NPA Boss Vows to Make Nigerian Ports Attractive to Business

Eromosele Abiodun

Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman has promised to work with professionals in the maritime sector to make the ports attractive to business and boost the Nigerian economy.

Bala Usman stated this when members of the Nigerian Ports Consultative Council (PCC) visited her office in Lagos. The NPA boss said she was more determined to close the gaps between the agency and the professionals by engaging them in most of authority’s activities to promote port business.

The NPA boss told the group that she would need their input and those of other professionals to move the industry forward.
She said, the NPA will find solution to the issue of gridlock in Apapa and fix the access road to boost port operations

She expressed concern over other challenges facing the ports and assured the group of her determination to find a lasting solution to the problems.
NPA, she added, would look critically at all the recommendations made by the group and promised to implement the good ones to boost the economy.

She pointed out that the maritime industry needs the experience which many members of the PCC are bringing forward to NPA in charting a new course for the sector.

She also expressed the readiness of her management team to pursue the issue of making the ports competitive in the sub-region to a logical conclusion to improve the performance of the ports by developing port infrastructure, regulating charges and making the ports more cost effective.

Usman said she had embarked on the journey to achieve efficiency at the seaports.
The new management of NPA, Usman said would deliver on its new mandate by meeting the expectations of Nigerians in port operations, efficiency and charges.

While calling on members of the council to support the NPA in its drive to make the port a hub in the sub-region, she also assured them that all irregularities and arbitrariness in the ports system would be addressed by her team.

In his address, the Chairman of PCC, Kunle Folarin said the Council is the only body that harbours diverse professionals and stakeholders under one roof and urged the management of NPA to always reach out to all stakeholders.

PCC, Folarin said, had produced many reports that were found relevant in tackling some of the problems facing the ports and the sector and promised to always support the NPA in its drive to succeed.

The PCC boss also solicited for the support of the management of the NPA so that the group can attain its goal.

The Chairman, Board of Directors of the NPA, Emmanuel Adesoye had stated recently that the current economic challenges facing Nigeria can fully be addressed if the economic and human potential deposited within the labour force particularly in the Maritime sub-sector are swiftly harnessed.

According to him, doing so in a holistic manner along government’s diversification efforts towards the utilisation of other revenue generation initiatives will help to stimulate the economy to growth.

The NPA board chairman made this know when he and his fellow board members paid a visit to locations in Eastern Ports in the country.
Adesoye reaffirmed that NPA had been strategically positioned to most meaningfully contribute towards the nation’s recovery from economic down turn by prioritising the potentials of the exportation of agricultural and mineral resources through the nation’s Seaports.

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