NIWA boss happy over containers arrival at Onitsha Port

Dr George Muoghalu, Managing Director, National Inland Waterways Agency (NIWA), has described the arrival of containers at Onitsha Port as a heart warming development.

He said that the containers arriving Onitsha Port was in line with the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to put to use the waterways across Nigeria.

Muoghalu made the remarks in a telephone interview with our reporter on Friday in Awka.

He explained that at the moment, containers which began to arrive at Onitsha Port on Sunday, Oct. 3, were coming from Onne Port, in Rivers State.

“Very soon, vessels will be carrying containers from Lagos Ports to Onitsha and by the grace of God, we are working on vessels bringing containers straight from foreign Ports to Onitsha,” he said.

It was also learnt that ships with containers last berthed at the Onitsha Port over three decades ago.

Onitsha, the commercial hub of Anambra, is renowned for trade and commerce in Nigeria and across West Africa.

Muoghalu said his agency was working assiduously to ensure that activities pick up at the Onitsha Port and other Ports, which past governments abandoned to decay.

He said that the Buhari government does not believe in praise singing, but was committed to policies and programmes that would uplift the living conditions of Nigerians.

“When we said on assumption of duty some months back that we would reactivate Onitsha Port, some people felt it was ferry tale, but today we have been vindicated,” Muoghalu said.