As the expectations heighten for the take-off of the Bonny Kingdom ferry line, Asimini Line, stakeholders including the Bonny Local Government Council, Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Sealink Promotional Company Ltd (SPCL), and the key facilitator, Bonny Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (BOCCIMA) say they are firming up plans to make the ferry line a reality.  

This was the unanimous consensus on Tuesday, November 2, 2021 when the President of BOCCIMA, Amaopusenibo Amairigha Hart, led a business delegation comprising NEXIM Bank and Sealink Limited on a courtesy visit to the Chairman of Bonny Local Government Area, Dame Anengi Barasua, in her office in Bonny.

The delegation had the Director General of BOCCIMA, Mrs. Constance Nwokejiobi, who represented the President, representatives of NEXIM Bank, Mr. Hope Yongo, and Sealink Consortium, Mr. Frank Nwaotule, and a member of BOCCIMA Executive Council, Alabota Carol Allison, Chairmen of Environmental and Sanitation Trade Group, Mr. Godswill Jumbo, and Construction Trade Group, Mr. Claudius Dite-Wilcox, and Vice Chairman of Construction Trade Group, Mr. Walter Longjohn.

Receiving the visitors, the Bonny LGA Chief Executive, who was represented by the Secretary to the Bonny Local Government Council, Mr. Ralph Jamaica, expressed delight over the visit, which she said underscored the already existing collaboration between the Local Government Council and BOCCIMA, stressing that her administration was focused on partnerships geared towards creating opportunities for the people of the area.

She further assured of her administration’s readiness to partner with individuals, organizations and institutions that will contribute to the economic growth of the area, noting that it is a worthy legacy to leave for the next generation, pointing out that though the results may not be obvious at the moment, such sustainable efforts would yield huge economic dividends in time to come. 

“I want to say as a government, on behalf of my Executive Chairman of Council, that we are ready to partner with you people by giving security and anything you know the government can do. We are willing to partner with you people on whatever that’s going to be good for the people of Bonny. As a kingdom, as a local government, we are part of it, just call on us at any time, we are willing.”

“Most of us are looking at it as a small issue but I know there’s revenue in things like that will develop this local government and our children will come to see it and they will be pleased with us that we have kept something on ground. This will move us to travel out of Bonny to our smaller communities because it’s a big project.”

“So, the foundation is what matters and then you know alot of people will not see the benefits now but in time to come the Council will see the benefits.”

Earlier, the President of BOCCIMA, Amaopusenibo Amairigha Hart, who was represented by the Director General of the chamber, Mrs. Constance Nwokejiobi, had condoled with the Chairman over the demise of her erstwhile boss, Rt. Hon. David Irimagha, and congratulated her on the success of the funeral obsequies in his honour and her assumption of office as Executive Chairman, saying that the Chamber would later come for a formal condolence and congratulatory visit. 

“There are so many things that have happened in Bonny Kingdom and we all know, there was the demise of the Chairman, then the congratulation of the new Chairman coming in…all these have been familiar to the Bonny Chambers of Commerce. We will still come back as the executives and pay our due courtesy and condolence.”

“We are so sorry it happened, he was our big brother and our fan. In fact, for everything we asked for he gave it to us. The most important for us from the Chamber is that he allowed the current Chairman to be our Deputy without any obstruction and he gave her all the support. We do appreciate that.”

He expressed gratitude to the Chairman over the invaluable support the Chamber has received from the Local Government, so far, in its pursuit of floating a homogenous ferry line for the people of the area, Asimini Line, informing her that representatives of partner organizations, Nigerian Export-Import Bank and Sealink Promotional Company Ltd (SPCL) were in her office as part of the drive to actualize the take-off of the Asimini Line. 

“When we started up to have the Asimini Line, we had a free trial in January. It was all supported by the Local Government. We took over your Coal Beach office which the Local Government helped us in putting it in place and making sure that it was okay to take off for that operation.”

“We have been working behind the scenes. We have been looking out for more operations. At the Chamber of Commerce, our job is to bring in economic development into the island. So, we reached out to our partners, which is Sealink – Sealink is a regional inland waterways operations which also operates on the West African shores.”

“Our job, to be specific at the moment, is to inspect the Coal Beach and the Free Zone sites so that we will check the possibility of what we want to get into. Since, we worked with you in getting the trials in January, we say it is necessary if we are still carrying on any other projects we should touch base with the Local Government, seek for your support and whatever we come out with from this inspection and we need the Local Government collaboration we have to carry you along so that you will understand what we are getting you into. That’s actually the main point.”

