The modernisation of the Baro Inland Port was designed by the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) in 1995 has many components for full operation which included modern transportation system and dredging of the River Niger.
It was based on this design that the administration of the late President Musa Yar’Adua started the dredging of the River Niger and conceptualised the port to meet the modern design.
The port has been a subject of several political interpretations until former President Muhammadu Buhari came to continue the project and inaugurated the port’s administrative building and warehouse.
It was inaugurated on January 19, 2019 with the high expectation of the area turning into a melting point for economic activities in the north considering the assurance from the government.
The expectation has however been dashed as the port is rotting away since over four years it was inaugurated by Buhari while seeking a second term.
The opposition parties in 2019 raised the alarm that the port was hurriedly inaugurated for political reasons, claiming that what was on ground did not show that the port would start work as they made the people believe.
Similarly, in 2020, a year after the inauguration, a group agitating for the take-off of Baro Port decried the poor infrastructure and lack of preparedness for the full take-off of the port.
The group, Baro Port Rescue (BPR), powered by a non-governmental organiSation, The Blue Resolution Initiative (TBRI), in a press briefing then by the secretary-general, Ibrahim Ja’afar said the group had visited the Baro port and found out that the port was not ready even though it was commissioned.
He stated that after a tour that included twenty groups including civil society organisations, it was discovered that the Baro Port was in a deplorable state while the construction work on the road was abandoned.
The group claimed that “work is only at 30-40 percent level of completion; dredging is far from being completed.”
Jafa’aru said owners of infrastructure around the port were compensated or given the proper attention they deserve and communities around the port are still far away from feeling any impact of the port’s real situation from the government.
Also, in 2020, some of the stakeholders in the state, especially from Niger South where the Port is located converged on the ancient commercial Baro town to urge the federal government to complete the components for its full operation.
The senator representing Niger South then, Mohammed Bima Enagi said some of the components that needed to be completed by the federal government before it could become operational was the dredging of the River Niger from Warri to Jebba.
He said the economic prospects of the area could neither be fully utilised nor the operation of the port realistic if the roads linking Baro to other parts of the country were not rehabilitated or put in good shape.
He added that another component that would help the operation of Baro Port is the modernisation of the rail line, adding that such will help economic activities take agricultural products and solid minerals.
Consequently, he urged the federal government to fund the completion of the components with the Sovereign Wealth Fund considering the paucity of funds faced by the government and the importance of speedily and directly funding the components as listed.
Four years after, they expressed concern over the state and framework of the port stressing that it is becoming clear that the project is seemingly a waste of resources, proving the community, and opposition parties right and confirming the fears of other stakeholders.
LEADERSHIP Weekend observed that weed and thick trees have taken over the multi-billion naira project even as the surging river is gradually encroaching the banks towards the abandoned port’s administrative building and warehouse.
Investigations revealed that the port’s engineering works inaugurated in 2019 cost the federal government N3.5 billion excluding the dredging at the time it was inaugurated.
Further findings showed that there was no serious activity there since the day it was inaugurated.
On the sordid realisation of these, the members of the Baro communities and other stakeholders said this was contrary to the government’s promise that the port will be operational immediately after its inauguration.
An engineer who worked at the site but preferred anonymity told LEADERSHIP Weekend that “ Baro Inland Port was designed for land containers from Lagos via Lokoja to Baro with a lighter towing tugboat and barges by the river Niger but as of today, the commissioned port is empty and bushes have taken over.”
He stated further that though the project was commissioned without the requisite components, the port would have been a workable project if there was an access road and rail line to the area.
Apart from the infrastructural concern, the expert said, “We have discovered that no high international traffic will reach Baro Port as Murtala Bridge in Jamata and other existing bridges along the waterways from Warri will not permit such passages.”
The village head of Baro, Alh Salihu Ndanusa also expressed concern over the poor state of the roads saying that four years after the inauguration, there are no access roads that supposed to link the area to Katcha, Agaie, and Gulu to Abuja hence the viability of the port remains doubtful.
He said that apart from the general state of the inaugurated port, the access road is the major challenge to the possibility of the port which would have changed, to a great extent, the economic fortune of the people and the country.
A youth leader in the community and one-time member, Niger State House of Assembly, Hon Jibrin Akwanu said, “We were scammed. They commissioned it four years ago for political reasons during the campaign to win the election but after that, they abandoned it.
“As you can see, the building is waning and the staff quarters have been taken over by the construction workers working on the bridge from Bawagi to Kogi. This cannot work now because there is no access road and even the rail lines installed have been pilfered. So, it is sad that after spending billions of naira on the project, it is left to rot away.”
Akwanu who said he has followed the activities at the port until the time it was commissioned and abandoned, disclosed that “the rail plate from Baro was removed and they promised a standard gauge line unknown to us that they removed it to go and sell it.”
Another villager, Nuhu Ibrahim said, “You can see that another bridge is coming up between Bawagi linking another village in Kogi State that can also obstruct the real take-off of high traffic ship to Baro.
“The best way to compensate for the northcentral’s support for President Bola Tinubu is to ensure that he makes history by making the port operational.”
With Niger State considered as a cradle for the Federal Capital Territory, it is expected that the construction of a standard gauge from Abuja linking Minna to Baro, connecting the Kaduna line will go a long way to translate the potentials of the port for the growth of the nation’s economy.
Similarly, the construction of Baro-Katcha-Agaie road to join Bida-Lambata-Abuja axis will solve the problem of poor access road while re-dredging of the River Niger to Baro will signal a renewed hope for the people and the entire business community in the North and reduce pressure on Trunk A roads by articulated vehicles.
