Why We Lay Emphasis on Maintenance Dredging, by NIWA MD
MD OF NIWA, MOGHALU
*Plans to acquire own dredgers
By Francis Ugwoke
The Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Dr. George Moghalu has said that the agency is committed to regular dredging of the waterways for safe navigation.
Moghalu said the agency places emphasis on maintenance dredging as a follow-up to capital dredging because of the huge resources involved in the latter.
Speaking to newsmen last week he disclosed that the agency carried out capital dredging some years ago, adding that what NIWA has done since then has been to follow it up with maintenance dredging.
He explained that the drop in oil revenue has impacted negatively on the national economy as well as on certain capital projects.
Moghalu disclosed that to make maintenance dredging to be regular, cover as many as navigable waterways as possible, the agency would be acquiring its own dredgers.
He explained that this was necessary to be able to cope with the volume of work involved.
“I am among those who said that for capital dredging to last for the impact to be sincerely felt, it must be followed by maintenance dredging. And this is where our emphasis is now because when you talk about capital dredging, you are talking about billions of Naira.. So what we are doing now as an agency, because the resources that are available to government today were not as it used to be in the past. Time was in this country when oil was selling for $120 per barrel. And by the time Buhari administration came into office oil dropped to a point of less than $30 a barrel. These are realities of the moment. By 2020 – 21, Covid took over the whole world. It is not about Nigeria alone. So it affects the whole world.. me and you know also that the output in terms capacity, our oil production has dropped drastically because of insecurity to less than 40-50%.. Nigeria is a mono product economy.. Yes , emphasis is being made today by virtue of what government is doing to diversify our economy to lay emphasis on agriculture, solid minerals and what have you as another means of generating revenue. So with that a good chunk of what is going to the federal government is coming from the port and that is trade. So, once oil sector is affected we don’t control it as a nation. It is controlled outside this country. And once it is affected it rebounds to the economy, so the resources available to government is not as it used to be. So capital dredging is very expensive . So what we are doing now as an agency is laying emphasis on maintenance dredging and not just about maintenance dredging but in-house maintenance dredging. And that is why we are procuring our own dredgers because we have the manpower.
“We use the dredgers to open the channel that are blocked.
Nigeria has 10,000 km of waterways, only 3,600 km are navigable. We have set a task for ourselves to make sure that these 3,600 km are constantly dredged, expand as much as we can as if we can drive to 5000- 6000 km. But it has to be a gradual process because of the cost implication”.
Moghalu also added that his agency has been doing its best to clear water hyacinth on the waterways.
He said, “Water hyacinth is not a constant thing, It comes and I was made to understand that it comes from Benin Republic. It travels, because by the time you clear it this year, next year, the same place you cleared it , you will see water hyacinth growing, come down. So, it is something we are doing on a constant basis”.
By Francis Ugwoke
The Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Dr. George Moghalu has said that the agency is committed to regular dredging of the waterways for safe navigation.
Moghalu said the agency places emphasis on maintenance dredging as a follow-up to capital dredging because of the huge resources involved in the latter.
Speaking to newsmen last week he disclosed that the agency carried out capital dredging some years ago, adding that what NIWA has done since then has been to follow it up with maintenance dredging.
He explained that the drop in oil revenue has impacted negatively on the national economy as well as on certain capital projects.
Moghalu disclosed that to make maintenance dredging to be regular, cover as many as navigable waterways as possible, the agency would be acquiring its own dredgers.
He explained that this was necessary to be able to cope with the volume of work involved.
“I am among those who said that for capital dredging to last for the impact to be sincerely felt, it must be followed by maintenance dredging. And this is where our emphasis is now because when you talk about capital dredging, you are talking about billions of Naira.. So what we are doing now as an agency, because the resources that are available to government today were not as it used to be in the past. Time was in this country when oil was selling for $120 per barrel. And by the time Buhari administration came into office oil dropped to a point of less than $30 a barrel. These are realities of the moment. By 2020 – 21, Covid took over the whole world. It is not about Nigeria alone. So it affects the whole world.. me and you know also that the output in terms capacity, our oil production has dropped drastically because of insecurity to less than 40-50%.. Nigeria is a mono product economy.. Yes , emphasis is being made today by virtue of what government is doing to diversify our economy to lay emphasis on agriculture, solid minerals and what have you as another means of generating revenue. So with that a good chunk of what is going to the federal government is coming from the port and that is trade. So, once oil sector is affected we don’t control it as a nation. It is controlled outside this country. And once it is affected it rebounds to the economy, so the resources available to government is not as it used to be. So capital dredging is very expensive . So what we are doing now as an agency is laying emphasis on maintenance dredging and not just about maintenance dredging but in-house maintenance dredging. And that is why we are procuring our own dredgers because we have the manpower.
“We use the dredgers to open the channel that are blocked.
Nigeria has 10,000 km of waterways, only 3,600 km are navigable. We have set a task for ourselves to make sure that these 3,600 km are constantly dredged, expand as much as we can as if we can drive to 5000- 6000 km. But it has to be a gradual process because of the cost implication”.
Moghalu also added that his agency has been doing its best to clear water hyacinth on the waterways.
He said, “Water hyacinth is not a constant thing, It comes and I was made to understand that it comes from Benin Republic. It travels, because by the time you clear it this year, next year, the same place you cleared it , you will see water hyacinth growing, come down. So, it is something we are doing on a constant basis”.
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