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Palm Kernel Shell
SINCE he became the Governor of Delta State a little over a yearago, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has been thinking of nothing otherthan how to transform the economy of the state, which wasshattered by Warri crisis and crippled by militants. Delta Stateowns the largest concentration of sea ports in the country, locatedin Warri, Koko, Sapele and Burutu, and it also has the longestshoreline. But, at the moment, the Burutu port has been privatized by theFederal Government; the Nigerian Navy took over the Sapele portyears ago and converted it to a School of Engineering even asSapele people bemoaned the plummeting of the once flourishingmunicipality to a “rural community. However, "the House of Representatives may have come totheir rescue with the recent motion it passed, ordering the Navy torelocate the school to the neighbouring Oghara, the country home of the former governor, Chief James Ibori so that the concertedeffort to jumpstart the economy of the area once again will gathersteam. At Koko, the people know that they used to have a port inthe town, but, what they cannot say with exactitude is whether itis dead or still alive. Economic experts believe that one of the major catalysts to therecovery of the weather-beaten economy of the state is theresuscitation of the various seaports, particularly the Warri port,which has recorded a lull following its abandonment by importersand investors at large that fled the state as a result of the twincrises. Uduaghan knows this and as he remembers with nostalgia thebooming business at the various ports in the 70s and 80s and rippleeffects it had on the life and finances of the people. That was the time the Delta ports were beehives of activities,ships laden with assorted goods came in droves while hotels andnight clubs blossomed; importers, exporters, transporters, tradersmoved freely, and people went about without fear of beingkidnapped by militants. The governor rises up every morning, not with the thoughts of how workers salaries would be paid alone,but also how the state can be restored back to its former glory. With his three-point agenda of peace and security, infrastructuraldevelopment and human capital development in view, he held abrainstorming meeting with the key players in the oil industry,some few months ago, in Warri, to re-assure them on the stategovernments preparedness to provide security for them while theydo their business in the state. They believed him because they saw how he was able to restore asense of sanity to the state through the Delta Waterways SecurityCommittee, his colossal support to the Joint Task Force (JTF) onthe Niger-Delta and his empowerment of the Delta State OilProducing Development Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), asa vehicle to develop the oil communities and curtail their surge onthe oil companies. Managing director, Western Division of theSPDC, Mr. Cor Zegelar, who spoke the mind of the investors, saidthey were ready to remain in the state with Uduaghan as the chiefpilot. But the havoc that was wreaked on the economy of the state cannotbe fixed overnight. Even though, investors, for instance, are readyto return, as they promised Uduaghan, it would not be easy forthem to stop importing their equipment and goods through the Lagosand Apapa ports, which have become their first choice overnight,and switch over to Warri port and other ports in the state.Besides, there is the problem of the Escravos Bar, which must bedredged before big vessels can come to the Warri port again. Not only that, the break waters constructed by the colonialgovernment had given way and required to be created again and thereare also some security threats, including the hurdle posed by thelocal pilots. Convincing investors The questions that arose are legion: How do we bring the ports backto life? How do we convince investors that Delta state is thepreferred destination? How do we persuade Onitsha traders acrossthe Niger and the oil companies that import their goods andequipment through the Lagos and Apapa ports that the oil city ofWarri is safe to do business? If the Onitsha trader imports hisgoods through Warri, Sapele or Koko ports, how does he transportthem to the east? Are the roads in Delta good enough for acomfortable trip to their destination or it will be the same headache the Lagos-Ore-Benin expressway poses to them? What of the security agents: Police, customs, immigration that disturb the traders? What about the high tariffs charged by the operators of the ports?Who dredges the Escravos Bar and how soon? How about themilitants, will they not resume attacks again and the area boysthat waylay traders on the road to ask for “deve”(settlement)? Posers upon posers. It dawned on Uduaghan early in his administration that the state government had to partner with the Nigeria Ports Authority if his dream ships bringing in an assortment of imports, such asindustrial machinery equipment, plants, chemicals, flour, frozenfish and industrial raw materials, and ships beginning to loadcocoa, timber, rubber, palm kernel, coffee, etc as export cargoesin Delta ports should translate to reality. This synergy wasestablished, last year, and apparently resulted in the Ports Consultative Council (PCC), the highest advisory body in Nigerias maritime industry, holding its quarterly meeting and maritimesummit for the first time in Delta State for two days, Wednesday,June 4 to Thursday, June 5. The chairman of the PCC, Dr. W.A.Kareem, commended Uduaghan for the exploit. Managing director of the NPA, Mallam AbdulSalam Mohammed, noted with delight the effort of the Uduaghan government“to provide comfort for shipping”, saying,“Nigeria Ports Authority and the