The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Mallam Habib Abdullahi

  • Japan partners NPA on technology, infrastructure

    The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mallam Habib Abdullahi, has said the organisation supports the infusion of Japanese advanced technology in critical areas of its operation to boost infrastructural and technological development of the ports.

    He spoke when a Japanese delegation visited him in office.

    Abdullahi, who was represented by the General Manager, Capital Projects, Mr Rufai Mohammed, said the agency would make its technical and infrastructural needs available to the Japanese government for their support.

    Abdullahi said the authority was involved in massive infrastructural renewal projects at its headquarters, in Onne, Warri and Lagos ports. He added that the organisation’s 25 years Development Plan would soon be ready

    He noted that NPA had benefited in training programmes organised by the Japanese government in the past, and that it is a welcome development that such assistance is coming again.

    He said the visit would further improve the collaboration between Nigeria and Japan, especially now that NPA was embarking on capital-intensive port reforms aimed at making the ports the leader in Africa.

    The Section Manager, Urban and Transportation Planning Group of the Yachiyo Engineering Company Limited, Mr Yasuhiro Yamauchi, assured that the Japanese government is ready to partner NPA in particular and Nigeria in general, especially in the area of technical abilities that would be useful for different projects in the country.

    The Japanese representative said Japan was ready to help Africa, but that they wanted to start with Nigeria because of its population and economy.

  • NPA unveils plan to rehabilitate Oshodi-Apapa Express road

    Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director Mallam Habib Abdullahi has expressed concern over the gridlock at the Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports in Lagos.

    Abdullahi attributed the gridlock to the bad access roads, adding that they have been worsened by the rains and the reconstruction of the Apapa–Oshodi Expressway.

    He called for collaboration among stakeholders to address the problem. Abdullahi said NPA plans to meet stakeholders to seek a way forward with.

    The agency, he said, would cooperate and work with relevant government agencies and stakeholders to find a lasting solution to the perennial traffic jam.

    He praised the Federal Ministry of Works for the re-construction of the road and Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola for finding a solution to the problem.

    Abdullahi appealed to the construction firms to expedite work on the road, adding that the NPA has also embarked on remedial work on the common user roads to alleviate the problem.

    He said NPA was partnering with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on its Train for Trade Port Training Programme so that it can continue to keep abreast of developments in ports’ operation.

    Speaking when a delegation of the UN’s agency visited him in Lagos, he said training was important to NPA, adding that because of the competition from other ports in the West Africa sub-region, there was the need for operators in the industry to acquire necessary skills that will facilitate efficient and smooth operations.

    Abdullahi said NPA’s Human Resources Division would liaise with the UNCTAD team to determine areas of needs and how best both parties could benefit from the collaboration.

    The leader of the UNCTAD delegation, Mark Assaf, said the Train for Trade Port Training Programme, which is run in conjunction with Irish Aid of the Irish Government, operates through four language-based networks English, French, Portuguese and Spanish in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

    Assaf said the programme was part of UNCTAD’s Corporate Social Responsibility to developing countries and a way of showing commitment to ports’ operations globally.

    Urging the NPA to assist in mobilising stakeholders to key into it, he said the programme has been of immense benefit to participating countries.

    The UNCTAD delegation also met with the management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Shippers Council, Nigeria Customs Service, terminal operators, clearing agents and visited Apapa and Tin Can Island ports.

  • NPA to become Africa’s leading port, says MD

    The Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA) may become the leading port in West and Central Africa, following the berthing of the largest vessel in Lagos, its Managing Director, Mallam Habib Abdullahi, has said.

    Abdullahi, who said a roadmap to actualise urged the workers to ensure that NPA obtained that status by providing a safe, secure and customer friendly environment.

    Speaking at the opening of a retreat to fashion out a five-year strategic development plan for the NPA, Abdullahi urged the staff to make the ports attractive for business.

    He advised top officials to embrace new technology and innovation so as to realised NPA’s vision.

