We ‘ll make Nigeria a regional ports hub, says Usman

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala Usman, has assured stakeholders in sub sector that her administration would work assiduously towards making the Nigeria’s ports a hub in the sub-region.

Usman made this commitment during an interactive session with the 14-member Inter-Ministerial Standing Committee on the Nigerian Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation, at the NPA Headquarters, Marina, Lagos.

Usman emphasised the need for all hands to be on deck especially relevant stakeholders to making the Ports operate in line with International best practices.

She pledged support to the committee while calling on members to acquaint the general public with its modus operandi vis-à-vis its challenges and plans of achieving “clear cut deliverables’’ within the nation’s seaports.

The head of the committee, Ashibel Utsu, stated that before the inception of the committee in 2013, there was a total abandonment of the Nigerian seaports and railways by the Nigerien business community on the movement of cargo as a result of human factors.

This, he said resulted in the use of ports in Lome, Ghana and Cotonou, which deprived the country of resources. According to him, these also resulted in huge revenue loss to the NPA.

He stated that with the setting up of a similar committee in Niger, efforts are being made at ensuring that these factors are looked into and bottlenecks are amicably resolved in a view of fast tracking the gains from such synergy.

The committee is made up of representatives from the Maritime sub-sector as well as officials from the Ministry of Transportation.