The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority Hadiza Bala-Usman has expressed her determination to block all forms of revenue leakages, promote transparency and enhance critical infrastructure while bringing strategic ideas that will further improve services of the organization.
Hadiza Bala-Usman said this during her maiden official visit to Eastern Ports Headquarters’, Port Harcourt.
NPA MD added that she is quite mindful of the welfare of workforce and that a committee looking at the condition of service is about rounding off its job.
Usman who decried wastage in the system assured that executive management also stated that she will deliberate on the outcome of the job done by the committee, insisting that facilities within the Ports should be repaired and utilized appropriately.
In his welcome address, the General Manager, Eastern Ports, Abdullahi Goje expressed the ports appreciation on the Managing Director’s visit, appealing for the total rehabilitation of Eastern Ports Headquarters building, the installation of modern electronic gates in around the port.
He also advocated for adequate security of onshore and offshore facilities, the purchase of pilot cutters and protocol vehicles adding that management should also give a thought to training and retraining of the workforce for improved service delivery.
However, the Chairman of Senior Staff Association Rivers Port Branch Comrade Musa Doma requested the Managing Director to urgently address the case of decaying port facilities, also adding that there is no operational vehicle for Monitoring and Compliance Department among several issues.
Meanwhile the NPA MD has also emphasized the need to make defined efforts in prioritizing exports of Nigerian agricultural produce.
She said this during a maritime stakeholder’s forum organized by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) recently.
“We have commenced discussions with terminal operators to make them understand the need to provide priority considerations for Nigeria’s agricultural produce. There have been suggestions about having specialized export terminals but we already have general cargo terminals that can accommodate agric produce as well as other commodities” she said.
Hadiza referred to the maritime industry as the first industry that is truly global in nature. She said the sector had the capacity to contribute massively to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provide jobs directly and indirectly.
