Maersk CEO declines to confirm $600m investment deal, recreating UAE visa fiasco
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
A.P Moller-Maersk Chairman Robert Maersk Uggla has declined to confirm a $600 million investment deal with Nigeria that Bola Tinubu announced last Sunday through his spokesman Ajuri Ngelale, an embarrassment that adds to a pattern of misinformation dished out by the Villa to grab media headlines.
The fiasco repeats the shame of seven months ago when the Presidency trumpeted the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had lifted its visa ban on Nigerians, a hot air that received a bucketful of cold water from the Gulf country.
The same Tinubu propaganda tool also once rushed out news that Emirates Airlines had agreed to resume flights to Nigeria, which the carrier quickly and flatly refuted.
A.P Moller-Maersk is a shipping giant based in Denmark, and the purported deal was passed off by Aso Rock as investment to expand Nigeria’s seaport infrastructure.
Tinubu met with Uggla at a special session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia last weekend where the President asked the shipping mogul to complement his “administration’s ongoing $1 billion investment in seaport reconstruction.”
“We believe in Nigeria, and we will invest $600 million in existing facilities and make the ports accommodating for bigger ships,” Ngelale quoted Uggla as saying on Sunday.
But Uggla denied knowledge of such a deal, telling British trade journal Lloyd’s List that: “We are not able to comment on any investment talks.”
He added: “Maersk has been present in Nigeria for 35 years and, as a global provider of logistics services, we remain committed to develop opportunities for growth to people, the port sector and businesses locally.
“Therefore, it is natural to have an ongoing dialogue with the administration. However, we are not able to comment on any investment talks.”
The denial is the latest in a trend of the Nigerian government selling false claims about securing agreements with foreign entities.
Last September, Aso Rock announced the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had lifted a visa ban on Nigerians, which turned out to be false.
Seven months on, Nigerians are still restricted from entering that country where Dubai is one of their favourite destinations.
Tinubu gimmick also once let it be known that Emirates Airlines had agreed to resume flights to Nigeria, but the carrier squashed the report – in word and in action.
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