….As Executive Secretary Tours Rivers Seaports
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council, NSC has reiterated the federal government’s resolve to prioritize the diversification of the economy away from overdependence on the oil sector to the non oil sector.
The Executive Secretary of the NSC, Barr. Pius Akutah who disclosed this when he led the management of the Council on a 2-day working visit to Port-Harcourt and Onne Ports recently, observed that the Council was working assiduously to actualize the federal government’s directive on diversification of the economy away from the oil sector.
Akutah who maintained that the federal government was committed to making the country an investment hub for investors added that connecting the ports by rail would help in no small measure in reducing the cost of haulage.
Fielding questions from the journalists after inspection of facilities at the ports, the NSC boss informed that the visit offered him the opportunity to have an on-the spot assessment of the facilities deployed by the terminal operators.
He pointed out that NSC as the Port Economic Regulator was working with the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA on automation of the ports in order to reduce human contacts and to make clearance of cargo procedures and processes seamless.
The Council boss also said that the NSC was advocating for a bill which would transform the Council into the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency.
Barr. Akutah assured that the federal government was committed to creating an enabling environment for investors in the country hence the need to constantly visit the ports and engage the stakeholders in trade facilitation which according to him, was in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision on Ease of Doing Business.
The visit offered the NSC boss the opportunity to inspect facilities at BUA Terminal at Rivers Port, Onne Multipurpose Terminal and West Africa Container Terminal, WACT, all in Rivers State.
At the end of the facility tour of the ports and the terminals, the Council’s Chief Executive also had an interactive session with major stakeholders operating at the Eastern Ports where he told them that said the essence of the interactive session with stakeholders was to listen to the challenges that they are facing in carrying out their business in order to proffer solutions to them.
Harping on the benefits of the stakeholders’ engagement, Barr. Akutah promised to ensure that the collaboration between the Council and the stakeholders operating at the ports would be a continuous exercise even as he assured that the federal government was committed to creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive by addressing the decayed infrastructure at the ports.
He further assured that the Eastern ports would not be left out in the federal government’s effort to address the decaying infrastructure.
Photo: Barr. Pius Akutah, Executive Secretary/CEO, Nigerian Shippers’ Council.
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