KEY POINTS
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Rivers seaports remain underutilised despite their economic potential.
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Fubara says reviving the ports will create jobs and reduce insecurity.
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Tinubu lifted Rivers’ emergency rule after a six-month political crisis.
Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara says calm has returned to the oil-rich state after months of political turbulence that drew emergency intervention from the presidency earlier this year.
Speaking with journalists at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday after meeting with President Bola Tinubu, Fubara said relations with his political benefactor and predecessor, Nyesom Wike, had stabilised. Wike now serves as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
“As far as I’m concerned, we have made peace. Fubara and his principal are working together,” the governor said.
Peace returns after political crisis
He explained that his visit to Tinubu was both a courtesy call and a chance to seek guidance following the expiration of the six-month emergency rule that suspended governance in Rivers. Tinubu had lifted the measures on September 17, restoring the offices of governor, deputy governor, and the House of Assembly after weeks of paralysis.
The Supreme Court had earlier warned that “there was no government in Rivers State,” pointing to the collapse of trust between loyalists of Fubara and Wike. The crisis threatened vital infrastructure, including oil pipelines, until the federal intervention.
Seaports seen as economic driver
Beyond politics, Fubara highlighted the need to unlock the state’s economic potential through its two seaports. Addressing a delegation of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in Port Harcourt, he described the Port Harcourt and Onne seaports as “underutilised assets” critical to job creation and industrial growth.
“Imagine if Onne Port was working at full capacity. The activities around Eleme, Tai, and nearby communities would transform the entire state’s economy,” he said. He noted that active seaports would cut logistics costs, attract industries, create jobs, and boost tax revenues.
The governor said his administration was committed to supporting NPA through security upgrades, including a new police station near the port precincts, and traffic management for haulage vehicles. He warned against land encroachment and urged the NPA to provide details for immediate government intervention.
On infrastructure, Fubara decried the poor state of federal access roads linking the ports, calling them a major impediment to growth. He assured that Rivers would partner with NPA to address drainage and flooding issues that disrupt operations.
Fubara linked insecurity to unemployment, stressing that reviving port activity would reduce youth restiveness. “Most of these societal issues stem from unemployment. If activities pick up at the ports, nobody will want to be a criminal when there are genuine opportunities to make a living,” he said.
Accoridng to Punch, NPA Chairman Senator Adeyeye Adedayo Clement, who led the delegation, pledged to work with the state to rehabilitate infrastructure and restore port activity. He said Nigeria’s coastal states are endowed with resources that could be harnessed as catalysts for growth.
