The NPA, leadership and Bello Koko

By Chuka Okoro The ongoing Koko-led transformation, re-engineering and repositioning of the NPA speak to fundamental changes that are afoot at the apex maritime organisation. This swathe of changes may lead to an unwitting mix up in the proper contextualization and appreciation of their scope and significance. The imperative of disambiguating the NPA managing director’s […]

By Chuka Okoro

The ongoing Koko-led transformation, re-engineering and repositioning of the NPA speak to fundamental changes that are afoot at the apex maritime organisation. This swathe of changes may lead to an unwitting mix up in the proper contextualization and appreciation of their scope and significance. The imperative of disambiguating the NPA managing director’s trajectory, over his first 100 days  in the saddle then becomes necessary.       

For Koko, the first order of business on ascending the saddle was to initiate fresh initiatives targeting cost minimization and value maximization by infusing greater efficiency in NPA’s diverse operations, plugging income leakages and cutting down on administrative overheads. The quick impact of this course could be felt. There are more.

Connected to the foregoing was the astonishing improvement of the debt recovery and collection mechanisms, which triggered a remarkable decrease in the debt owed the agency for services rendered to stakeholders such as the NNPC, IOCs and other partners.

Lacking precedents, the remittance of N45.08 billion over a four-month period and the fact that N26.83 billion constitutes 2022 operational remittance, hugely testify to the effectiveness of these initiatives. The agency actually has its operational focus locked on surpassing stakeholders’ expectations.

In sync with global standards of transparency, the NPA successfully established an Asset Register aligned with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS); a challenge that had long subsisted. Actual remittance into the Sinking Fund for the take-off of Lekki Deep Seaport also took-off in the period within Koko’s first 100 days in office.

The successful fulfilment of the requirement for ISO certification of Harbours Department and some port locations also was a notable achievement. Aware that no institution can progress without a properly-trained human resource, NPA took a far-reaching step here.

It inaugurated an ultra-modern training school and entered into partnerships with capacity-building institutions such as the World Maritime University and Nigerian Navy Hydrographic Department. Beyond human resource training and upgrade, the agency also equipped the workforce with the necessary tools for excellent service delivery. The control towers in the Tincan Island and Apapa Ports were fully furnished and equipped, and work commenced for the construction of a control tower at Takwa Bay. New Pilot Cutters and Patrol Boats were also acquired and deployed in the eastern ports for improved operations. State-of-the-art radio communication equipment was procured and being deployed in NPA’s various signal stations.

Backing the federal government’s efforts at diversifying the national economy through the promotion of exports, the agency has certified 10 Export Processing Terminals, to eliminate the delays that rendered Nigerian exports uncompetitive.

After weighing its options, NPA sought to promote multi-modalism and scale down the singular dependence on roads as the means of movement of cargo from the port and to assure the safety of barge operations, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), and a tariff regime is being introduced to boost revenue.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed with the Lagos State government to forestall breakdown of law and order along the port corridor. This move has resulted in establishment of a mobile court. Motor cycles were also acquired and deployed for traffic surveillance.  

To de-escalate pressure on the nation’s Western ports, the agency moved to reposition the Eastern ports for increased patronage. In this connection, work has commenced for the mapping and surveying of Warri-Koko-Sapele channel, dredging of Escravos bar, technical studies on the Breakwater at Delta Ports and rehabilitation of Road “D” at the Federal Ocean Terminal Onne Port. 

The morning clearly predicts the day. After just 100 days on the saddle, the agency’s CEO has signalled that the old way of running the nation’s premier maritime agency is gone for good. The NPA is being fundamentally repositioned and infused with the essential enablers that determine the prospects of ports to garner market share and face the future with confidence.

Several challenges are also coming into play. Security is one. Risks have always been a challenge for the shipping industry, but today, they’re providing more issues to overcome. For example, pirates pose a bigger threat for shipping, especially since the number of maritime piracy and armed robberies on ships in West Africa, Southeast Asia and other maritime jurisdictions have increased. But these threats can only stop the faint-hearted and Koko is certainly not one.

Additionally, even as Koko ramps up changes at NPA, modern technologies could make ships and the industry at large more susceptible to cyber-attacks. In a recent Reuters article, a NATO-accredited think tank said, “Increasingly, the maritime domain and energy sector has turned to technology to improve production, cost and reduce delivery schedules. These technological changes have opened the door to emerging threats and vulnerabilities as equipment has become more accessible to outside entities.”

Clearly, strengthening the effective operations of the nation’s maritime agency is not a stroll in the park. As it is, the project is being guided by a patriot who believes in Nigeria; who has unflinching faith in the ingenuity of Nigerians and who holds dear, the promise of the nation’s shared future.

The NPA boss Mohammed Bello Koko certainly deserves genuine appreciation and applause as he guides even more fundamental and transformational changes ahead.

 

 Okoro, a lawyer and maritime expert writes from Ikeja, Lagos