revolt: Cos it would be cheaper to dredge oron or ibaka which right now is even deeper than lagos, and close to onitsha, than start trying to develop an inland route. by the way u hope you've seen what erosion did to the river niger on that axis

ngozievergreen:

I still don't get the insecurities of the yorubas abt the project.
If it were impossible, would they have started the dredging in the first instance?
If u think it won't materialize(I know u don't want ), then u shd be happy other than scared.

rafindo: Lol.it will be easy for the devil to convince me about making nigeria a good country,an island than buy this disoriented fiction.eastdiaz,chino,ngozi,kengali nd all other enthuastic easterners this proposal is likened to scotland independence blueprint full of assumptions.As lord chancellor would say this proposal/plan is full of ifs and maybes.feasilible studies should be done with comparative and constrastive analysis to ascertain the viability of the project in long run.i am still dreaming how an inland port would be viable than an ocean port,that must be a joke from the devil.GOD BLESS THE EAST.

revolt: bia ngo mmua bu nwafor.
my pessimism isn't based on the fact that it can't work but cost effectiveness in connection with present fg financial status and challenges, afterall onitsha trade was based solely on the viability of that port during precolonial periods.

bloggernaija:

We are not getting rid of any omo onile or agbero because they are the only ones letting those clannish expansionist know their place and remind them of where they actually are at the moment.
These guys simply conjure up all sorts of stories and lies.
They have gone as far as telling these lies overseas.
Yorubas are bad but the bulk of expatriates in nigeria are resident here.
Heck there are more foriegners in Ibadan alone than most regions put together.
Area boys may be evil, but they are a necessary evil for now.

On the port issue.
Gazetting a port is one thing.
Have the southeast leadership (when they are not busy ethnic baiting and stealing)done the heavy lifting of reaching out to those down river?
Especially that they are very wary of Igbo expansionist and imperialist tendencies.
They are known to have objected to this in the past.
daewoo is building a proper port in bayelsa but jonathan gave the Igbos a warehouse and 2 cranes.
And yes, they are happy with the warehouse and 2 cranes as long as their brothers are eating in Abuja.
Ondo and OGUN are building a oil and gas free trade zone (dangote refinery,petrochemical ,otudeko refinery and power plant are here already) and this includes a port.
Now the question which is

With
5 states
5 governors


Why is the SE incapable of doing the heavy lifting themselves?

The diplomacy
The design
The implementation
The strategy
Search for investor and partners .
etc

Fashola asked the same question to the think tank who did not see the irony of holding their meeting in Lagos .

The day this question is answered is the day they SE will be able to give the FG the finger,regardless of whom the president is ?
And that is the day nigeria will start developing.
At the present moment,
With half of the population elsewhere and having exported all the misery and poverty to other states, Igbo governors and politicians are simply have no responsibilities, are guns for hire for AGIP and are robbing their own people blind .

Peter obi alone must have donated a zillion cars this year alone.

ngozievergreen:
which one is fed govt financial status?
if they didn't do it when FG was buoyant, they shd be ready to do it when its broke.
This is sth that will generate revenue for them, so its actually an investment.
Its not like we are talking abt land reclamation or almajiri education projects.

KenGali:

Lols,
Your own problem is whether it is more viable than coastal port.
Our own problem is that it's is viable enough for us, kins, businesses and customers to gain economic benefit or comparative advantage.
The two are really different aims you know!

rafindo: .u talk has if am not an easterners.projects are not done base on sentiment,if not it will be a colossal waste of taxpayers money.i know u dont pay the real tax if not u would not be holding on to ifs and maybes.government should be able to create the enabling environment for private investor to explore.proudly njikoka for wound lickers to savor on.

Sam xiu lee: you really need to give this up,
Av you travelled the lenght and breath of the SW and SE?
If you have,are you comfortable with the level of poverty in the SW region?
Are you comfortable with the army of yoruba men playing Baba ijebu everyday?
I know you are aware of the stats transportation have in the GDP of Lagos state,please can you imagine the impact it will have on the state economy if we get rid of area boys who are agents of Olu omo and co?the price of food stuff will drop 20%,
Do you know the meaning of Afenifere?there is nothing wrong with Onitsha having a port that will compete with Lagos,its development,
The Us have new York,Los Angeles,Brazil have sao Paolo and Rio,Germany have Berlin,Hamburg,even SA have jo burg,cape town,why can't we have another great commercial city like lagos in Nigeria?

