By Godwin Oritse
The Badagry Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (BACCIMA) has called for the immediate and sustained dredging of the Badagry Channel to boost maritime trade and strengthen economic ties among countries in the West African sub-region.
Speaking to Vanguard on the sidelines of the recently concluded World Maritime Day celebration at the Lagos Continental Hotel, the immediate past president of BACCIMA, Yahaya Idris, said the Badagry Channel had become a vital trade route for traders along the West African coast, particularly those from Nigeria, Benin Republic and Togo.
Idris added that many traders from the Benin Republic access Nigeria through the Badagry Lagoon for commercial and other economic activities. He, however, noted that marine wreckage along the route posed navigational challenges to vessels plying the channel, underscoring the need for regular dredging and the removal of wrecks to ensure safe and efficient navigation.
He explained that the CMS waterfront and the Liverpool area beneath the Apapa Bridge had become major hubs for traders who travel to Nigeria to purchase goods and transport them through the Badagry waterways to neighbouring West African countries.
Idris expressed optimism that dredging the channel would enable boats operating under the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to utilise the route for commercially viable operations, thereby boosting inland waterway transportation and regional trade.
He said:” We want the Badagry Lagoon or channels dredged for increased economic activities because we have a lot of traders coming from Benin Republic to Nigeria through that lagoon.
“If you go to Liverpool in Apapa under the bridge, the volume of trade going on there between Nigeria and people from neighbouring countries is unbelievable. So the need to dredge the stretch of the water cannot be overemphasized.”
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