On his part, the Technical Assistant to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Mr. Hope Yongo condoled with the government and people of Bonny LGA over the loss of the former Chairman, disclosing that NEXIM Bank was in Bonny as part of its drive to diversify into the Maritime sector of the economy by supporting investment opportunities across Nigeria’s inland waterways.

“My condolences and may his soul rest in peace. We think Nigeria has potentials. We have the Maritime sub sector and we noticed that our efforts is not yet diversified because we are not using our inland waterways for transportation. We are always using the road traffic for transportation.”

“We are happy that Bonny Chamber approached us, being an island Chamber of Commerce, they said there’s a need for us to connect and they brought a proposal for Asimini Line. We said ‘Yes’, even though it’s not in our bread and butter activity.”

“We felt with the NLNG Train 7 and other activities that are coming and, most importantly, with the way they presented ‘Bonny beyond Oil’, with the travelling potential and the rest, we said there’s an opportunity that truly this is the time for us to come, see what’s there and then we can pool resources, and ask investment partners to really come and see the potential.”

“So, we are here to see the platforms that are available that we can make a decision to have probably some warehousing arrangement, some terminal arrangement; that we can do for passenger traffic and cargo traffic, that’s just the beginning of beginnings.

“We feel that such a friendly cooperation that the Chamber is having with the Local Government, I think NEXIM now coming in with Sealink, we can all work together again, in the spirit of PPP; whereby, the government, NEXIM is government, because we are owned by the Federal Government, technically, but we operate like the private sector. We have commercial orientation not in the context of profit but in the context of efficiency and the degree of results.” 

Also speaking, a member of the BOCCIMA Executive Council, Alabota Carol Allison asserted that Bonny Island was ripe for investment, urging indigenes of the area in other parts of the country and in the Diaspora to come and invest in their homeland, stressing that the Bonny Chamber of Commerce was doing everything right and possible to incentivize investments in the area. 

“Yes it’s just like what the DG has said and also what NEXIM Bank has also told us, Bonny needs to go beyond the Gas and Oil, and you know these are projects that will really enhance the growth of Bonny Kingdom and most of us, Bonny people, have actually keyed into the Bonny Chamber of Commerce and Industry here in Bonny.”

She described the Asimini Line as a huge project with multifarious economic potentials that will unleash a value chain that will positively impact many indigenous business in the area, disclosing that aside the advocacy and investment drive, the Chamber was also big in business mentorship that many local business people have continued to benefit from.

It’s a huge project they are doing. This is for our collective improvement, our collective growth. We are also talking to even our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora to come back home to come and invest. There’s somebody to help you look after that investment and protect it for you with guidance, counseling and alot of articles to help you understand your business better.”

“So, I’m sure the Local Government is already on it with our (LG) Chairman being the 1st Vice President of the (BOCCIMA) Council you know Bonny is already properly integrated into the Chamber of Commerce.”

The Secretary to the Bonny Local Government Council, Mr. Ralph Jamaica, after the courtesy call, led the delegation on an inspection tour of the various project sites to be utilized for the Asimini Line project.

.The journey to actualize a homegrown solution to the transportation challenges of the people of Bonny LGA in the make of a ferry line, the Asimini Line, that envisages passenger and cargo handling capacity began with the ambitious vision of the Amanyanabo and Natural Ruler of Bonny Kingdom, His Majesty, King Edward Pepple III, Perekule XI, which he shared with the leadership of BOCCIMA.

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This vision, which instantly represented a marching order, set the ball rolling leading up to multi-stakeholder engagements that have started to yield dividends with the visit of investors and financial institutions for an on-the-spot assessment of the viability and big value in the project.

This was followed up by the free trial runs in January 2021, which feedback mechanism provided huge insights into areas that represented gaps in the operational modalities and led to fresh efforts at sourcing for new investment partners.

Anticipation is high that with stakeholders both public and private onboarding the value chain unraveling at every stage of the project, the return on investment potentials are increasingly crystalizing. This can be assured given the ready market that is an outcome of the beleaguered state of water transportation that travelers in and out of Bonny Island have been subjected to, which was worsened by the incessant attacks by sea pirates.