Delta State Government haveworked closely together at the highest level towards ensuringgreater patronage of Delta ports and the governor has reiteratedthe commitment of his administration to create the enablingenvironment for greater development of the ports. The hosting of the Ports Consultative Council meeting serves to confirm the focusand commitment of the government to see its efforts tofruition.” From the NPA itself where all the managers of the different portsin the country were present, the Nigerian Maritime Administrationand Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), NigerianShippers Council (NSC), Nigerian Associaiton of Chambers ofCommerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA),Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), shipping companiesand agents, freight forwarding companies and agents, port terminaloperators, Central Bank of Nigeria, Standards Organization ofNigeria (SON), Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), NigeriaImmigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Port Police Command, Ministriesof Transport, Finance, Trade and Commerce delegates at the meeting, it was clear that the stakeholders were complete to dojustice to the theme of the maritime summit, which was aptlytagged, Delta Ports: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. The general manager, eastern zone of the NPA, Mr. Sotonye Etomi delivered an enlivening paper entitled, Ports as a resource forrapid socio-economic transformation and development of DeltaState. Managing director of Green View Development Limited,Captain Olugbenga Abidoye, spoke on the “Challenges ofrevitalizing Delta Ports for efficient service delivery to thePorts Users” and the former Acting Comptroller General of Customs, Mr. Tayo Ogungbemite, talked on “Trade Facilitationand the roles of the Nigerian Customs”. Director, Cabotage,Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr.Ambrose Igbecha, delivered a paper on “CabotageImplementation in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects”.“Port infrastructural development as investment opportunity for financial institutions” was a fashionable paper at themeeting by the managing director of the Oceanic Bank Plc, Chief(Mrs.) Cecelia who was represented. The bank listed the areas of public-private partnership in portinfrastructure investment such as terminal for cargo and container terminal, usually funded by the World Bank, but for port equipment, packaging plants in the production zones,transportation of shipment parts and employment creation, it saidit was ready to bring out the money, supported by equitycontribution, as long at the processes are made clear to the bankand it was assured that the money would be paid between 50 and 80years. Uduaghan who was the chief host sat down patiently like a studentwith his pen and jotter to listen to the resource persons and took down notes on what his government should do to put the Warri ports back on its feet whenever the speakers made vital points. Hecommended the speakers for enumerating the various problems thathave been militating against the optimal utilization of the ports, which he summarized as silting that has made entry, especially asthe Madangho end to the Warri port, slightly difficult at a placethat is popularly called the Escravos Bar, the Escravosbreakwaters done by expatriates and almost extinct today, threatsalong the channel and “very sadly, the problems we haveencountered with local pilots. The governor, on the other hand,said, “I believe that the most advertised and the greatestchallenge that we have in the utilization of our ports is the issue of security.” Apparently drawing from his findings during his recent trip abroadto market the investment potentials of the state in the oil andgas sector, he said, “For any investor you talk to, askinghim to come and invest in Nigeria, he will first exclaim,Nigeria! Not to talk of if you say come and invest in Warri orpart of the Niger-Delta. Security is still a very big issue andfor us as a state government and indeed, the other stategovernments of the Niger-Delta, we have taken the issue ofsecurity very seriously. “In looking at the security issues,I will start by looking at the overall challenges in theNiger-Delta - why do we actually have these security issues. The challenges include but not exhaustively the problem of environmental degradation and pollution, the problem of high unemployment, the problem of poverty and the problem of underrepresentation. All these have led to agitations, restiveness andto criminal activities, which include kidnapping, destruction ofoil pipelines, etc”, he said. Uduaghan explained that theproblems could be solved through a co-operation frameworkinvolving the Federal Government, state government, localgovernment, investors, operators and the host communities. What government is doing? He said that a lot is being done by the Federal Government to bring about peace in the Niger-Delta and one of the ways was its strengthening of the NDDC, which has come out with a master planfor the development of the region. He asserted that the FederalGovernment has equally created opportunity to dialogue with someof the youths in addition to the enforcement of peace through theJoint Task Force (JTF) on the Niger-Delta. “For us as a state government”, the governor said,“We have our strategies and our strategies are ourthree-point agenda of peace and security, infrastructuraldevelopment and, of course, human capital development.” Thestate government, he said, had approved the establishment of the Delta State School of Maritime Technology, which would be locatedin Burutu and a consultant was already working on the temporarysite while the government is looking at the permanent site. On