In her drive to enhance the nation’s economy, the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman has promised to work with professionals in the maritime sector and make the ports attractive to business.Usman said this when members of the Nigerian Ports Consultative Council (PCC), visited the NPA headquarters recently.
The NPA helmsman said she was more determined to close the gaps between the agency and the professionals by engaging them in most of its activities to promote port business and she told the group that she would need their input and the input of other professionals to move the industry forward.She also expressed concern over other challenges facing the ports and assured the group of her determination to find a lasting solution to the problems and said she would find a solution to the issue of gridlock in Apapa and fix the access road to boost port operations.Usman also pledged to look critically at all the recommendations made by the PCC and promised to implement the good ones to boost the economy.She said the maritime industry needs the experience which many members of the PCC are expected to bring forward to NPA in charting a new course for the sector.She maintained that she was keen on making the ports competitive in the sub-region and improving the performance of the ports by developing port infrastructure, regulating charges and making the ports more cost effective.Usman noted that NPA had already embarked on the journey to achieve efficiency at the seaports, adding that the new management of NPA would deliver on its new mandate by meeting the expectations of Nigerians in port operation, efficiency and port charges.She admonished members of the Council to support NPA in its drive to make the port a hub in the sub-region, assuring them that all irregularities and arbitrariness in the ports system would be addressed by her team.In his address, the Chairman of PCC, Otunba Kunle Folarin said the Council is the only body that harbours many varied and diverse professionals and stakeholders under one roof and urged the management of NPA to always reach out to all stakeholders.Otunba Folarin said the PCC 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 also solicited for the support of the management of the NPA so that the group can attain its goals.
