NPA, NPCC collaborate to boost economy

The managing director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, has promised to work with professionals in the maritime sector to make the ports attractive for business.

NPA, Usman said, 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.

Speaking when members of the Nigerian Ports Consultative Council (NPCC) paid her a courtesy visit recently, the NPA helmsman told the group that she would need their input and that of other professionals to move the industry forward.

NPA, she said, will find solution to the issue of gridlock in Apapa and fix the access road to boost port operations

She expressed concern over other challenges facing the ports and assured the group of her determination to find a lasting solution to the problems.

NPA, she said, would look critically at all the recommendations made by the group and promised to implement the good ones to boost the economy.

The maritime industry, she said, needs the experience which many members of the NPCC are bring forward to NPA in charting a new course for the sector.

She also expressed the readiness of her management team to pursue the issue of making the ports competitive in the sub-region to a logical conclusion to improve the performance of the ports by developing port infrastructure, regulating charges and making the ports more cost effective.

NPA, Usman said, had embarked on the journey to achieve efficiency at the seaports.

The new management of NPA, Usman said, would deliver on its new mandate by meeting the expectations of Nigerians in port operation, efficiency and port charges.

While calling on members of the Council to support the NPA in its drive to make the port a hub in the sub-region, she also assured them that all irregularities and arbitrariness in the ports system would be addressed by her team.

In his address, the Chairman of NPCC, 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.

NPCC, Folarin said, 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 NPCC also solicited for the support of the management of the NPA so that the group can attain its goal.