John Iwori
The former Managing Director of Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Dr. Kingsley Usoh has said that he left a net asset profile worth N3.6 billion in NSC when he left the Federal Government parasatal.
He disclosed that when he was appointed the helmsman of NSC in 1984, the net worth of NSC was only N13, 906.
Usoh’s clarifications is coming on the heels of last Saturday report which stated that he left N3.6 billion cash in the coffers of the Federal Ministry of Transportation parasatal as he retired.
A trained maritime expert who obtained his first and second degrees in the United Kingdom, including a masters degree in Transport Engineering and Operations from the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Usoh told THISDAY in Lagos that he did not leave N3.6 billion cash but assets worth N3.6 billion.
According to Usoh who as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NSC was the head of the Nigerian delegation to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to negotiate trade in services between 1995 and 1996 and to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 1980, when compared with the insignificant amount of N13, 906 it has in 1984, the NSC asset appreciated by 258,881 per cent as at October, 1996 when he was retired.
He revealed that it was in 1994 not 1984 that he built the magnificent 11 storey building called Shippers Plaza which presently serves as the corporate headquarters of NSC in the port city of Apapa, Lagos.
A septuagenarian and author of several books on transportation, Usoh stated that he would continue to do his best to ensure that Nigeria got it right in the transport industry in the years ahead.
The former NSC helmsman who is presently the Chairman/CEO of CARIX Shipping Company Limited argued that once Nigeria got it right in the transport industry, so many other things in our national life, especially the economy will fall in place for the benefit of present generation and those yet unborn.
He stated that the desire of the Federal Government to diversify the economy and be less dependent on crude oil for Nigeria’s sustainable development will be enhanced when the ills plaguing the transport industry are comprehensively addressed.
