Author: Saint Augustine

In their collective resolve to religiously implement the Executive orders on 24 hours port operations, government agencies operating at the nation’s maritime sector have agreed to establish a central portal to be known as the Port Community System where all the agencies and stakeholders will be domiciled and interact. The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman who disclosed this while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the meeting of the Heads of government agencies and parastatals in the maritime sector held in Lagos yesterday said the portal was going to be an independent portal…

In its determination and renewed drive towards the implementation and enforcement of regulations and policies aimed at operational efficiency through the ease of doing business in all the Ports across the nation, the Federal Government has urged for the co-operation and collaboration of all relevant approved agencies and stakeholders within the Port environment in order to actualize the swift implementation of the Executive Order recently released by the Government concerning 24-hour operations at the nation’s seaports. This statement was made by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman who was accompanied by the Comptroller General…

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has called on the stakeholders to avoid the temptation of being carried away by emotions with the effect of making statements that may mislead the public. Reacting to a news report in the Saturday, June 3, 2017 edition of THISDAY with the headline “Stop Your Anti-Port Investors’ Campaign, CMP Counsels Usman”, Principal Manager, Public Affairs NPA, Ibrahim Nasiru noted that the organization was committed to realizing the utmost potential of the maritime sector in the country. In achieving this, Nasiru said that the interest of the country was placed above any other factor including existing…

By Frank Ukor That the public hearing on the CRFFN amendment bill has come and gone is an undisputable fact. What is going on now is the politics of the amendment. We had looked forward to a day like this when the CRFFN Act 16 of 2007 would be amended so that the flaws in the Act would be corrected to make it manageable. It is not to say however that the first and second Councils did not achieve anything. Rather on the contrary, they achieved much, going by the number of regulations they made, the number of freight forwarders…

… Assures of conducive environment The Minister of Transportation, Rt. Honourable Rotimi Amaechi has stated that the Nigerian maritime sector is a haven of opportunities for the world maritime industry to tap into. The Minister who made this known while speaking at the “Africa @ Nor” session of the recently concluded Nor-Shipping 2017 which held at Lillstrome, Norway, assured the audience that Nigeria was a strategic destination for investment opportunities, stressing that Nigeria epitomized a broad spectrum of the continent in Africa. “Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with about 183 million people and by extension, with the…

A clarion call has gone to the staff of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), to optimize their contribution to the growth of the organization in making use of vast potentials presented to them by their immediate environment in the discharge of their schedules. The Managing Director of the NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman represented by the General Manager Health, Safety and Environment (HSE), Ahmed Yusuf made this charge while addressing stakeholders at an event marking World Environment Day 2017 with the theme “Connecting People to Nature” at Rock view Hotels, Apapa, Lagos. She reminded participants at the event drawn from all…

The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman and the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside yesterday led other dignitaries to sensitize young girls of Secondary School age on the career opportunities in the nation’s maritime industry. The event which marked the official take-off of the Girls Go-To-Sea Campaign  and which took place at the Osborne Schools Complex, Ikoyi, Lagos was a pet project of the Face of Maritime International (FOMI), a brainchild of Platform Communications. Speaking in a lecture titled,” What a man can do, a Woman can do…

…As Osinbajo gives conditions for assent Half way into the fiscal year, the Presidency and the leadership of the National Assembly made last minute attempts last night, to salvage the document by sorting out areas of disagreement. The meeting between the Presidency and the leadership of the National Assembly to iron out the grey areas in the budget was underway at press time. According to impeccable sources, the presidency, which prepared the budget, was riled that the leadership of the National Assembly unilaterally introduced more than 400 ‘strange projects’ into the budget before belatedly passing it last month. The said…

After two years on the saddle, the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has scored the 8th high on its legislative duties describing it as Senate with many first. Speaking on the journey thus far, after being at the helm of the Senate and the National Assembly as a whole for the past two years, the Senate President said: “I am comfortable with the support that I have received from my colleagues. One thing that makes the 8th Senate different is that we take initiative. “For example, a bill like the PIGB would have been easier to pass as an…

…Senate to discuss motion on interest rates President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has stated that contrary to wrong interpretations in the media on a recommendation by the Senate Committee on Works, the proposed National Road Fund Bill would not lead to any increase in the current price of fuel. Speaking with reporters in Ilorin on Saturday after the breaking of fast, Saraki also said the Senate would this week discuss a motion on the interest rates being charged by commercial banks on loans to customers, particularly entrepreneurs who need borrowed funds to stay afloat and contribute to…