Business
NPA board inaugurated, pledges support
Rotimi Amaechi
Aminat Aminu-Isah
The newly inaugurated Board Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Board, Chief Akin Anderson Ricketts has pledged the board’s full cooperation to enable the NPA deal with the challenges towards improved service delivery.
The Chairman gave the pledge at the controlled and brief inauguration ceremony by the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi on Thursday, and said the board would work in synergy and effective oversight of the NPA without constituting itself into an alternative management.
According to Rickertts, who spoke on behalf of the newly inaugurated board, the board intends to confront the challenges of experienced at the ports head-on in conjunction with NPA and other stakeholders, as a way ameliorating the sufferings of port users to enable the ease of doing business at the port, as envisaged by the Federal Government.
He also said the uncontrollable congestion at the Lagos ports must be dealt with as a priority challenge, due to its efficiency which has been hampered by inadequate evacuation corridors occasioned by road congestion, with resultant effects on prompt service delivery
Ricketts further stressed that the Eastern corridor seaports are underutilized and must be made to function optimally,
“We are sure that NPA wouldn’t have its share of challenges and issues that need to be resolved or need immediate attention. We will do that in conjunction with the Management and all relevant stakeholders. We will ensure that we give every issue and matter that comes to our attention the consideration it deserves and deal with it fairly and objectively, without favour or ill will.
“We will create an atmosphere where employees would be given the opportunity to air their views and express dissent on any policy or action they feel strong about. And we will ensure that measures are emplaced so that this process is not unduly abused. We will ensure that feedback mechanisms are in place from our major stakeholders and port users so that we improve on service delivery, efficiency and capacity” The Chairman assured.
The minister advised the new board not to run a parallel management, and also tasked them on smooth operations at the ports.
“It is important you work with the management. It is important you realize you are not the management, you are a board.
“We are in unusual times but we cannot afford to shut our seaports. Activities must continue,” Said the Minister.
Other board members include; Mohammed Koko, Onari Brown, Sen. Binki Garba, Sen. John Udoidighe, Abdullwahab Adeshina, Ghazali Mohammed, Mustapha Aminu Dutse and Prof. Idris Abubakar.
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