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Tag: NPA

  • NPA, US partner on maritime security

    NPA, US partner on maritime security

    The United States (US) is to partner the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) to make the seaport safe for business.

    An official of the American Consulate-General in Lagos, Mr Rolf Olson, said the US was concerned about the country’s ability to tackle terrorism.

    Olson spoke when he and Ronald Rhinehart visited NPA Managing Director Mallam Habib Abdullahi in his office.

    Emphasising the need for the ports to be secured, Olson said the American Embassy had made its observation known to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

    He said there was need for both countries to work together to make global maritime activities safe.

    Replying, Abdullahi said NPA had perfected programmes, which would make the authority to be alive to its responsibilities and enhance port security.

    He said the programmes were designed to improve the performance of the security division of the authority in the areas of personnel recruitment, training and acquisition of necessary working tools and equipment to safeguard the port.

    Abdullahi said he was determined to improve the outlook and the performances of the security division of the authority to enable it to cope with the increasing security challenges.

    NPA, he said, has trained officers in all the seaports, adding that the ports are improving on the requirements of International Ship & Port Facility Security Code (ISPS) code. He added that under the concession regime, the management of NPA still oversees the security of the ports in conjunction with other sister organisations.

    While commending the United States government for initiating the move to ensure safety in the global maritime activity, Mallam Abdullahi assured that NPA would support the initiative, as it was in its best interest to tackle terrorism in the ports and its environs.

  • NPA, Police collaborate to secure ports

    The Police and the Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA) are partnering to protect the ports against terrorism and other crimes.

    Executive Director, Marine and Operations, NPA, Mr David Omonibeke, told The Nation that the NPA appreciates the crucial roles of the Police, and will continue to cultivate, maintain and sustain a mutual working relationship with them.

    NPA, he said, would continue to support the port police by providing necessary logistics to enhance their operation in securing the ports.

    Omonibeke noted that the new Commissioner of Police, Mrs Sherifat Disu Olakoju, has made remarkable changes since she assumed office.

    The General Manager, Security, NPA, Col. Jamil Tahir (rtd), said the seaports had not been attacked by terrorists because of the synergy between NPA and security agencies.

    The Ports Police Commissioner, however, said that a lot more needs to be done to improve security of the ports facilities.

    She urged NPA to support her officers in marine training, provision of patrol vehicles, accommodation, communication gadgets, sniffer dogs and a host of other equipment.

  • NPA to acquire equipment to boost security

    The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mallam Habib Abdullahi has approved the purchase of more equipment to boost port security.

    The items include boats for water front patrol, motor cycles, patrol van and towing vans for the security department of the agency to ensure efficient and effective security at the nation’s seaports.

    NPA’s General Manager, Security, Lt. Col Jamil Tahir (Rtd), made this known while addressing heads of security department at a quarterly meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    Tahir said baggage scanners and scanning machines for vehicles, trucks and their drivers would also be installed at the ports.

    He pointed out that the equipment would not affect Customs operations because the duties of his men and customs’ differ. He said: While “Customs officials look for contrabands, Nigerian Ports Security look for dangerous cargoes”.

    He thanked the management of the authority for sponsoring some security officers to attend local and international courses last year and appealed for more in view of the dynamic nature of security challenges.

    While commending his officers for their dedication to duty in the past year, he enjoined them not rest on their oars in order to reciprocate management’s gesture.

     

  • NPA re-deploys top management staff

    NPA re-deploys top management staff

    Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Managing Director Habib Abdullahi has re-deployed the top management staff, in a bid to reposition the organisation for effective performance.

    The reorganisation cuts across Assistant General Managers and Port Managers.

    General Manager, Public Affairs, Chief Michael Kayode Ajayi now heads the administrative department. The former General Manager, Marine, Capt. Iheanacho Ebubeogu, takes over from him.

    Abdullahi also approved the creation of a new department – New Business and Joint Ventures – to be headed by Mrs Ugo Madubuike. Mrs Madubuike was the former General Manager, Audit.

