Barth Ndubuwah,Port Harcourt
In a bid to have smooth operations at the ports,in line with the ease-of-doing-business policy of the federal government, the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) Tuesday organized a one day workshop in Port Harcourt,the Rivers State capital to sensitize stakeholders in the maritime industry on the implementation of the Nigerian Port Process Manual(NPPM).
Addressing the gathering, Executive Secretary of NSC,Mr Hassan Bello said Nigeria cannot afford to drop from its 149 out of 180 ranking in the maritime subsector.This, he said requires every stakeholder to work hard and achieve target.
According to him,the Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA) has launched ‘e-callup’ in Lagos and the system is working well, which he said has reduced cost of transportation.
Mr Bello also said that NSC plans to establish inter-connectivity among the agencies (operators)at the ports as it is in Lagos.
He stressed that business should be done online, which he said ensures efficiency.
The Executive Secretary said the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is working with the Ministry of Transport to achieve results.
He noted that if everybody works cooperatively, Nigeria will go places.
“NPA is working with the Ministry of Transport to achieve result.If everybody cooperates, Nigeria will go places. Nigerian Shippers Council is a lead Agency,but it cannot do the work of all other agencies.It is important therefore for every agency or stakeholder to do its work. This is because Nigerian Ports are competing with other ports globally,”Bello said.
The NSC boss futher said that there should be no competition among stakeholders, but they should rather cooperate and work harmoniously for the interest of the nation.
In her own remarks,the Managing Director of NPA,Hadiza Bala-Usman lauded the Project Steering Committee for achieving the Nigerian Port Process Manual (NPPM) Project, hence the need for its implementation.
Represented by the General Manager,PPP,Mrs Eniola Williams,the MD recalled that the Standard Operating Procedures(SOP) followed the same procedure like the NPPM.
Usman said that the NPPM is meant to streamline how operations are carried out at the ports.
“NPA funded the Steering Committee to develope the NPPM, which contains detailed guidelines of ports procedures. We believe and support the Manual to improve operations at the ports.
NPA being the gateway to economic activities in the country,will no doubt achieve her target,” Bala-Usman said.
Adding his voice to the issue, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission’s (ICPC) Representative,Mr Ademola Bakare said ICPC is solidly behind NPA in their quest to sanitize ports operations in the country. He said ICPC will continue to work in partnership with other agencies at the ports in line with SOP and now NPPM.