To drive efficient port operations, government agencies in the maritime industry must strategically collaborate with one another, Hassan Bello, the outgoing executive secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), has said.
Bello, who gave a valedictory speech in Lagos at the weekend after completing his two tenures as the executive secretary of NSC, said the industry lacks genuine collaboration.
To him, people in government agencies are public servants that must contribute their quota to serving the people.
“My colleagues at Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), have to start the building block, because there is lack of synergy. We have to operate on the basis of equality because no agency is better than the other. All of us have a role to play for the industry to grow and become efficient,” he said.
Using railway as example, he said the Council told NRC that the port must have rail to move cargoes, and there was cooperation in building the rail until it was completed.
According to him, the Council is working with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to drive initiatives that are saving the nation’s economy.
He however disclosed that the Council has now become involved in the concession agreement and development of Lekki Deep Seaport due to the intervention of the Federal Ministry of Transportation.
“Agencies are not graded by their budget but by what they contribute and there is no big agency, because big agencies crumble if they don’t do what they have to do,” he said.
Speaking to newsmen on the sideline of the event, Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, said there is need for the port operation to be digitalised to ensure it runs efficiently.
He observed that the recent visit of the Buhari to Apapa port where the traffic gridlock disappeared suddenly clearly shows that there is lack of efficiency that has to be addressed.
The highlight of the event was the presentation of awards to several categories of staff. Some of the categories include outstanding zonal officers, outstanding department of the year, and outstanding staff of the year. Others were long service awards to staff that have served the Council for 15, 20, 25 and 30 years.
