Patronise ports in the Eastern flank of the county to decongest Lagos ports
The managing director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala-Usman has appealed to importers and exporters to patronise ports in the Eastern flank of the county to decongest Lagos ports.
Hadiza Bala-Usman, made the appeal at the NPA Special Day at the 29th Enugu International Trade Fair in Enugu on Saturday, saying that patronising the Eastern ports would reduce trucks traffic on Lagos roads as well.
“I wish to use this medium to appeal to importers and exporters to patronise the ports in the Eastern flank of the country, namely: Warri, Rivers, Onne and Calabar ports as this will decongest the ports in Lagos,’’ she said.
According to her, NPA had remained resolute in its drive to ensure that the nation’s ports remain safe, secure and customer-friendly, while delivering efficient port services.
‘‘I am glad to inform you that NPA is implementing with vigour, the Presidential Order on Ease of Doing Business in the nation’s ports.
“This is with a view to eradicating all bottlenecks to business transactions in the nation’s seaports.
‘‘We will like port users and stakeholders in the nation’s maritime sector to take advantage of this development,’’ Bala-Usman said.
Continuing, she averred that the Authority had continued with its vision statement of being the leading port in Africa and making our seaports a pride of the nation in service delivery.
She noted further that “We have made improvement in our port infrastructure, navigational aids and channels with 24 hours port operations, both for berthing of vessels and discharge of cargo,’’ the managing director said.
While stressing that the authority would continue to improve intermodal transportation system to encourage speedy transfer of goods from the sea ports, the NPA boss disclosed that “We anticipate that government’s policies geared toward the diversification of the Nigerian economy will make our ports to attract transshipment of cargoes, which will help to boost our revenue”.