infrastructural development, he said the state government wasusing the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), whose primary aim is to provide the oil producingcommunities with the basic amenities of life, such as electricity,water, education and good health, pointing out 50 per cent of the13 per cent derivation funds accruing to the state is set asidefor the commission, headed by a community leader from the riverinearea. He also said that the state government has proposed the setting upof the Delta State Integrated Development Agency (DIDA) and theBill for its establishment is before the House of Assembly.Essentially, the body is to develop infrastructures that willtransport investment to the state in the areas of transportation,power, urbanization, etc. Having identified the ports as onestrategic area the state government is anxious to revive and useas a logistic support for investors, he said the problems werebeing tackled and that through the working committee of the stategovernment and the NPA, the dredging of the Escravos Bar and thereconstruction of the breakwaters would soon be a thing of thepast, as the NPA has put some money in the budget to silt the entry points. Uduaghan said information at his disposal was thatcontractors were already positioning themselves for the contract but he was quick to appeal that people from the area should be involved in it. He said the state government had been intervening on the problemsbetween the local pilots and the NPA and would do everything tobroker peace to ensure that the maritime industry does not go below the standard that is recognized anywhere in the world. Hesaid it was disheartening to hear that Delta ports are beingflagged red in international reports in spite of all the effortsthe government was putting. He therefore appealed to the localpilots that they would not be shortchanged but whatever they wantto do should be done according to the laid down rules by theFederal Government. Tapping into the Onitsha market, Uduaghan showed he has a clearfocus of where he wants to take the state to when he revealed hisgovernment’s plan to make the traders in Onitsha to startimporting their goods through Warri, Sapele or Koko ports in duecourse, instead of Lagos port, saying Onitsha is a very big marketand the state government wants to take advantage of it.He invitedthe president of the Anambra State Amalgamated Traders Association, Mr. Sylvester Odife, who came to Warri with some othertop officials of the body. He told the Onitsha traders that they would not regret using any ofthe ports in the state for the importation of their goods, saying,“We know you do have problems with some of the securityagencies: Customs, police and all that, either in the port or onthe road, we dey talk to them, they are our brothers.” Ontransportation of goods from Warri port in particular to Onitsha,he said he was happy that the Federal Government was alreadydualizing the east-west (Warri-Port-Harcourt) highway, adding thatsince the road passes through Ughelli, the state government waslooking at the possibility of dualizing Ughelli-Asaba Road, eventhough it is a federal road. Dualized expressway The idea is for the traders to travel on dualized expressway from Warri to Onitsha. Sunday Vanguard has it on good authority that thestate government is, in fact, waiting for its next share of theexcess crude oil fund to commence the dualization of theUghelli-Asaba Road. The project had already been approved by theState Executive Council and it may also seek financial supportfrom Oceanic Bank. Besides, Uduaghan said his government was making plans to dualizethe Ugbenu to Koko Road for the investors and traders who decideto use the Koko port to travel on a dualized expressway from Kokoto Onitsha, either via Benin or Warri. He added: “But if youwant it faster, we are constructing an airport in Asaba, a cargoport provision sort will be there and you can air-freight yourgoods straight to Asaba and within a few minutes into Onitsha. In fact, if you dont want the goods to enter Onitsha straightawaytoday, Nna, Chineke, your money is talking, we are also planningwarehouses around Asaba, where you can keep the goods safely andwhile waiting in Asaba, if you want to chop your ego (money), weare very good hosts, we are putting up very good hotels, you knowwe already have very good hotels like Grand Hotel.” The governor also stated that his administration was seriouslypursing the Free Trade Zone and had already applied for Koko FreeTrade Zone while pursuing the one for Warri to ensure increasedactivities. For the state to get ready for the anticipated upsurgein business, he said that the government was dualizing the roadfrom Ugbenu, along the Benin Warri expressway to Koko so that evenif you bring your goods through the Koko port, you are going to behooked on a dualized road, straight onto the Benin-Warri highwayand if you want to take from there to Onitsha, it is easy as youget to the bypass in Benin City and head straight to Onitshamarket. He said the more serious one for the state government is taking advantage of the deep shoreline in the state, which is over 26 kilometers by establishing a Deep Sea Port that will act as aregional cargo receiving centre for larger vessels. Such a portwould be one of the biggest in the continent and also a serve as atransit point for multi-port distribution along the west coastlineof West Africa with specialized port services that will reducethe freight rates due to bulk cargo handling. He said that the road that would service the port is already being constructed at a cost of over N95 billion. It takes off from Warri, through Omadino and the Gbaramatu axis to Escravos. The firstphase, he said, had been at Omadino and the NDDC, which ispartnering with the