Eromosele Abiodun
The Managing Director Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman has reaffirmed the authority’s commitment to collaborating with relevant agencies from all sectors of economy to enhance the socio-economic growth of the nation.
This, she said, would enable the agency take its place of pride in the comity of nations.
She stated this when she hosted a delegation from the College of Deans of Engineering that was on a working visit to NPA in Lagos. The delegation was led by Professor E.A. Ajav.
Represented by the Executive Director, Engineering and Technical Services, Prof. Idris Abubakar, she stated that the NPA was willing to support the group’s laudable programme through the corporate sponsorship of its forthcoming International Engineering Competition amongst universities across the country. This, she explained, was aimed at boosting the intellectual development of interns in all fields of engineering.
She said: “The engineering profession is a discipline that serves as the bedrock of a nations development and efforts should be geared at maximizing the potential at all times.â€
She said the NPA management would be willing to collaborate and exhibit a smooth synergy with institutions in the area of manpower development regularly. According to her, “a window would soon be created through which the top echelon of the organisation’s engineers would share experiences and expertise acquired over the years through this.â€
She was of the view that this would go a long way towards bridging the gap between the tertiary institutions and the industry at large.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Prof. Ajav affirmed that his team was at the NPA headquarters to appreciate the organisation’s support and resolve concerning capacity development over time through sponsorship and collaboration.
On the issue of the upcoming programme for engineering interns across the Nigerian universities, he stated that the first edition held in 2016 was quite a success in terms of the positive impact on the student’s performances.
He added that this has further propelled the body to organise this year’s edition and plan towards sustainability.
“The 2017 edition would herald three best students from each zone who would then proceed for the final event to determine the best University in the country. The breakdown cuts across higher institutions in all the geo political locations of the country, â€he said.