    The former General Manager, Procurement, Mallam Abdullahi Bashir, is now in-charge of Servicom department.

    But the General Manager, Board/Legal Adviser, Mrs Obiageli Anubi, retains her position. She was re-designated as Board Secretary/General Manager Board.

    Also affected are Mr. Sotonye Etomi of Eastern Ports, who is now General Manager, Special Duties. Mallam Nasri Kuliya, former General Manager Finance’s new portfolio is General Manager Audit, Mr Musa Danhassan, formerly Health Safety and Environment now takes charge of Physical Planning and Development.

    The exercise also affected the former General Manager, Western Port, Mallam Muhammed Bulangu, who is now in charge of Marine and Operations. The former General Manager, Human Resources, Miss. Adenike Sonaike, takes over from him

    Mr. Sunday Nwobi, the former General Manager, Physical Planning and Development, was moved to Eastern Ports. The former General Manager, Special Duties is now General Manager in-charge of Human Resources.

     

     

     

     

  • NPA gets two weeks to submit report on jetty fire

    NPA gets two weeks to submit report on jetty fire

    The Federal Government has given the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mallam Habbi Abdullahi, two weeks to submit a report on last week’s oil barge fire at the MRS Jetty at Tin Can Island, Lagos.

    The Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, issued the directive during his official visit to the MRS Oil facility to ascertain the damage done by the multiple explosions at the jetty.

    He said the government is worried because of the strategic position of the port to the country’s economy.

    The report, the minister said, should dwell on the immediate and remote causes of the incident and how to prevent a recurrence.

    On the call by Governor Babatunde Fashola for the relocation of the tank farms because of the danger they pose to the port community and Lagos State, the minister said the report would advise the government on what to do.

    MRS Oil Group Executive Director, Amina Maina, said the company is still investigating the cause of the fire, adding that the barge was empty at the time of the incident.

    She said there was no casualty, adding that eight persons were injured.

     

     

     

     

  • Fed Govt, Lagos seal deal on Lekki Deep sea port

    Lagos State and the Federal Government have signed an agreement for the construction of a deep sea port in Lekki.

    The Managing Director, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Mr Habib Abdullahi, who signed for the Federal Governmen yesterday, said the project was conceived to complement the Tin Can and Apapa Ports and for the development of the nation’s economy.

    Abdullahi , who noted that the two ports were overstretched, said the project would significantly help tackle the problem of ports congestion when completed.

    “The partnership is such that there is one foreign investor. Sixty per cent will go to the foreign investors, 20 per cent for the Federal Government through the NPA and 20 per cent equity for the state government. That is how it is going to work.

    “The driving force will be the foreign partners, who have already started work there. They have already invested some amount and we are expected also to put in our equities, ‘‘ he explained.

    He assured that the NPA would provide technical support for the project to ensure it complied with the required standards, adding that the NPA planned the construction of more ports for the state as well as other parts of the country.

  • 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.

  • NPA chief orders ports’ access roads cleared

    NPA chief orders ports’ access roads cleared

    THE Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mallam Habib Abdullahi, has expressed displeasure with the number of trucks abandoned on the ports’ access roads.

    He has directed that the trucks be evacuated to ease cargo movement.

    Traffic gridlock, he said, is a major problem, adding that a committee would be set up to solve it.

    The NPA boss, who toured the ports, hailed terminal operators for their contributions to trade facilitation and infrastructure upgrade at the seaports.

    He said port concessionaires were fulfilling their own part of the concession agreement with the Federal Government.

    Abdullahi praised terminal operators for their investments at Apapa and Tin Can ports.

    “There is, no doubt, when you look at the level of investments in terms of several billions of Naira our terminal operators have sunk here to boost seamless cargo clearance at the ports.

    ‘’We also thank the Federal Government for giving port concession a chance in this country, and you can see the success story today. So, port concession is successful in Nigeria,” he said.

    Abdullahi said he visited the Lagos ports for first hand information on investment and to see some of the challenges facing the sector.

