By Seun Ibiyemi

The House of Representatives Committee on Ports and Harbour has demanded the restructuring of Terminal Operators and Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) Licensed Agents in the country.

Chairman of the committee, Rep. Nnolin Nnaji, disclosed this at the interactive session with terminal operators and NPA licensed agents in Abuja on Thursday.

“Our goal is to effect changes that will restructure the unique and high-tech sector and position it to strategically compete in the global space.

“This sector is very dynamic and we must constantly review the standards, facilities and operational guidelines to keep pace with its obtainable global best practices,” he said.

The lawmaker reiterated the committee’s readiness to ensure that the sector remained one of the best through appropriate legislation and oversight.

“This is to bequeath to Nigerians, ports and harbours that are properly regulated and better managed for greater efficiency.

“It is important to harmoniously promote the objective of professionalising the modus operandi of this sector to improve our country’s Gross Domestic Product and revenue generation.

“We intend to collaborate with relevant stakeholders in the industry to ensure that appropriate avenues are created for economic development,” he said.

He said the committee was poised to make the ports a hub for better non-oil revenue generation, adding that the house would continue to support total rehabilitation and upgrading of ports, harbours and allied services.

In her contribution, the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, Council for the Registration of Freight Forwarders of Nigeria, Urunta Chinyere, advised terminal operators to adopt electronic mode of payment.

“This is to reduce human interface in their operations,” the officer said.

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the conduct of an extensive census to ascertain the fault lines and aid proper planning.

The presidential directive handed down on Thursday, is expected to produce data on all schools in Nigeria from primary to tertiary level, their present conditions and live-in facilities, proximity to one another and infrastructure.

It will also ascertain the number of teachers in the country, their qualifications, training support received, number of pupils and students in primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions, gender, and exam grades, among others.

The Federal Ministry of Education, currently under Mamman Tahir’s purview, will partly spearhead the process by hosting a portal or dashboard where the critical information will be dropped.

A statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity noted that the policy DOTS, an acronym for Data Repository, Out-of-School Children Education, Teacher Training and Development, and Skill Development and Acquisition will comprehensively overhaul the education sector to improve learning and skill development, increase enrolment, and ensure the academic security of the nation’s children.

The presidency said the information that will be derived from the exercise will guide federal and state interventions for teachers’ training and development as well as overall support.

“It will also provide data on gender ratio (boys and girls), their specific learning needs, and who is in school or who has dropped out based on daily monitoring with year-by-year reporting.

“There will be a dedicated portal/dashboard in the Federal Ministry of Education, offices of state governors, and local government chairpersons, which will host and disseminate this information for the federal government, states, and local governments to monitor in real time.

“This new data tracking architecture will enable the government to track the progress of students, thus having a clear data-driven mechanism for interventions, especially concerning out-of-school children, [especially] girls, and those with specific learning disabilities, among others,” the presidential spokesman added.

On the challenges of out-of-school children’s education and training, the Federal Ministry of Education said it is already implementing the government’s policy through the activities of four of its agencies, with about two million beneficiaries already recorded.

The Enugu State Government says it will not condone any act of overcharge or extortion of electricity consumers in the state by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC).

Gov. Peter Mbah gave the warning on Thursday while declaring open a three-day Customer Complaints Resolution Meeting organised by the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) in Enugu.

Mbah, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Chidiebere Onyia, identified electricity as a product, adding that it should have cost implications which should be fair and reflective of economic realities to all stakeholders.

“I urge NERC not to derail on the steady and quality power supply according to the band classifications,”

According to him, the state government is committed to ensuring that people have access to electricity services in the state.

The governor said that the government was currently studying underserved and unserved communities and would soon constitute the management of the newly established Enugu State Electrification Agency.

“Enugu State is poised to catalyze the economic growth of the South-East through a cost effective and efficient power supply to grow our Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and industries among others,”.

While commending NERC for organising this event, the governor charged the regulatory body to endeavour to resolve most of the challenges faced by customers as complained by them.

He said that the government had started engaging with developers and investors interested in setting up power generation plants under the willing-buyer and willing-seller commercial agreement.

Mbah said that when completed, it would catalyze economic and industrial growth of the state and South-East.