Nigeria Content Online

President Goodluck
Jonathan has directed the Ministries of Transport, Commerce, and
Petroleum Resources and their parastatals to ensure that all goods
imported into the country are discharged at designated terminals of the
Nigeria Ports Authority.

While on inspection
of Oil and Gas Free Zone, Onne and inauguration of port facilities at
Onne Port Complex, Rivers State, Mr. Jonathan warned that government
will no longer condone the flouting of the directive, adding that
imported goods should not be discharged at private jetties.

Mr. Jonathan, who
was on his first working visit since he assumed office as President,
said the new facilities at the port show that Nigeria is growing and
commended Governor Rotimi Amaechi of River State for providing the
enabling opportunities and the partnership in the success story as well
as the concerted effort between government and Public Private
Partnership (PPP).

The President said
such efforts is yielding the desired results and the partners have
shown genuine sense of purpose as government will continue to work with
them, disclosing that the Oil and Gas Free Zone in Onne is the largest
in the world dedicated to gas and oil and it will provide jobs to Niger
Delta youth thereby creating wealth as well as curbing restiveness.

He explained that
such facilities will create drive for foreign investment into Nigeria
to make it one of the leading economies in the world while commending
the joint efforts between the Nigerian Ports Authority and Intel in
creating the new facilities at the port to boost maritime operations.

Enabling environment

Yusuf Suleiman, the
Minister of Transport revealed that the policy behind the joint project
is intended to reduce government’s role by creating an enabling
environment for private sector to grow thereby enabling government to
apply funds in other sectors, saying that the project will be useful in
ports operations as every party had lived to the terms of agreement.

Mr. Suleiman
observed that facilities at the port could compete with those in any
part of the world, adding that government will partner with other
agencies to check unhealthy practices at Nigerian ports while it has
established specialized ports at Onne, Warri and Calabar to handle oil
and gas operation and asked people to transact their business within
any of the terminals.

The minister added that with the new facilities at the port, 4,000
jobs have been created while 140 foreign companies operating there will
empower the people, and generate wealth, saying that facilities at the
Onne port are the largest of its kind in the world that meet the needs
of maritime operations and asked indigenous operators to engage local
ship yards.