Eromosele Abiodun
The management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has called on stakeholders in the maritime sub sector to collaborate amongst each other with the view to sustaining the Presidential Order on Port Operations.
Similarly it has also put in place effective machinery to comprehensive review the progress and challenges associated with the strive to ensure broad actualisation of the executive order.
These were disclosed by the Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman’s during an inter-agency interactive session on the subject the presidential order in Lagos.
She enjoined agencies in the maritime sub sector to make information sharing a pivotal part of activities whilst collaborating with each other.
According to her, “There is need to improve efficiency, we need to work hand in hand together, we have to improve efficiency of our ports. We need to work united as a team towards success across the industry. It is about the greatness of our dear country Nigeria. Let us work together to make our ports competitive in the sector and in the sub region.â€
Furthermore, she called on all and sundry to be up and doing so the road to total adherence to the tenets of the Executive Order on Port Operations would be devoid of encumbrances.
She also presented the joint stakeholders committee report on the implementation of the Executive Order on Port Operations through the window of “ease of doing business†on the nation’s sea ports.
Usman had recently assured that the authority has put in place necessary facilities to play a pivotal role in the federal government’s drive to promote the export of solid minerals and agricultural produce through the nation’s seaports.
She stated this at the official flag off of the Nigeria Yam Export Programme (NYEP) to the United Kingdom at the Lily Pond Container Terminal Apapa.
The NPA boss expressed pleasure to be part of the export of non-oil export through the Port, adding that Nigeria is richly blessed in the agricultural sector and that time has come for the Nation to step up in the area of exportation of yam, being the largest producer of the product in the world.
Usman informed the gathering that NPA was already looking at prioritising some terminals strictly for export among which she said is Ikorodu, adding that the only challenge with Ikorodu Terminal is the problem of low head room of the three bridge across the lagoon. She however assured that several alternatives are being considered.
She emphasised that the development of intermodal transportation system would help a great deal especially rail link to the Ports which will cover almost 3,500km of existing narrow gauge lines from the South West commercial capital, Lagos to Kano in the North East rail lines.
She added that it was important for Nigerians to return to the farm to produce enough yams for both local consumption and export.
Usman pledged that everything would be done to guarantee smooth exportation from the ports.
