It is time to think that unthinkable. Cotonou offers a readymade solution to Nigeria’s port congestion woes

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) Over the last few days, we have been debating the disastrous situation at Apapa port. Simply put, Apapa cannot deal with the amount of cargo coming into and going out of Nigeria. In addition, Apapa does not have the rail links to connect it to the rest of the country, which has resulted in the area becoming one of the most polluted ghettos on the planet. It is an environmental time-bomb waiting to explode, which will have disastrous consequences when it detonates

(2) Over the medium to long term, we need to expand Port Harcourt, Calabar, Ikot-Abasi and Warri ports. I would also do a few dramatic things like build a dedicated cocoa export terminal at Ayetoro in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State an agricultural export terminal in Burutu in Delta State and a dedicated shipyard in Dagema in Rivers State. All this is desperately needed to ease the congestion at Apapa and also generate the economies of other parts of the country

(3) Apapa Port can only handle 22,000 tonnes of Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) containers, giving it a maximum annual capacity of 1.5m TEUs compared with say the 3.3m TEU of Morocco’s Tanger Med Port. Nigeria’s annual consumption will be about 5m TEU, hence why a lot of our imports are diverted to Cotonou, Lomé and Tema in Ghana

(4) West Africa’s six largest ports are Abidjan, Lagos, Tema, Dakar, Lomé and Cotonou in that order. What makes them unique is that they are all natural harbours expanding them was not as expensive as say building a greenfield port along the coastline as happened in say Port Harcourt. Frederick Lugard built Port Harcourt from scratch but could not expand it to become as large as Lagos because it was not a natural harbour. It also failed to attract major international shipping lines as Apapa did

(5) Now, we all want to build more ports but we should realise what it entails. We should be prepared to go out and look for substantial foreign investment, get ready for extensive dredging, brace ourselves for the relocation of fishing villages, make sure we have plans for the construction of railway links to these facilities and above all, appreciate the fact that we are looking at a five year project at the very minimum. During the recent election campaign, Babajide Sanwoolu said he will resolve the Apapa gridlock within 60 days. He is just dreaming. Is he going to build a railway link or new port within 60 days of assuming office?

(6) There is a much quicker solution on offer to the problem of Apapa my people. Enter into negotiations with the Republic of Benin about merging our nations. Having the port of Cotonou as part of an expanded Nigeria would more of less halve our congestion woes overnight

(7) As we speak, about 80% of the cargo that arrives at Cotonou port is destined for either Nigeria or Niger Republic. I was at an event once where President Yaya Boni joked about Benin Republic being Nigeria’s 37th state. I really fail to see the justification for Nigeria and Benin Republic being separate nation states given that they are happy to merge with us

(8) Do you know that recently, the managing director of PTML terminal, Ascanio Russo, revealed that over 50% of the vehicles destined for Nigeria are now discharged in Cotonou port to avoid the high tariff imposed by Abuja. They are then smuggled over the border. Why create a black economy when you can have a legitimate one? Benin Republic and Nigeria share ethnic groups, produce the same crops and in their major cities like Cotonou and Port Novo, English is widely spoken because of the Nigerian influence

(9) I also like the fact that Benin Republic is a major cotton producer. Cotton exports account for about 80% of its foreign exchange earnings. Benin produces 660,000 bales of cotton a year and is the world’s 15th largest producer. In a merged nation, this could be the catalyst for Nigeria to revive her cotton dream which was abandoned the day Ahmadu Bello died

(10) Let us be prepared to think that unthinkable my people as drastic problems require drastic solutions. Why can’t both governments negotiate a merger and then put the package to the people in a referendum?

Ayo Akinfe