    He said the new management of the authority was determined to succeed and tasked the staff and other maritime stakeholders to come forward with good ideas and suggestions that would promote port operations.

    The Lagos ports, he said, could compete favourably with the ports of Dubai, Singapore and other modern ports, if the government’s efforts to make the seaports the hub in the sub-region were complemented by stakeholders.

  • Five Star boss urges NPA on projects

    FIVE Star logistics has implored the management of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to hasten the completion and repairs of quay wall around the port for seamless movement of goods and trucks.

    The Executive Chairman of Comet Group of Companies, owners of the company, Musa Danjuma, made the call in a speech he delivered at the launching of the company’s latest asset, a 124 metric tonnes mobile liebbher crane.

    The event, which held at the Ro-Ro Terminal in Lagos, attracted notable personalities in the maritime sector. The crane, can lift 124 tonnes weight across a radius of 48 meters.

    Danjuma said the company made investment in pursuit of the Federal Government’s desire to make Nigeria the cargo hub for West and Central Africa.

    Managing Director of Comet Group of Companies, Mr Pier Luigi Carrodano, observed that the new crane “would be more than sufficient to meet client’s present and immediate future needs,” adding that the crane can pick containers from ship’s deck up to 16 rows, the size of Post-Panamax Container Liner. Therefore, it promises to boost container handling and bulk operations at the ever busy terminal.

  • Report on Ports Reform ready

    Report on Ports Reform ready

    The report of the Presidential Committee on Ports Reform is ready, The Nation has gathered.

    The committee was set up after a retreat summoned by President Goodluck Jonathan last July to find ways to boost economic development in the maritime sector.

    Disturbed by the slow space with which the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) were carrying out their responsibilities, the committee, according to information has given matching orders to the management of the two agencies to perform.

    The committee, investigation revealed, is not happy that despite the huge budgets approved for NPA and NIMASA in the last two years, the management of the two agencies did not do enough to improve the ports.

    Investigation also revealed that the committee, headed by the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar and assisted by the lawyer, Mr Olisa Agbakoba, also identified the key problems facing the sector.

    Sources close to the committee told The Nation last weekend that the report of the committee, which may be submitted soon, focused on safety and security of the nation’s waters, efficiency at ports, increasing local participation in shipping business and implementation of Cabotage Act. Other areas it dwelt on are completion of the reform of the ports, maximising revenue potential of the port industry and creation of jobs for the youth from the maritime sector among others.

    The report, sources said, also noted the views of stakeholders who attended the retreat by identifying the key problems facing the maritime sector and proffering solutions.

    The role of the committee, the source said, was to come up with initiatives that can be implemented by the Federal Government over the next six to 18 months to allow Nigerians to harness the opportunities in the maritime sector.

    “The laws governing ports operations in the country are outdated and ineffective. You can imagine a situation where the Ports Act provides only a fine of about a N100 for anybody who encroached into the ports’ land.

    “For almost six years, the ports have been in the hands of private operators, but there is no law empowering any of the government agencies, such as the NPA, NIMASA, or the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), to regulate the activities of the conces-sionaires. These are some of the issues the report will look into,” he said.

    It was learnt that there are some aspects of the nation’s laws that impact on the maritime sector.

    “For instance, the reason the Cabotage Act was formulated is well known to those in the industry. But the truth is that successive governments have failed to implement the Act despite the fact that the country loses over N2 trillion annually in capital flights to foreign countries because of the inability of the indigenous ship owners to participate in the lifting of the over 150 million tonnes of cargo from the country, and that is one of the major areas which the report of the committee also focused on,” the source said.

    The source said the high level of insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea, which the country is a major stakeholder has steadily risen from 45 per cent in 2010 to over 65 per cent in 2012. This, the source said, is another area where the report looked into because sea piracy has created a major economic problem for the country and it is threatening the nation’s over $600 million fishing business.

    President Jonathan, the source further said, is passionate about the development and transformation of the nation’s seaports to make them viable and competitive. The source said that was why the port reform agenda was embarked on.