Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Dr. George Moghalu, is doing everything he can to ensure that river ports under construction are completed and become functional in earnest. Moghalu has continued with all ongoing viable and justifiable projects of the Agency especially those that conform to due process and the Act establishing the Agency.
The overall objective of NIWA is to transform the Inland Waterways; make them economically viable, safe, reliable and be an alternate transport system to ease the problem of transportation and movement of goods across the country. This places the Agency strategically in an important place, in the Nation’s polity. The Inland Waterways system is a critical component of the national freight system, particularly for movement of bulk commodities. He honestly runs with this vision, hoping that the only way Nigeria as a nation can address port congestion and infrastructure decay is to make its waterways functional. If the waterways are functional, over 60 to 70 per cent of the containers arriving at ports today will not go through our roads.Across the globe, bulk cargoes are either moved by water or rail. This decongests our roads which are not originally designed to carry the kind of pressure they carry. This is part of the goals which George Moghalu wishes to achieve as the man-in-charge of NIWA. He believes that, in view of the growing congestion in the transport system, especially the road system, there could be a diversification and development of critical infrastructures in the Waterways transportation system.
Early this year, NIWA licensed eight firms to commence trans-shipment of about 1,000 Twenty Equivalent Units (TEUs) from Lagos ports by Waterways to Onitsha port monthly.When the trans-shipment commences, it would reduce the volume of cargo transported on the road, and help in saving the nation’s road infrastructure that is not built to handle heavy consignments that it is currently subjected to.Also, recently, NIWA took delivery of a commercial barge in Onitsha, Anambra State. This probably will decongest the ports, especially when the country’s inland waterways become operational. This is one beautiful dream Moghalu is striving to achieve before the expiration of his tenure as the helmsman of NIWA.
Moghalu, who was a governorship hopeful in Anambra State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is equally committed to the movement of cargoes and passengers through the country’s waterways.Interestingly, at different times, Moghalu has assured stakeholders that the cost of movement of cargo by the waterways would be far cheaper compared to transportation by road. NIWA under Moghalu is making efforts to synergise with relevant agencies such as NPA, the navy, NIWA Police, NPF among others to ensure standards are not compromised in any way.After he assumed management of NIWA last year, the authority under his watch has built new jetties while it bought crafts in some other places. The Authority placed orders for dredgers, and has improved its sensitisation process to major stakeholders.
Under Moghalu’s watch, NIWA has successfully addressed navigational challenges and accidents bedevilling the nation’s waterways, after he assumed office as the MD of NIWA.The Agency also intends to deploy accident ambulances to its various area offices. Knowing that welfare of its staffers is important, NIWA prioritises the morale of its staff. There has been salary review, training and re-trainings, which are not limited to management staff alone.NIWA has always been holding meetings with all the concerned stakeholders, including the importers in the Eastern part of the country, the barge operators, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the concerned security agencies, the communities along the route from Lagos to the final destination, among others.With the unrelenting efforts Moghalu is putting into NIWA it is glaring that effective use of the waterways would tackle infrastructure decay in the country.
“Presently, I am doing everything I can in NIWA. For example, in 42 years, the Onitsha Port was designed and built, but the first commercial barge arrived under my administration”, he once said.
Olamide Adeniji is a member of the editorial board of TheScript Newspaper
