TINUBU’S $1BN PORT REVIVAL: BARO AND THE MISSING LINK IN NIGERIA’S MARITIME AMBITION

 As the Federal Government moves to rebuild five major coastal ports, the exclusion of Baro Inland Port raises a bigger question about whether Nigeria’s maritime strategy can connect the coast to the hinterland

By Okwo Romeon

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval of a $1 billion reconstruction programme for five major Nigerian ports has been hailed as a potentially transformative investment in the country’s maritime economy.

Apapa, Tin Can Island, Calabar, Warri and Port Harcourt are at the centre of the initiative, reflecting the government’s determination to modernise critical gateways for international trade and strengthen Nigeria’s position as a regional maritime hub.

But beneath the optimism surrounding the investment lies an uncomfortable question: what happens to Nigeria’s inland ports, particularly Baro Inland Port in Niger State?

For stakeholders across the North-Central region, the omission of Baro is more than an infrastructure decision. It has become a test of whether Nigeria’s maritime development strategy is being designed as an integrated national system or primarily around its coastal gateways.

A billion-dollar investment — and a missing inland link

Baro Inland Port was conceived to bring the benefits of Nigeria’s waterways closer to the hinterland.

Commissioned in 2019 after an investment reportedly exceeding ₦5.8 billion, the facility was expected to facilitate the movement of bulk cargo along the River Niger, reduce pressure on the nation’s highways and provide a more efficient route for goods destined for northern markets.

Instead, the port has struggled to become the economic gateway it was intended to be.

Its unused infrastructure and cargo-handling facilities have become a source of frustration for stakeholders who fear that another major public investment could remain underutilised unless the wider infrastructure surrounding it is addressed.

The irony is striking: Nigeria is preparing to spend $1 billion rebuilding coastal ports while a multimillion-dollar inland facility remains largely dormant.

The case for the coastal ports

Apapa Port represent one of the most vital shipping anchorage in Nigeria but the traffics make the Port difficult to access

There is, nevertheless, a compelling economic argument behind the Federal Government’s priorities.

The five ports selected for reconstruction are already integrated into Nigeria’s international maritime trade. They handle ocean-going vessels and serve as major gateways for imports, exports and government revenue.

Investing in infrastructure that is already connected to established maritime commerce can generate quicker economic returns.

Baro presents a fundamentally different challenge.

Its revival requires more than modernising a terminal. It requires a functioning logistics ecosystem.

The River Niger must provide reliable navigability. Roads must connect the port efficiently with major markets. Rail connectivity could further strengthen the corridor, while customs, cargo-handling, warehousing and private-sector logistics would have to operate as part of a coordinated system.

In other words, Baro cannot succeed as an isolated port.

The real problem is Nigeria’s fragmented infrastructure planning

This is where the debate should move beyond regional sentiments.

Nigeria’s infrastructure challenge has often been less about the absence of individual projects and more about the absence of connectivity between them.

A port without roads is inefficient.

A railway without cargo is commercially weak.

An inland port without navigable waterways cannot function effectively.

And a coastal port that cannot move cargo efficiently into the hinterland eventually transfers the burden to already congested highways.

Baro therefore represents a broader question about multimodal transportation and the future of freight movement in Nigeria.

If properly developed, inland waterways could provide an alternative route for transporting heavy and bulk cargo, reducing dependence on roads and potentially lowering logistics costs.

Baro and the North-Central economy

For Niger State and neighbouring states, the strategic significance of Baro extends beyond the facility itself.

Its location along the River Niger gives it potential relevance to agricultural production, bulk commodities and the movement of goods into the hinterland.

An operational inland port could also complement rather than compete with Nigeria’s coastal seaports.

Cargo arriving through Lagos, Port Harcourt or Calabar could eventually move through a coordinated road, rail and inland-waterway network to markets far beyond the coast.

That is the missing piece in the current conversation.

The question should not be whether Baro deserves to replace investment in Apapa, Tin Can Island, Calabar, Warri or Port Harcourt.

It is whether Nigeria can afford to modernise its coastal gateways without simultaneously developing the inland corridors that connect those gateways to its largest markets.

Parliament raises the alarm

The condition of Baro has already attracted the attention of the National Assembly, with lawmakers investigating why the port has remained largely non-functional years after its commissioning.

The scrutiny has renewed concerns about what some stakeholders regard as a pattern of commissioning infrastructure before the supporting systems required to make such projects economically sustainable are in place.

There have also been calls for public-private partnerships and concession arrangements to give Baro a commercial future without making the Federal Government solely responsible for its revival.

Such an approach could bring private capital and expertise into the project while government concentrates on navigation, road and rail infrastructure.

Baro  Port would have solve 50% of Lagos ports congestion if fully operational

         A national strategy, not a regional argument

Baro Port five years ago still lie fallow awaiting the federal intervention

The strongest case for Baro is therefore not simply a North-Central demand for regional equity.

It is an argument for a more integrated national logistics strategy.

see https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/814437-ibb-abdulsalami-canvass-revival-of-baro-inland-port-in-niger.html

Nigeria needs efficient coastal ports. It also needs efficient inland corridors.

The reconstruction of the five major seaports could strengthen the country’s maritime gateways, but the economic benefits will be significantly greater if cargo can move quickly and cheaply from those gateways to the hinterland.

That requires coordination between the Nigerian Ports Authority, the National Inland Waterways Authority, transport authorities, the works sector, state governments and private operators.

The opportunity Nigeria should not lose

The $1 billion port investment presents an opportunity to rethink Nigeria’s maritime architecture.

Rather than viewing coastal ports and Baro as competing priorities, government could treat them as different components of one national freight network.

The coastal ports can serve as Nigeria’s international gateways.

Baro and other inland logistics centres can serve as links between those gateways and the domestic economy.

That is the bigger opportunity.

For Baro, the immediate demand may not necessarily be a slice of the $1 billion reconstruction package. What is required is a credible, properly funded and commercially driven revival strategy — one that addresses the waterways, roads, rail, cargo systems and private investment needed to make the facility work.

Nigeria has already spent billions building Baro.

The question now is whether the country will spend what is necessary to make that investment productive.

The future of Nigeria’s maritime economy should not end at the shoreline. It must reach the hinterland. And Baro could be one of the links that makes that possible.