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The Head of Research at the Sea Empowerment Research Center (SERC)<\/strong>, Dr. Eugene Nweke<\/strong>, has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria<\/strong> to establish a Port Host Community Development Trust Fund (PHCDT)<\/strong> to address persistent socio-economic challenges confronting communities hosting the nation\u2019s ports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Nweke, who is also a former President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF)<\/strong>, made the call at the 2025 Annual Conference of the Congress of Nigeria Maritime Media Practitioners (CONMMEP)<\/strong> held in Lagos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He noted that despite their strategic importance to Nigeria\u2019s trade and economic activities, port host communities continue to grapple with poor infrastructure, environmental degradation and limited access to basic social services. According to him, a statutory Trust Fund would guarantee structured, transparent and sustainable development<\/strong>, beyond the limitations of ad-hoc corporate social responsibility initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe establishment of a Port Host Community Development Trust Fund will institutionalize development interventions, ensure accountability and provide long-term benefits for port host communities,\u201d Dr. Nweke stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He proposed a contribution structure comprising 40% from host communities, 30% from port authorities and operators, 20% from relevant government agencies, and 10% from civil society and independent professionals<\/strong>. Funding, he added, should be sourced from terminal operators, shipping lines, logistics companies and other maritime stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Nweke further called on the National Assembly<\/strong> to revisit pending legislation on port community development to provide a robust legal and policy framework for the Trust Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also speaking at the event, Oba Moruf Tijani<\/strong>, the Oluwa of Iwa and Apapa Kingdom, commended CONMMEP for drawing attention to the developmental needs of port host communities and reaffirmed traditional institutions\u2019 support for inclusive maritime-driven development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The conference featured the unveiling of Eagle Dispatch<\/em>, a new maritime publication, and the presentation of awards to distinguished stakeholders in the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Head of Research at the Sea Empowerment Research Center (SERC), Dr. Eugene Nweke, has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to establish a Port Host Community Development Trust Fund (PHCDT) to address persistent socio-economic challenges confronting communities hosting the nation\u2019s ports. Dr. Nweke, who is also a former President of the National Association…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1375,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374\/revisions\/1375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1374"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=1374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
December 10, 2025<\/strong>
Source: Lodo Concepts International Blog<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"