Eromosele Abiodun
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman has said that the NPA will interact more with stakeholders in 2017 so as to know the happenings at the various ports.
This is as the NPA has commissioned a study on port charges in West Africa in a bid to revive activity at the Nigerian ports.
To this end, she has pledged that the NPA will introduce quarterly stakeholders meetings to know what is on ground at the ports and be better informed on the plight of operators.
The MD disclosed this at the national secretariat of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA).
She said the essence of her visit was to interact directly with critical stakeholders to discuss issues affecting their operations and to seek collaborations on how to solve some of the challenges.
The NPA boss also acknowledged that the need to block revenue leakages make the ports more competitive in the area of appropriate pricing.
According to her, there is the need for government to look at corruption at the ports and how to plug the leakages.
Addressing the ANLCA members, she said: “I am sure that not all of you are aware that I am a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption. The committee, in 2017 is coming to domicile an office in the NPA on implementing a report that was submitted by the ICPC on the corruption index in ports administration. We shall embark strongly on anti-corruption measures in 2017.”
While on the working visit, which also took her to the secretariat of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), the NPA MD said that the authority has embarked on a study of respective tariffs across ports in West and Central Africa as a whole and to compare with what obtains in Nigeria.
She promised that should it be discovered that Nigerian ports are more expensive, the agency shall recommend to the federal government to reduce port charges to enable more cargoes come into Nigerian ports.
At the headquarters of NAGAFF, she stated that the NPA was fully prepared to handle the increase in the volume of cargoes that would result from the ban of imported vehicles through land borders.
She said the right facilities had been put in place at the various ports to absorb the anticipated cargo surge, adding that all terminal operators were ready to take up the challenge.
“Our operators are very much ready to take on additional cargoes that would come following the restriction of imported vehicles through the land borders. The Nigerian ports are ready to take on the expected increased traffic. We believe the ban is a step in the right direction because we feel there is a need for us to enhance and sustain importation and earn more revenue,” she said.
Speaking earlier, National President of ANLCA, Mr. Olayiwola Shittu charged the NPA boss to address some of the problems at the port which he itemised to include: corruption, bad roads, and high port charges at the port leading to un-competitiveness of Nigerian ports, compared to neighbouring West African ports.
“We want to appeal to you to use your God-given approach to battle corruption at the ports,” he said
Also speaking while receiving the NPA MD, Founder of NAGAFF, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam appreciated her for visiting stakeholders, pointing out that she is the first MD to have done this.