OPC.NAIRALAND:
Continue to use Lagos, and pay tax as necessary, or go and share port space with Okrikas in P'Harcourt.

OPC.NAIRALAND:
How can you build port in a river with shallow bed and filled with sand islands? - image 1

In order to build a port at Onitsha the river bed and banks need first to be dredged to give depth. This creates a trouble in upstream communities whose means of livelihood depend on marine life and as well irrigation for farming. - image 2

The dredging also will shift the rate of flow and capacity for downstream communities, who in addition to river traffic disrupting their creek settlements will see tidal impacts resulting in ecological changes and floods. - image 3

OPC.NAIRALAND:
Continue to use Lagos, and pay tax as necessary, or go and share port space with Okrikas in P'Harcourt.

KenGali:

You have technology, but you lack the patience to use it appropriately.
What is the distance between the sand islands you mentioned?
Have you ever visited the Niger? If you have you will know that the gap between them can pass more than two ocean going vessels at the same time.
It's like when we say River Niger, you equate it to your local stream. Better use your google map to find the width of the river before making comments.

All so even though the Niger has many delta if tributaries, there is a well worn path which has been dredged to a minimum of 2.5m draft. That's about all you need for decker badges.

OPC.NAIRALAND:


Those sand islands you see is what is above water level. They form a gradient on the bed and there is a portiin you dont see because its underwater and does not diminish the merits of my earlier statement that they are a risk. The width of the river in this case has no relevance since fully ladened ships coming in to berth at the dock will be more concerned about displacement rather than surface distance.

If you look in image 3, any fool can see that Aba or Imo river would be a better choice and less costly on the budget and ecology for a port locatiin than the further inland Onitsha.

Why nobody has considered the Imo river option beats my mind, but then we are not talking about smart city planners in urban centers of society inSW!

kettykin:

The death sentence over lagos has already been passed in many states and cities.

The Ibaka port is naturally the deepest shore line and a deep sea port in Ibaka will require no dredging and no silting, work in ibaka is in progress.
The calabar port which is the biggest and best built port in Nigeria is being dredged and rehabilated.
The warri port contract has been awarded and construction will finish in 2017.
The onne port in rivesr state will sit up and be competitive as soon as the other ports come in to operation.
[size=14pt]The new port in bayelsa which will be linked to onitsha by rail[/size]
The onitsha port which would be concessioned soon and will have goods shipped straight to the commercial city

The more than 25% of the gdp been controlled by the maritime sector and which lagos alone has monopoly of will now be shared by 6 new states leaving lagos with less than 5% and states like Akwa ibom, rivers, cross river, anambra, delta with a new source of Igr.

This would see a migration of skills, people, capital to new cities .
This would leave lagos with the detroit option, city filled with omonile, Area boys and babalojas but very minimal business transaction.
The newly constructed aladja to itakpe railway line will be utilised to move imports to Abuja, kaduna, kano via lokoja and from Onitsha goods can be ferried across enugu, and abuja9 via lokoja

OPC.NAIRALAND:


Those sand islands you see is what is above water level. They form a gradient on the bed and there is a portiin you dont see because its underwater and does not diminish the merits of my earlier statement that they are a risk. The width of the river in this case has no relevance since fully ladened ships coming in to berth at the dock will be more concerned about displacement rather than surface distance.

If you look in image 3, any fool can see that Aba or Imo river would be a better choice and less costly on the budget and ecology for a port locatiin than the further inland Onitsha.

Why nobody has considered the Imo river option beats my mind, but then we are not talking about smart city planners in urban centers of society inSW!

KenGali:
those are serving a different purpose. There is an economic or rather commercial hub around and about Onitsha. It is pretty big, infact companies like SCOA, were trading there before the war. There is a huge price advantage to be gained when we can deliver goods directly cheaply over water. It is also not just the price gain, but the possibility of recapturing from Lagos some of the markets it Onitsha use to serve, especially those around the North East and the Middle Belt. Onitsha still supplies the majority of goods for Benue and Adammawa axis

erico2k2:
What purpose are the ports at Sapele, Warri, PH serving if not wasting, bearing in mind that ship coming from America and the Eu would have to go past these three ports before it gets to Onitsha.

KenGali:
Tell that to the authorities managing the ports, why leave them idle while Lagos is congested. All it takes is government designating certain goods that must be cleared over there. Something OBJ made sure it did not happen when proposed.

Onitsha port is not really about FG, but a state Govt.s economic calculations. So you can not be comparing it with warri or PH. Ever heard of lobbying for your economic interest!