NIGERIA: Breaking Barriers Limiting Access To $380bn Global Seaborne Trade

LNG Port Harcourt. Image: Helderline.

BY STEVE AGBOTA

Maritime transport is essential to the world’s economy as over 90 per cent of the world’s trade is carried by sea. It is, by far, the most cost-effective way to move en masse goods and raw materials around the world.

Apparently, all the import oriented nations across the globe, ferry their goods and raw materials by sea. In the third quarter of 2018, the global seaborne trade rose to 112 per cent, according to maritime sources.

Presently, the global seaborne trade estimated to be around $380 billion and it has been projected to rise to about $700 billion at the end of 2019, as export and import trade relations in the world is becoming extremely large.

As the global seaborne trade is increasing tremendously, unfortunately, Nigeria is not even listed among nations that actively participate in the global seaborne trade and this has been the situation for decades, since the decline of the first Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL).

Currently, Nigeria has no national fleet bearing its flag and all its cargoes are borne by foreign shipping lines. The country cannot claim to have a viable indigenous shipping fleet and this is a disappointing, considering that about 60 to 70 per cent of ship traffic to West and Central Africa are destined for Nigeria.

However, stakeholders said that for Nigeria to be an active player in the global seaborne trade, there is need to put everything in motion to ensure that there is as much local participation in it as possible and get more Nigerians into the global shipping business.

At a recent event, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, Mr Hassan Bello, hinted that Nigeria had tried but failed to enter into international shipping, not necessarily due to the huge capital investment required, but because of inability to compete with foreign operators who had list of incentives from their home governments.

According to him, the NNSL was established to boost the image of the country by promoting the Nigerian flag, and improving the country’s balance of payment, among other objectives. He said that the company operated at a loss due to the modernisation in ship type coupled with evolving technology in the late 80s and 90s.

It was recommended that private sector should control the shipping business instead of government, whose control would lead to monopoly, non-economic choice of ships and routes, interference and lack of capacity to compete.

According to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), over 90 per cent of world trade is borne by sea and the real time growth in world Gross Domestic Product in the last two decades is 73 per cent. Reports from these international agencies also tied global trade to shipping, emphasising that shipping was the lifeblood of the global economy.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimated that the operation of merchant ships contributed about $380 billion in freight rates within the global economy, equivalent to about five per cent of world trade.

According to ICS and UNCTAD, there were over 50,000 merchant ships trading internationally, transporting every kind of cargo and some of the vessels could cost up to $200 million to build.

For Nigeria to be actively involve in the seaborne trade, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency in 2017 set up the Cabotage Compliance Strategy to create room for more indigenous shipowners to trade in Nigeria’s territorial waters. The agency said in line with the new strategy, it would no longer grant permission for foreigners to take on jobs that Nigerians were qualified to handle aboard vessels trading in Nigeria.

Speaking with Daily Sun via telephone, Managing Director of Kamany Marine Services Limited, Charles Okorefe, said that Nigeria does not have its national fleet to move cargoes. He said not just owning a national fleet but the one that is functional and well funded.



He added: “Nigeria is an import oriented country and in spite of that only foreign vessels bring all the imports to Nigeria and that is not something that can grow the economy. So Nigeria should develop the act of carrying its cargo. Even the UNCTAD Code of Conduct 40:40:20, Nigeria is not benefiting from it because it does not own its own vessels and yet it does has a lot of cargoes to be imported.”

According to him, In that case, because of cost of vessels, things like the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF) have to be activated with government support so that Nigerian shipowners can buy newer vessels, which is part of the issues affecting the industry.

He further explained: “Then you also talk about Nigeria’s major export crude oil. But Nigeria does not own its own vessels to lift its own crude oil and that is because of trade terms. Nigeria sells its oil on Free On Board (FOB) instead of Cost Insurance and Freight (CIF) trade term. What that means is that, it is the buyer that lifts the vessel that does pick the cargo and since Nigeria does not have vessels, of course they will pick their own people to come and lift the crude oil. But if it is CIF, that means Nigeria has responsibilities of carrying her cargo to whichever destination.

