On a recent visit to the Ogulagha section of the popular Ogbe-Ijoh Market waterfront in the Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State to board a boat on a trip to the ancient city of Ogulagha in Ogulagha Kingdom, I couldn't help but noticed the filthy state of the waterfront. And it was the same condition of filth from the stretch of the waterfront to other areas where locals conduct their business of transport by water. Quite unfortunately is the fact that the waterfronts have been turned into a dumping site of all sorts of plastic and other waste products, including foods, not to mention water lilies.

Stockholm in Sweden, Venice in Italy, Helsinki in Finland, San Sebastian in Spain, Sydney in Australia, and Harmburg in Germany, among others, are some of the cities that have the best waterfront in the world. If you are privilege to visit some of the above cities to view their remarkable waterfront, a trip to the waterfront in the acclaimed oil-city of Warri in Nigeria's Delta State will evoke a "stench" feeling of disgust and will clearly reveal our true mindstate to the concept of "development". And believe me, we are still very far from the true concept of development.

I have always maintained that among the various means of transportation in Nigeria, water transport is the most neglected. While you hear of roads being constructed in the mainlands (including bridges on land), and the gradual bringing back of trains (though still at a slow pace), as well as the expenditure of funds in maintaining and upgrading airports, nothing is being heard about such in the water transport sector. And this neglect is easily seen in the poor state of the waterfront that is in an unkempt state of filth.

Again, a visit to Market Square and Esplanade in Helsinki, Finland, and to Georges Pompidou Expressway along Paris's Right Bank in Paris, France, reveals that waterfront can be an attraction for tourism and can also boost foreign direct investments (FDIs). For instance, in the United States of America, Venice Beach in California provides a public stage for artists, seniors, sunbathers, basketball players, religious proselytizers, and exhibitionists. Likewise, Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas, is a tourist magnet.

The scenic view of a well developed and maintained waterfront is an attraction to investors and a plus to the beauty of the infrastructural landscape. It could birth new businesses such as floating restaurants, amusement parks, pubs, galleries and help heighten commercial trades in seafoods.

But right back home, our waterfronts are nothing to write home about. Before our very eyes, a natural God-given asset that should be transformed to harness the potentials for job creation and a revenue earner, is largely ignored by state actors, wasting away. Even those actors who are from the coastal regions that are supposed to be in the forefront of its transformation seem to be missing the big picture. It is quite unfortunate!

Specifically in Delta State, none of the administrations in the state and the local government has given any serious attention to this goldmine the state is endowed with. To put it it in better perspective, the attention that is given to waterways by the government in comparison to land transport at my personal guess is in the ratio of 1 to 9 (1:9).

That you are not from a coastal part of the State does not translate to not having knowledge of the opportunities that its waterfront could present on the revenue earning capacity as well as in wealth creation. This is therefore a call on the various Niger Delta actors, specifically the federal government agencies and the state government of the coastal states to beam their focus on the coastal areas and come up with strategies that will turn these natural endowments from one of abandonment and wastes to a productive generating asset for the harnessing of their barren potentials for the growth and prosperity of their respective states.

If we fail to appreciate the value of our coastal heritage, then we should visit the landlocked countries that are desperate and would give anything to be endowed with such a gift, which currently in our possession is not given any appropriate attention. 

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