LAGOS – Chief Kunle Folarin, Chairman, Port Consultative Council (PCC), said on Wednesday that building human capacity was critical in addressing the problems facing the development of Nigeria’s maritime sector.
Folarin told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that investors would be encouraged to establish businesses in the various sub-sectors of the maritime industry with the available manpower.
He said that thousands of jobs would be created in addition to the transfer of skills.
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“Let us look at issue of capacity building, so that an investor will come here and say, `I have local skilled manpower to work in my shipyard if I install a shipyard here.
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“Shipyard is a must, but you need the skilled manpower in that area to work there.
“Investor will gain; will start building local crafts; not only the big mega carriers or VLCC carrier or container vessels or RORO vessels.
“We can start building the medium tankers that can ferry our petroleum products; 10,000 dead weight vessels.
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“We can build tug boats in Nigeria; we can build pilot boats in Nigeria; and that will employ not less than 3,000 to 4,000 people, and the transfer of skills will also be an addition in that endeavour.
“That is one thing investors should be looking at in Nigeria.’’
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Folarin said investors could also look at the master plan of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and consider the development of Greenfields, new ports and increasing capacity of existing ports.
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He said the port access roads development and other infrastructure within the port complexes would attract the right expertise in creating a maritime city where ships could come to perform various operations. (NAN)