“What does that also cost, Nigeria does not earn freight from the movement of its own crude oil and Nigeria has never earned $1 dollar freight since 1968 because it does not own vessels to lift its own crude oil. Imagine that a nation that have vessels that is carrying her own crude oil to various destinations around the world, then she will earn freight but now we do not earn freight from crude oil exports.”

He hinted that there are lot of things that needs to put in place. He said on Cabotage vessels, NIMASA is still granting waivers.



He opined that, “If waivers are removed and indigenous vessels are doing trading only on cabotage of course you know that what means. There are lot of things we can look at and considered in this situation.”

NIGERIA: Soldiers Assault Journalist At Port harcourt Airport

Image of the Nigerian soldiers assaulting a journalist via The Herald

PORT HARCOURT (THE HERALD, NIGERIA)--In spite of efforts to curb human rights abuses within Nigeria’s security forces, especially against Journalists in the country, the menace seems to be proving difficult to stamp out as some members of security forces prefer to remain immersed in the habit of brutalizing innocent members of the public.

The latest victim of assault is a journalist with the leadership newspaper Mr. Anayo Onukwugha who was severely assaulted by a soldier in the Nigerian Army.

The assault happened on Thursday at the entrance of the new main terminal of the Port Harcourt International Airport recently commissioned in Rivers State.

Mr. Onukwugha, had one to the airport at about 9.30am to cover the inauguration of the international wing of the airport by President Muhammadu, on Thursday when he was assaulted.

The soldier who did not wear a names tag hit Mr. Onukwugha several times with a stick as he ignored entreaties that his victim was a journalist assigned to cover the event of the day.

The Journalist who narrated his experience to newsmen at the scene immediately after h=it happened said he felt dehumanised by the action of the soldier,

“They (soldiers) were pushing back the crowd that came for the event and I identified myself to the soldier as a journalist. But that did not mean anything to him as he began to hit my legs with a stick.”

Asides being physically assaulted by the soldiers at the venue, Mr. Onukwugha alongside other journalists billed to cover the airport inauguration were denied access into the premises and were forced to leave eventually.

When approached for comments, one of the security agents in civilian clothing said the military unit was from Aso Rock and had been instructed not to allow journalists without Identification Tags into the venue.

Journalists from Daily Trust, The PUNCH, Daily Independent, New Telegraph and The Sun were among those turned back by the security agents, despite presenting a valid means of Identification.

What It’s Like Surviving In Nigeria’s City Of Soot

BY OLUWATOSIN ADESHOKAN

PORT HARCOURT (MOTHERBOARD)--Okachi Chukuigwe runs a small confectionery in Port Harcourt—the capital and largest city of Rivers State, Nigeria. Since she returned from Benue in November, she has had to take extra precaution in making the food she sells. Because there’s a layer of soot on every surface in the city, she has to wash her oven thoroughly and find creative ways to cover her baked goods as they cool.

But there’s lot more at stake than her business. “I have asthma, so I’m constantly irritated. My eyes are almost always itching and watery and my doctor has placed me on a seretide inhaler, replacing my ventolin inhaler,” Chukuigwe told me in an interview. “I have to wash my curtains and my floors very often while avoiding going outside as much as I can.”

Chukuigwe is one of an estimated two million residents of Port Harcourt. The city’s claim to fame is petroleum. It is the chief oil-refining city in Nigeria and has two main oil refineries and a few illegal refineries that process around 210,000 barrels of crude oil a day. However, in November of 2016, Port Harcourt residents woke up to find their city covered by a thick fog. But this thick fog is just one of the many environmental problems Port Harcourt has had over the years: The area has been plagued with oil spills, acid rain, and gas flares. Over the years, the people of Port Harcourt, from the late Ken Saro Wiwa to residents, have protested and demanded action on issues like oil spillage and gas flares.

The incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons from the refineries—legal and illegal—is a major source of the soot in the state. There has been no regulation specifically against flaring and the combustion devices used in refineries despite numerous studies done to show its impact on the environment and the amount of money lost in the process. Leaving this unchecked is fatal—worldwide, air pollution is the cause of 6.5 million premature deaths a year, according to the World Health Organization.

There are other causes too, including the petrochemical plants and the asphalt factories, according to Jennifer Uchendu, a sustainability analyst and the founder of Susty Vibes, a social enterprise in Nigeria. “Right now, wearing a nose mask may be the most low-hanging and basic protective thing to do, but you can avoid excess outdoor exposure, clean AC vents, fans that can gather up soot,” she said. “The particles are really tiny so you need to close doors and windows as much as possible.”


In February of 2017, the Federal Ministry of Environment declared the air pollution in Port Harcourt an Emergency Situation, ordering the temporary shutdown of an asphalt processing plant in the city after a protest there. A task force headed by the Rivers State Commissioner for Environment was also created to investigate and report on the cause of the soot, but to date, no report has been filed by the environmental commissioner. Despite the temporary shut down of the asphalt factory, the situation remained the same.

Residents are hoping the government will take charge and shut down illegal refineries, while setting new standards for how the remaining refineries will run to reduce the soot. But different arms of the government keep evading responsibility. In April, the state government said it couldn’t cut down a petrochemical plant because it’s within federal jurisdiction.

A second protest with a little over 350 people was organised on April 19, this time to demand that the state government sue the federal government over a lack of willingness to stop the city’s soot problem. The protest began from the Isaac Boro Park and the procession moved to the Government house, then the Department of Petroleum Resources and finally the State House of Assembly.. But the situation is getting worse. Hospitals in the city are reaching full capacity with the bulk of complaints and admissions centered around respiratory diseases. “I have had to switch my patients with asthma to seretide inhalers. But the volume of cases with asthma and respiratory distress keeps going up,” said a doctor in Port Harcourt, who did not wish to be named.






The Nigerian Medical Association state chairman Dr. Datonye Alasia confirmed public fear. “Black soot contains lead, a chemical substance which if inhaled could lead to heavy metal poisoning and other chronic respiratory diseases,” he said in a press conference. He encouraged Port Harcourt residents to protect themselves and children most especially by shutting windows and using face masks to limit contact with soot.

But as the soot gets worse, people are leaving Port Harcourt as experts warn of lung cancer and other respiratory diseases. Sandra Ezekwesili, broadcast journalist and community organiser, said she is upset because she does not smoke and takes care of her health, but might now be prone to lung cancer in the future. “I can’t run in the open anymore because I’m exposing myself to copious amounts of the soot,” she told me. “I have a friend who had an attack a couple of weeks ago that made me renew my outcry about this situation.”


Ezekwesili organised the two protests in Port Harcourt and started the #stopthesoothashtag on Twitter. She has used her radio show to bring the attention of listeners to the problems in her city and how they can protect themselves. And her efforts seem to be paying off: Officials from the World Health Organization and United Nations Environment Program are in Port Harcourt on a fact finding mission. Officials from both organisations visited government organisations and places affected by the soot. "It’s a great start, but we’ll keep the online campaign up and the team will organize more protests until the government is able to shut down the illegal refineries and repair the government-owned refineries so its emissions become soot free," she said.

"Knowing the government, this is hardly realistic, but we are here to keep trying."

Odi Massacre: Judge Renders Verdict

A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, on Tuesday, February 19, 2013 under Justice Lambo Akambi rendered judgement in favor of the Odi Community against the federal government in the amount of N37.6 billion for the invasion of Odi, 12 years ago by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration under the command of Col. Agbabiaka.

In the class action law suit filed by Prof. Kobona Kene Ebi Imananagha, Ndu Gbagha, Shedrack Agadah, Idoni Ingezi and Nwaka Echomgbe, Justice Akambi directed that payment be made within the next three weeks, describing the invasion as genocidal, brutish and reckless.

