A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, for what he called their deep sense of commitment to public service and  pragmatic efforts to discover novel solutions to address the litany of challenges that have halted the country’s progress.

The party chief was reacting to the berthing at Onne, Port Harcourt, of the largest vessel ever to come into Nigeria; a feat which he said, will unarguably position Rivers State on a better pedestal for further economic development, strengthen the economies of the South-South and South-East states and open up a floodgate of business opportunities and create avenues for human capital development.

Recall that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) had about two weeks ago announced the successful berthing of the biggest container vessel to ever call at a Nigerian port. The Maerskline Stardelhorn vessel with an overall length of 300 metres and  width of 48 metres was received on Saturday, August 15, 2020, at the Federal Ocean Terminal, Onne, Rivers State. According to the NPA, the vessel which has a capacity of 9,971 (TEUs) is a flagship from Singapore.

Applauding President Mohammadu Buhari and Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, for always placing national interest above self, Eze appealed to Nigerians to encourage and accord the necessary support to the Transportation Minister to spur him to expedite action on the Eastern Rail Line, while appealing for the expansion of the road leading to the Onne Port to avoid the Lagos gridlock experience.

Chief Eze called on leaders and governors of South-South states to rally round Amaechi and tap from his mastery of public service and vast experience in good governance and replicate same in their domains for improved records of service and to build on the sectoral performances of their governments and enrich their end-of-term accounts of stewardships.

Congratulating Nigerians for the unprecedented and steady progress in the administration’s efforts in stabilizing the economy and depopulating the labour market, the party chieftain hailed the Federal government’s introduction of 10% reduction on charges for any ship that berths in other ports – Onne, Calabar, Warri and others, describing it as a thoughtful move to decongest the Lagos ports and decentralize activities in the maritime sector.

While calling on the good people of the South-South and South East to look out for more opportunities, Eze called on the people to remain unshaken in their confidence in the Transportation Minister, whom he described as an elixir to the country’s avalanche of challenges.