state government, would be awarding the secondphase of the road project in the next few days. Uduaghan told the stakeholders that the state government wasalso discussing with the Federal Government to complete theAjaokuta-Aladja railway line, saying that if the rail line stopssomewhere at Agharho and if it does not do so, as a state, webelieve we can mobilize some funds to be able to complete it.Security for the investors, particularly the oil companies andother big-time investors, he said they have to help government tohelp them. His words, “For us to have peace and security in the area(Niger-Delta), for us to make sure that investors coming in arenot disturbed, there are two issues. One, we appeal that youroperations should conform with the necessary safety, health andenvironmental standards so that our environment are not pollutedbecause when our environment are polluted, it gets the communitiesvery angry and I can tell you that it is one of the reasons wehave community disturbances. So, please, ensure your operations have to meet this minimum standard.. “Secondly, you are worried about the security of yourpersonnel, all investors are worried about the security of theirpersonnel but our simple solution to this is your policies must bein such a way that they are community-friendly.” He,however, said that everybody, from the Federal Government, state government, investors and the communities, have to do their partfor there to be development and security in the Niger-Delta,adding, “If you expect that I (government) will be the onlyone that will work towards peace and you bring up policies thatare not community-friendly, then we will continue to haveproblems. So my appeal to the companies working in this area is tore-examine their operational policies, employment and contractawards so that the host communities will be better positioned toensure safe operations for the companies.” Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Omah Djebah, ajournalist of repute, told Sunday Vanguard that since he joined theUduaghan government, he is beginning to see the man more as theBiblical Joseph who interpreted dreams. He said, “GovernorUduaghan is a visionary, he has a comprehensible inspiration ofwhere he wants to take Delta state to in the next few years withhis three-point agenda and is pursuing it with ‘I can doit’ spirit. It is like a bug that has caught up with some of us, hiscommissioners and aides, to make the impossible to be possible inDelta State with God as our Battleaxe and Chief Builder. Presidentof the Anambra Amalgamated Traders Association, told newsmen afterlistening to Uduaghan that from what he said, the governor knowsour fears, adding that once those fears were addressed, Onitshatraders would relocate, so to speak, from Lagos to Delta State andmake the state, beyond doubt, the favorite investment destination for any sagacious investor.

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Evening Formal Wear Here's a rundown on dress codes for some of the most popular cruiselines, courtesy of CruiseCompete.com: CARNIVAL CRUISES "Formal dress or resort wear is required in the dining room," saysCruiseCompete.com. "Proper formal attire includes a tuxedo, suitand tie, or sport coat, tie and slacks. For women, evening gowns,cocktail dresses and pantsuits are appropriate. "Casual resort wear includes sport shirts and slacks, skirts andpantsuits. Shorts, T-shirts and bathing attire are not permitted inthe dining room during dinner. For those guests who do not want todress up, the Lido restaurants have a more casual dress code." PRINCESS CRUISES "During 'smart casual' dining evenings, guests should dress as theywould for a fine restaurant at home. This includes pants andopen-neck shirts for men, and skirts or dresses, slacks andsweaters for ladies. T-shirts, shorts, halter tops and jeans arenot permitted in the dining room and shoes must be worn at alltimes. Formal evenings in the dining room require a tuxedo, slackswith dinner jacket, or suit for men. Women should wear eveninggowns and cocktail dresses." HOLLAND AMERICA "Comfortable, relaxed clothing is appropriate for designated'casual' evenings. This includes jackets and optional ties for men,and dresses or pantsuits for women. T-shirts, swimsuits, tank topsand shorts are not allowed in the dining room, Pinnacle Grill, LidoRestaurant or public areas during evening hours. Swimwear issuitable for dining at the Terrance Grill near the pool. On formalevenings, suits and tuxedos are suggested for men; women wearcocktail dresses and gowns." CRYSTAL CRUISES "The Crystal dress code applies to all public areas of the shipafter 6 p.m. Proper attire for formal evenings includes dresses andgowns of fashionable length for ladies, and a tuxedo, dinner jacketor dark suit and tie for gentlemen. Infomal attire is appropriatefor most nights on board the ship. For ladies, evening dresses,cocktail dresses or pantsuits are fine. Men should wear sport coatsand slacks, with ties optional. Casual nights are based on days inport and the time of departure. On casual evenings, more relaxedattire is appropriate, including casual dresses and pantsuits forwomen, sport shirts and slacks for men. Jackets and ties are notrequired." CELEBRITY CRUISES "Formal night attire includes a tuxedo, dinner or dark suit for menand evening gown or fancy dress for ladies. Informal nights featurea jacket and tie with slacks for guys and informal dress or pantsand blouse for ladies. Gentlemen are welcome to wear a sport shirtand slacks, while ladies can wear a pantsuit or sporty outfit, oncasual nights. Specialty restaurant dining requires a jacket andtie for men and dress or pants and blouse for women every night.Jeans, shorts and casual daywear are allowed in all dining venuesbefore 6 p.m."