25 fake doctors uncovered in Rivers State

The Rivers State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) said it had uncovered 25 fake doctors operating in the state. Its Chairman, Dr Ibitroekeme Korubo, told newsmen in Port Harcourt on Friday that the fake doctors were detected by the association’s task force against quackery.

He said it was unfortunate that some persons would decide to operate as doctors without possessing the necessary qualification.

``It is really bad. We are talking about human life here; so it is worrisome that someone that is not qualified will want to venture into the profession. We have gone to the hospitals where they work, we have told their employers to produce them for necessary action,’’ he said.

------Daily Times Nigeria, February 8, 2013

Nigeria Update: A Nation of Empire and Anarchy Continues Apace

Twelve bodies have been recovered from a river in Ogun State where a mini bus plunged into the river.

In the troubled city of Potiskum, gunmen killed seven people today, Saturday, October 20, 2012, taking the death toll to at least 35 in a continuous three days of violence.

Another tragedy struck the University of Port Harcourt neighboring community of (R)Umuchakara Village in Choba when last night gunmen murdered in cold blood another student of the school, his girlfriend and an ex-National Youth Service Corps member. The three were on their way back from celebrating their friend's graduation from the Service Corps when the car they were driving ran into a shop in the village. Nobody was hurt at the time of the crash. But when arguments ensued when a group of men in SUV arrived the scene between the celebrant and his friends, the men in the SUV opened fire killing three on the spot. The gunmen remains at large.

The uncertainties surrounding the off-year governorship election in Ondo State, Saturday, October 20, 2012, has not been made clear though there's been reports of widespread scandals of troubling polls.

The saga continues!

Lawyer To Be Arraigned For Diverting Judgement Money Paid Out To Client

The immediate past Vice President of the Nigeria Bar Association, Barrister Blessing Emonena Ukiri, will today, Monday, October 15, 2012, arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission at the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for allegedly embezzling a total sum of thirty-five million naira paid by the Central Bank of Nigeria to a client.

Following a court order issued by Justice U.N. Agomoh of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt on Thursday, October 11, 2012, Ukiri was arrested at his D/Line, Port Harcourt office on Friday, October 12, 2012. Ukiri will be facing a three count charge of stealing, fraud and money laundering, for using judgement money paid by the Central Bank of Nigeria to his client, Samuel Onowighose.

According to statements released by Wilson Uwujaren, the Acting Head, Media & Publicity of the commission, Ukiri had used some of the money to purchase one hundred and fifty units of shares from First Bank of Nigeria.

UNIPORT Killings: Soldiers, Police Take over Omuokiri

Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi

By Ernest Chinwo, Adebiyi Adedapo and Chiemelie Ezeobi/This Day

Soldiers and policemen under the Joint Task Force have taken over security at Omuokiri Village of Aluu where four students of the University of Port Harcourt were killed by a mob last Friday.

This came as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Wednesday decried recent serial killings of about 46 students of the Federal Polytechnic in Mubi, Adamawa State, and four students of the University of Port-Harcourt by villagers of Aluu community, describing both incidents as evidence of total system collapse.

Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Abubakar, has condemned the gruesome murder of the four students from the University of Port Harcourt.

Villagers and residents of the community had fled the community on Tuesday when the students, led by the South-south and South-east zones of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), went on rampage in the community in protest against the murder of their colleagues.

No fewer than 12 houses and 30 cars were destroyed in the protest, which was later brought under control by the JTF.

When THISDAY visited the university and the community yesterday morning, students were seen leaving the campus in droves, following the closure of the university and the consequent directive for them to vacate their hostels immediately.

UNIPORT’s Deputy Registrar, Information and Communication, Dr. Williams Wodi, had said Tuesday night that the school had been closed indefinitely, pointing out that the decision was to forestall further breakdown of law and order due to the students’ unrest.

