms, she will not tolerate any wheelings and dealings that had afflicted the dredging contracts in the past. President Buhari should help halt the nightmare of Calabar port stagnation.