Minister Wants Agencies, Stakeholders To Support NSC On NPPM Implementation

Harboursandport.com: Lagos - The Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi on Tuesday charged government agencies and stakeholders in the maritime industry to support the Nigerian Shippers Council, NSC saddled with the responsibility of driving the Nigerian Ports Process Manual, NPPM.

The Minister gave the charge at the virtual meeting hosted by the NSC to sensitise government agencies and stakeholders in the maritime sector on the implementation of the NPPM.

The Minister in his keynote address he emphasized the enormity of the responsibility placed the Nigerian Shippers’ Council for driving the process and urged government agencies and the generality of the public to cooperate with NSC.

A statement by the Head of Public Relations Unit of the Council, Rakiya Zubairu, noted that the Executive Secretary of NSC, Hassan Bello, said that the Nigerian Ports Process Manual is key to transparency in Nigerian ports.

In his words, “There is a need to reduce the dwell time of cargo from 21 days to the regional average of 7 days. NSC is not only looking at the ease of doing business but at the cost of doing business.”

He added that the electronic call-up system by the Nigerian Ports Authority would aid in easing the current traffic situation around the port. He sought for the cooperation of sister agencies to ensure the manual is fully implemented in order to improve the ranking of Nigeria in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI).

Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman in her remark, said that the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of the various agencies in the maritime sector are closely tied therefore the need for seamless cooperation and integration of relevant agencies. The NPA she promised would ensure compliance to the manual and implement sanctions for non-compliance.

Similarly, Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, spoke on some of the challenges which include insecurity and corruption.

He noted that the methods of addressing these issues are embedded in the NPPM.

“Our industry can only be sustained in terms of economic growth if we have sustainable systems in place to make our ports attractive”, he said.

A major highlight of the meeting was the presentation of the Port Service Support Portal PSSP which will be the primary tool to drive the implementation of the NPPM. It may be recalled that the NPPM was launched by the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo on December 9 2020.