At the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. RENEWING INLAND WATERWAYS CAPABILITIES TO IMPACT ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. DELIVERED BY BOSS MUSTAPHA, At “10th Nigerian International Maritime Ports and Terminal Conference and Exhibition” (NIMPORT 2017) At the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. August 22nd - 24th, 2017.

INTRODUCTION In line with the theme of this year’s NIMPORT, which focuses on “Improving Connectivity, Enhancing Trade”. The role that the Inland Waterways can play in providing an alternative mode of transport in Nigeria for particularly haulage of heavy goods and containers became desirably imperative. The connectivity that the Inland Waterways can be made to improve includes: Road – Rail –Waterways; Rail – Waterways – Seaports; Waterways – Road – Rail – Seaports and vice-versa.

INTRO CONTD. To achieve the contribution of the Inland Waterways Transport sector in the total mobility and connectivity of multiple modes of transport for moving merchandise and items of trade will require: Development of necessary infrastructure for inland navigation; Development of Inland Ports and cargo handling systems; Diversion of trade flow from the dominant road mode to the Waterways mode; Improving the connectivity of the Inland ports with road and rail services.

RENEWING INLAND WATERWAYS CAPABILITIES. In order to renew the Inland Waterways Capability in Nigeria for a sustainable economic development as the title of this presentation suggests, this conference may need to remember that the first mode of transportation introduced and used in Nigeria by the British Colonialist was the Inland Waterways mode. It was the adventure of Mungo Park That led to the discovery of the River Niger.

Pre and Post Colonial Waterways in Nigeria. The discovery of the River Niger paved the way for the establishment of a river transport mode by the British traders, which later saw the activities of conglomerates like the Royal Niger Company, John Holt and the like. The Royal Niger Company was the source and medium for exploration, exploitation, colonization and subsequent development of modern-day commerce in Nigeria. Today the prominence of the Inland Waterways within the total transportation apparatus of Nigeria is re-emerging. It is therefore apparent that we re-focus our minds towards renewing the Inland Waterways capabilities for the purpose of impacting on the Economic development of Nigeria.

THE RESOURCE BASE OF THE NIGERIAN INLAND WATERWAYS. The Nigerian Inland Waterways system is such a vast sector whereby its right-of-way constitutes about 5% – 6% of the total land-space of Nigeria. It is constituted by about 10,300 km of Inland waterways network. Over 3,200 of these waterways are navigable all-year-round.

Waterways resources

INLAND WATERWAYS AND TRANSPPORT CONNECTIVITY. The Nigerian transportation system is largely dependent on the road mode for most haulage and passenger services. However the efficiency, reliability, convenience and cost- effectiveness associated with road transport in Nigeria has a lot to be desired. The marginal contribution of the rail and Inland waterways to haulage transport in the country has created over-usage and visible stress on the roads as depicted by the shortened life-span of most Nigerian road networks. It is therefore apparent that we must recreate a functional connectivity infrastructure, such that the Inland Waterways mode is made to interface with the road and rail modes to off-load some road trips onto these alternative modes (Road and Rail).

Inland Waterways Transport Connectivity.

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NEED TO IMPROVE NAVIGABILITY.

NIWA In-house Dredging commissioned.

Improved navigation along the waterways.

THE ONITSHA INLAND RIVER PORT .

ONITSHA PORT .

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Dredging the Ajaokuta – Onitsha channel.

WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT.

INVESTMENTS ON THE WATERFRONT.

CITING INDUSTRIES GUARANTEE PROFITS.

CONCLUSION Renewing Inland Waterways capabilities requires a lot of investment in both human and material resources for: Dredging the Waterways channels to improve the depth and allow for smooth Navigation. Operating efficient Inland Ports for Cargo handling. Creating operational policies to guarantee flow of cargo and human traffic along the waterways. Development of tourist attractions along the waterways and waterfronts. Citing of heavy industries to take advantage of cheat haulage system via the waterways. Providing functional connectivity with other modes of transport.

. THANKS FOR YOUR AUDIENCE.