master plan that will see to the dredging of Nigeria’s inland water ways
could not be achieved because some powerful interests are opposed to it,
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Yakubu Dogara, has said.
Speaking when he received the Managing Director of National Inland
Waterways Authority (NIWA) Senator Adeleke Olurunnimbe Mamora in his
office, Hon Dogara disclosed that in the last three years, he had taken up
the issue of implementation of the national transport master plan at
different times and at the highest levels with different people but his
efforts hit a brick wall.
At a point, according to him, he was told that the Chinese had handed down
a negative verdict on the project saying it was not feasible and useless.
Recalling how the national transport master plane was conceived by the
Olusegun Obasanjo administration, Hon Dogara said: “I was part of the
development of the national transportation master plan, I don’t know what
has happened to that, how I wish we implemented that plan, by now we would
have gone very far because the national transportation master plan vision
is a seamless integration of a multi modal transportation into one hub, and
I think at that time Baro in Niger State had been identified as the center
for the hub, it is serviced by a railway that is connected to Minna and all
you need to do is to construct a road and airport that will ensure
connectivity and you will have access to the Atlantic Ocean through the
River Niger, so everything was supposed to be put together in one place.”
“I am aware that some people in the sector are of the opinion that we do
not need the inland waterways transportation in this country. I have had
discussions with some of them, like I said I have been advocate of this for
long, and they said that the Chinese said it is useless, even if we develop
it. But that’s the irony, if you look at other countries who do not even
have this potential for inland waterways transportation, they have even
done man-made inland waterways and even lakes, they have created artificial
ones. While in this country, having been blessed with this wonderful
resources by Mother Nature, by God we tend to look the other way and
believe they will not serve any useful purpose.”
“There are some people within the sector who do not want some of these
initiatives to see the light of day. But because I’ve converted my self so
if they are fighting against you, they are fighting against me, and it
would be very difficult for them to succeed because of the good will that
propels us,” the Speaker further assured the NIWA delegation.
He also highlighted some of the values that can be generated from inland
waterways transportation saying, “imagine the millions of metric tonnes of
goods that would be lifted off our highways and put on the berth of ships
that would ply these inland waterways. That would mean our roads can last
50 years as it is in other climes. That would also translate into safety on
our highways as well.”
The Speaker said it was in realization of the importance of the sector that
the House passed the NIWA amendment Bill which repealed moribund laws
governing the agency’s activities to enable it achieve its mandate which is
now awaiting concurrence by the Senate.
For his part, Senator Mamora commended the Speaker for how he has been
able to manage the House of Representatives and said he was in the
Speaker’s office to solicit his support and that of the House of
Representatives because the legislature provides the ways and means for
good governance and the passage of the NIWA amendment bill.