    NPA’s Executive Director, Finance and Administration,Olumide Oduntan, told the Executive Directors, General Managers, Assistant General Managers and Port Managers to follow the direction outlined in the firm’s vision and mission.

    After viewing a video clip on the Port of Singapore, Oduntan said: “Nothing happens by chance. Somebody or group of people dreamt about what is happening now in Singapore and other major ports of the world some years ago and that is why we are here to make sure we become the best in Africa.”

    Participants at the event urged the workers to be efficient, adding that the firm should look into its reward system, work environment, motivation, attitudinal change, succession plans, political interference, multiplicity of agencies at the ports, monitoring and performance evaluation, among others.

    Meanwhile, the NPA boss has called for mutual economic cooperation between NPA and the Port of Hong Kong, especially in the area of training and manpower development.

    Abdullahi made the call in Lagos while receiving the International President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), Dr. Dorothy Chan in Lagos.

    He said NPA has operated the landlord model of port operation since 2006 after port terminals were concessioned to private operators.

    Abdullahi said the agency would be willing to avail its experiences to other ports that may wish to operate the system, adding that NPA has benefited from the programmes of CILT and other organisations like the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA), International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH), among others.

    While acknowledging the support of the International President for the Nigerian chapter, he assured Chan that NPA would continue to support CILT in the country.

    The first female president of the 95- year-old institute said she was aware of the enormous contributions NPA and appealed to Abdullahi to assist CILT Nigeria for its bill before the National Assembly.

  • NPA set to block revenue leakages, boost operation

    Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA) has launched an Information Communication and Technology (ICT) centre to check revenue leakages, improve port operations and provide comfort for members of the shipping community.

    Speaking while test-running the equipment, the Managing Director, Mallam Habib Abdullahi, said the centre was open as part of NPA’s efforts to meet with international best practices and solve internal problems faced by the agency.

    He said the centre would be extended to other maritime stakeholders to bring about efficiency in port operations, adding that the objective of the ICT centre is to improve overall efficiency of port operations, block revenue leakages and to provide comfort for members of the shipping community.

    “Management consequently unveiled the following broad initiatives to deliver our vision for overall transformation of the NPA, which includes; identification of revenue leakages and seeking ways to block such leakages,” he said.

    He said that the initiative was aimed at investment in massive infrastructural renewal and development projects geared towards deepening the channel to attract larger vessels and to automate and integrate various ports nationwide using the same information technology platform.

    He said the new development is also expected to change fundamentally and positively the ICT literacy and interaction level within the organisation by bolstering application of computer automation in the organisation processes and drive the ICT culture, stressing that the ICT helpdesk is specifically designed to escalate hard and soft challenges to ICT engineers for prompt response.

    He pointed out that management has also identified the need to establish a call centre for clients across the nation.

  • NPA MD incurs senators’ anger

    NPA MD incurs senators’ anger

    • ‘I didn’t shun meeting with committee’

    Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director Mallam Habib Abdullahi has drawn the ire of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport for not being on hand to receive it during its visit to the agency’s Lagos headquarters.

    The senators accused him of “deliberating” avoiding them when they came to inspect the agency’s projects and appraise its budget performance for last year before considering its appropriations for this year.

    The senators, who said they wrote Abdullahi two weeks ago to inform him of their visit, wondered why he was not around to receive them.

    They said rather than write them officially, Abdullahi called their chairman, Senator Zaynab Kure on phone after some of them had arrived in Lagos.

    Senator Kure said they were not happy with the way Abdullahi, who was represented by the Executive Director, Finance & Administration, Mr. Olumide Oduntan, treated them.

    She said: “On behalf of my distinguished colleagues, I want to express my disappointment and displeasure, and of course, embarrassment at your MD’s inability to receive an esteemed committee made up of distinguished senators that have come on an oversight function to the NPA.

    “The committee wrote about two weeks ago to NPA that we are coming on a constitutional and statutory assignment. If, for any reason the MD, who must have received the letter, knew he won’t be around to receive us, he should have written back to us that he has another assignment that he feels is much more important than receiving a committee as this.

