THE Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF and the United Niger Delta Energy Development Security Strategy, UNDEDSS, Monday, restated calls for the Federal Government to relocate the Mega Dry Dock from Lagos waters, where it had been lying unused, to the Niger Delta saying it will open up the economy of the region.
Rising from a special Webinar meeting in Lagos, chaired to mark the 93rd birthday anniversary of PANDEF Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, the Niger Delta Leaders stated that the Shipbuilding Dry Dock, which is the largest in Africa, would be the ideal enterprise for President Muhammadu Buhari to commission in the post-COVID -19 Nigerian economy.
In a statement on the webinar meeting of the groups in Lagos, UNDEDSS Executive Secretary and General Secretary of PANDEF, Mr. Tony Uranta said the benefits of the dock to the region would be immeasurable considering the Maritime University in Delta.
Uranta said: “Relocating the Dry Dock project to the Niger Delta would be the biggest investment post-COVID-19 in the region and would open up the economy of the region.” The House of Representatives in March 2020, urged the Federal Government and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, to return and install the floating dock acquired at a cost of over N50 billion in Okerenkoko, Delta.
The dock since its arrival in the country on June 11, 2018, had been in a storage cart, owing to controversial bureaucratic wrangling over where it would be located as its operational base.
Uranta, however, stated that the Okerenkoko floating dock project was duly considered and approved by the Federal Executive Council at its 37th meeting on 23 October 2013, and the approval was conveyed to the Federal Ministry of Transport on 29 October 2013.
He said: “The location of the Dry dock to Badagry in Lagos State is contrary to the initial approval by the Federal Government for its location in Delta.
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