The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, officially assumed duty on Monday to a rousing welcome from the Authority members of staff.
In less than 24 hours of his assumption of duty, Dantsoho seems to have hit the ground running.
Dantsoho while taking over the mantle of leadership of NPA, expressed his deep appreciation to the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR for the opportunity given to him to be the 29th Managing Director of NPA while promising to boost the Organisation’s revenue generation and Port efficiency.
Speaking during a brief handover ceremony held at the Authority’s Headquarters in Lagos he said, “As we march towards this great journey, I wish to state that our main goal is to reposition the Nigerian Ports Authority for increased productivity and greater efficiency for increased revenue generation.”
- NBA to inaugurate new exco August ending
- Ondo: How gunmen abducted us, killed 2 in our presence –Corps members
The Chief Executive Officer of the nation’s Seaports affirmed that he is committed to ensuring that the Nigerian Ports compete favourably with neighbouring ports especially in the areas of Port operations.
This he stated would be achieved through robust collaboration towards achieving success.
Dantsoho stated that he is committed to improving the welfare of the workforce through the timely payment of emoluments, compensations, training and capacity development especially for employees who show added value in their areas of deployment.
He also promised to continue with the digital transformation of the Authority and the Port Community system which are key to blocking leakages and corruption while promising to explore ways to further improve Port infrastructure renewal.
‘’In particular, we shall drive port rehabilitation and modernisation. We shall pay attention to logistics that surround the arrival of cargo to the port corridor, loading of ships and other things that surround berthing of cargo,’’ he added.
Dantsoho said he would further tap into the benefits of the Deep Seaport corridor as well as promote the ideals of Transparency for Ease of Doing Business.
In the area of collaboration with sister agencies, Dr. Abubakar stated that he would maintain an open door for communication and collaboration with sister agencies and all relevant stakeholders.
The Managing Director congratulated the former Managing Director Mohammed Bello-Koko and his team for all their invaluable contributions to the industry.
The Managing Director has since resumed duty at the Headquarters in Marina.
STAKEHOLDERS EXCITED
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the maritime sector have commended President Bola Tinubu for appointing Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho as the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, President General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), described Dantsoho’s appointment as merit- based because he is an astute administrator who has gone through all strategic departments of NPA.
He said Dantsoho’s dedication, commitment, determination, discipline, and steadfastness earned him the position, having served in various capacities in the past.
He pledged the support of the Union to the new NPA Managing Director and promised to partner with him as he assumes office in the foremost maritime parastatal in the country.
On his part, Kayode Farinto, former acting National President of the Association of National Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), expressed confidence in Dantosho’s ability to perform exceptionally well, given his familiarity with the NPA and the maritime industry.
Also speaking, Lucky Amiwero, President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), who was visibly excited, emphasised the need for legal reforms to properly position the NPA within the port sector, ensuring effective operations and oversight.
On his part, a former President of the NPA Senior Staff Association, Comrade Pire Park Maidanbe expressed his excitement at Dantsoho’s appointment, which he said, marks the return of professionalism to the agency.
“At least for a long time now, we have not had an insider appointed. We are delighted, and we believe he is going to achieve much because an insider knows the work, knows what is at stake, and the development required for the success of the industry,” Maidanbe said.
TASK AHEAD
There is no doubt having served as Chief of Staff to the immediate past Minister of Transport, Muazu Jaji Sambo, and also served as NPA Port Manager at Onne Port; NPA Principal Manager of Tariff and Billing; and as Assistant General Manager at NPA, Dantsoho must surely know some of the challenges facing the nation’s seaports.
DECAYING PORT FACILITY
The new NPA Managing Director should prioritize the rehabilitation of decaying port infrastructure, especially collapsed Quay aprons and gullies within Tin Can and Apapa ports.
This is even as the new MD will have to make frantic efforts to ensure that the nation’s seaports become fully operational 24/7. This is however being truncated by lack of proper lighting on port access roads and port corridors which negate nighttime operations.
Security within the ports also has to be enhanced as some miscreants allegedly find their way into the ports without NPA port pass.
Ease of doing business with NPA should also be improved with efficiency and timeliness that would enable the nation to compete with neighbouring ports, especially with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
INCREASING REVENUE
Recall that the NPA, despite headwinds that characterized the year 2023, raked in unprecedented revenue generation and remittances to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federation, with revenues steadily growing from N361 billion in 2022 to N501 billion as of December 2023, and remittances increasing from N93.4 billion in 2022 to N131.2 billion by year-end 2023.
With the appointment of a thoroughbred insider as NPA MD, the agency is expected to surpass the 2023 N501bn revenue haul by December of 2024.
SINGLE WINDOW
In April 2024, President Bola Tinubu inaugurated the steering committee of the National Single Window (NSW) project to boost trade in Nigeria.
With agencies of government working at cross purposes in the Nigerian ports system, the Single Window initiative is expected to improve regional integration and trade efficiency, making it a crucial step towards Nigeria’s economic advancement.
Notable among the issues the Single Window project is expected to eradicate is the human contact imbroglio which breeds corruption at Nigerian ports.
In its latest report for 2023, the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) revealed that corruption in Nigeria’s maritime industry added about 15 percent to the cost of importing food and bulk products into the country.
The report also revealed that corruption also added more than $178,000 to the cost of a shipment of petrol and $147,000 per shipment of grain and other food items, which represents about one to two percent to the retail prices paid by customers for grain and petrol.
The report details the results of a study developed by socio-economic impact assessment firm QBIS, which applies a dollar value to direct and indirect costs of maritime corruption across the private sector, government, and society in Nigeria.
With a thoroughbred maritime professional now at the helm of affairs of the NPA, the coming to reality of Nigeria’s Single Window project which will end human contact and subsequently eradicate corruption at Nigerian ports, is expected to finally come to fruition
ACCESS ROAD SUSTENANCE
The NPA, in collaboration with the Lagos State Government and other stakeholders, has successfully wiped off the perennial traffic gridlock along the Apapa-Oshodi expressway and the Ijora bridge. The Apapa-Oshodi expressway and the Ijora bridge are the two major routes that lead into the ports and have been bedeviled by traffic gridlock for years before the recent intervention led by the NPA in collaboration with other sister agencies of government.
The nation’s ease of doing business ranking depends on the accessibility of its ports, and if Nigeria must improve its ranking, the ports access roads must remain devoid of impediments that slow down trade.
With the clogging of the port access roads by trucks and other articulated vehicles, the number of extortion points (illegal checkpoints) has skyrocketed with importers paying through their noses to haul their cargoes in and out of the ports.
With a change of guard at the NPA, the agency is expected to go a step further by sustaining the free access roads leading into the ports, thereby further improving on the nation’s ease of doing business ranking.
MD will reposition NPA for improved efficiency, increased revenue – STOAN
The Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) has congratulated Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho on his appointment as the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
STOAN Chairman, Princess Vicky Haastrup, in a statement on Tuesday, expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for deeming it fit to appoint a professional from within the NPA to head the Authority.
Haastrup expressed confidence in the ability of the new NPA Managing Director to reposition the Authority for improved efficiency and increased revenue generation.
“I have no doubt that he will excel in leading the Nigerian Ports Authority to greater heights. His leadership and vision will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the Authority and the industry as a whole.“We celebrate this well-deserved appointment and welcome Dr Dantsoho’s leadership. His expertise and vision will undoubtedly propel NPA and the ports forward,” Princess Haastrup said in a statement.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