    “But there was not that communication. I only got a call from the NPA MD on my way to the airport, by which time all my other colleagues have boarded the aircraft, informing me that he won’t be able to receive us.

    “I did not tell my other colleagues because I thought that if I had done that, I won’t be doing justice to what has brought us here. I wanted everybody to come and see things for themselves. Except for one of us, every other member of this committee is here for this oversight visit.

    “We are all here because we have taken our job so seriously. Most of us left other important assignments back home, because we want to discharge our responsibilities as a committee that is concerned about the maritime sector of this country.

    “But for us to get here and the MD is not here, I must tell you that the committee is seriously disappointed and we are not happy at all. We want you to communicate same to your MD.

    “We know that you are working as a team, but the MD has no right, whatsoever, to have treated us the way we are treated today. We should have known that he won’t be here and would have possibly rescheduled our trip.”

    The committee, Senator Kure said, came to see things for itself before the agency’s 2014 budget would be passed.

    She said: “We feel it is pertinent that we appraise NPA’s performance with the 2013 budget before passing the 2014 budget. But now that nobody is here to give us brief of what has been done with the 2013 budget, our hands are tied on what to do with the 2014 appropriation budget.

    “If we wanted just the budget performance appraisal, we could do it in Abuja. But we wanted to come and see on-going projects, that is why we came down to Lagos.”

    A member of the committee, Senator Ben Ayade, accused Abdullahi of “disrespect”.

    He said: “I feel highly compromised. I think there is an absolute disrespect for the National Assembly. This conduct is deliberate. I find it very insulting. In this committee, we have at least two ex-governors. We have wives of former governors; we have former directors of the NPA. I find it very insulting for the MD of the NPA to be away when we are here on oversight duties.

    “It means we are not a priority to him. There can’t be anything more insulting. For me, as far as I am concerned, I am done with NPA.”

    A former NPA director and member of the Committee, Senator Abubakar Sadiq Yar’Adua, described the development as sad.

    He said: “It means the NPA MD does not take us serious. I was his boss when I was in the NPA. He reported to me as a General Manager. I think there is no need for us wasting time here.

    “Let us just go and leave them. If NPA thinks it can operate without us, we will see to that. We are here to ask questions on the performance of the budget, but it’s a pity that all those who are in a better position to give us such details are not here. This behaviour is totally wrong and unacceptable.”

    Contacted, NPA’s Principal Manager, Public Affairs, Mr Isa Suwedi said Abdullahi did not shun meeting with the committee. He said his boss would soon meet the committee to sort out things.

  • NPA boss urges dedication

    The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA), Mallam Habib Abdullahi, has challenged its members of staff to rededicate themselves to work and ensure effective service delivery.

    Speaking at a one-day seminar on the five-year strategic plan organised for the management team of NPA, its boss said the organisation has a duty to Nigerians.

    Abdullahi commended the staff for their support and cooperation in ensuring good performance of NPA over the years.

    He said the event was timely because it was designed to come up with the strategies to ensure steady growth, enhance productivity and improve efficiency in the NPA in the next five years.

    The Executive Director Finance and Administration of NPA, Olumide Oduntan, said the seminar was a preparation forw the retreat.

    Oduntan said the plan would positively structure NPA for the challenges ahead and that it would also assist successive NPA managements because they would have a comprehensive document to work with, adding that it would make things easy for terminal operators and other stakeholders.

  • Abdullahi seeks autonomy for NPA

    As the nation awaits the passage of the Ports and Harbour Bill by the National Assembly, the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Mallam Habib Abdullahi, has advocated a measure of autonomy for the authority in the bill.

    Abdullahi said if the agency is autonomous, it would perform efficiently.

    “No port in the world can exist and prosper without a measure of independence, therefore, autonomy is strategic and required to ensure efficiency in line with international best practices.”

    He said vessels waiting time is now 19 days instead of 28 and that the channels had been dredged to the required draught.

    Many foreign investors, he said, have indicated interest in ports development in the country. This, he said, came to light during the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to New York. He explained that this was an indication of the international recognition of the nation’s maritime potential.