At Omuokiri, five persons who were seen near the spot where the four students were killed were yesterday arrested by security operatives who had been deployed to the town to maintain law and order. They were handcuffed and driven off in two patrol vans.

A truck load of mobile policemen (MOPOL) were seen near the scene of the killings, while about 50 other heavily armed men of the JTF, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Department of State Security and policemen were seen moving round the town.

Some of the security operatives were spotted retrieving some items suspected to have been used on the students before they died, including motor tyres, sticks and stones, at a place called ‘burrow pit’ in Umuokiri, probably for forensic analysis.

Non-security men seen in the community were only those whose houses and cars were burnt by the protesting students on Tuesday.

Meanwhile THISDAY observed that some of the students, especially those from outside Rivers State had taken refuge with friends at Choba, one of the host communities of the university.

NBA President, Okey Wali (SAN), said this yesterday at a press conference preceding the inauguration of the NBA working group on strategic planning. He also reiterated its support for the call for state police in the country, saying that the Nigerian police lacks adequate funding, training and intelligence gathering.

According to Wali, internal security was the biggest threats to national development, integration and progress of the nation.

He however disclosed that NBA was planning to organise a National Summit on Peace and Security in Nigeria, aimed at addressing the security challenges in the incessant security challenges rocking the country.

He stated further that the alarming state of insecurity in the country has led to a disregard for the sanctity of human life.

Wali urged security agencies to restore the confidence of Nigerians in their ability to protect lives and property of the citizenry.

“There is no disputing the fact that these show a total system failure, neither of this dastardly act took place in a time frame that the security agencies would not have arrived the scene and prevented the murders, if there had been timely intervention,” he said.

NBA charged the government should identify and prosecute the perpetrators of the inhuman acts and their collaborators to assuage the feelings of Nigerian’s. “Nothing short of the identification and prosecution of the Mubi and Allu Killers and collaborators will assuage the feelings of Nigerian’s,” he added. Abubakar pledged that the police would thoroughly investigate the matter and ensure that justice runs its full course.

Abubakar, who made this disclosure on arrival from Turkey to Lagos, however declined to reveal the actual number of persons that had been arrested in connection with the murder so far.

He said, “Even though I was not around then but I am aware of the situation and I was briefed on this even while in Turkey. We are on it and we have commenced investigation to the incident.

“The investigation would tell what exactly had happened, but I want to assure all Nigerians that we are doing our best to bring out the culprits of that very ugly incident.

UNESCO: Nigerian city of Port Harcourt named 2014 World Book Capital

Young boy and girl reading books in a street in Qazvin, Iran. Photo: UNESCO/Dominique Roger

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today (July 11, 2012) announced the selection of the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt as the 2014 World Book Capital.

“I extend my congratulations to the city of Port Harcourt for the quality of its proposed programme, which provides for extensive public participation and aims to develop reading for all,” said UNESCO’s Director-General, Irina Bokova, in a news release. “I wholeheartedly endorse the commitment of Port Harcourt to support literacy through the activities organized for the year.”

According to the agency, its selection committee chose Port Harcourt for the quality of the programme it presented. It focused on youth and the impact it will have on improving Nigeria’s culture of books, reading, writing and publishing to improve literacy rates.

The selection committee, which met last Thursday at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris, brings together associations in the book industry – the International Publishers Association, the International Booksellers Federation and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions – as well as representatives from the culture agency.

Each year, the committee bestows the title of World Book Capital to a city which has committed itself to promoting books and reading, and to highlight the vitality of literary creativity. The nomination does not imply any financial prize, but it is an exclusively symbolic acknowledgement of the best programme dedicated to books and reading, UNESCO said.

Port Harcourt is the 14th city to be designated World Book Capital following Madrid (2001), Alexandria (2002), New Delhi (2003), Antwerp (2004), Montreal (2005), Turin (2006), Bogotá (2007), Amsterdam (2008), Beirut (2009), Ljubljana (2010), Buenos Aires (2011), Yerevan (2012) and Bangkok (2013).