The immediate past Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko has reeled out the strides he made while in office.
Among other things, he stated that NPA under his watch was repositioned to actualize set goals and objectives.
Koko explained that the repositioning of the money spinning Federal Government agency paved way for “greater operational efficiency” while he was in the saddle.
He stated this during the handover ceremony to his successor, Mr. Abubakar Dantsoho at NPA Headquarters, Marina, Lagos recently. The ceremony was witnessed by staff of the authority and close relations.
He also revealed that his administration attained what he called “unprecedented revenue generation and remittance” to the consolidated revenue fund (CRF) of the Federal Government.
Aware of the fact that he would not have achieved the feat alone, he said: “Firstly, by working with all of you here, we have repositioned the authority for greater operational efficiency and unprecedented revenue generation and remittance to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
According to Koko, my sense of fulfillment derives from the fact that we have achieved a lot and have made the authority far better than we met it, and now handing over to a management team of distinguished professionals with the requisite character, competence, and capacity to sustain and indeed surpass the current performance trajectory.
Continuing, the former banker said: “As most of us are aware, the authority under the management team I was privileged to lead was able to position the authority for improved efficiency, revenue generation, accountability, and adherence to international best practices in port management and operations. For us to succeed as a nation, we must learn from the mistakes of others and evaluate their success stories.
“We hit the ground running with the necessary approvals to get the Lekki deep seaport fully operational to retake the lost transit and transshipment cargo, promoted the non-oil export drive of the President by setting up 10 Export Processing Terminals (EPTs), mainstreaming it to the NXP and e-call up system to facilitate exports, and the result is evident in the attainment of a foreign trade surplus, as highlighted in the NBS report for Q1 2024”.
The former NPA boss averred stated that the authority upgraded its data centre, servers, storage, and business continuity and also established a data recovery and protection unit with an up-to-date data protection audit certification.
His words: “Digitized staff attendance for accountability and improved productivity, ensured the sustainability and free flow of cargo by clearing the decade-long traffic gridlock menacing the Apapa and Tin Can Island Port Complexes, and its environs. Provided aids to navigation such as buoys, fenders, and bollards across all the ports, and also enhanced seaside operations by providing marine crafts, pilot cutters, tugboats, mooring boats, and so on to improve port efficiency which led to a reduction in both vessel and truck turn-around times. The vessel TAT went down from an average of 6.5 days to an average of 5 days, while truck TAT went from an average of 10 days to a few hours.
“We recorded an unprecedented growth in revenue generation and remittances to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) from Revenue of N381 billion in 2022 and ₦501 billion in 2023 to N541 billion in the first half of 2024 and remittances to CRF increasing from N93.4 billion in 2022 to N206 billion in 2023 and to N255 billion in the first half of 2024—surpassing our year-on-year total revenue generation and remittances in any year. We recorded unprecedented tax remittances to the Federal Government ranging up to N60 billion in the period of my stewardship. We raised the bar higher. Our hope and prayers are for the new management to continue on this trajectory and surpass it”.
Maritime Bits had reported that Koko foray into the maritime sector of the economy started in 2016 when he was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as NPA Executive Director, Finance and Administration.
Following the suspension of the former Managing Director of NPA, Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman from office by the former Minister of Transportation, Chief Rotimi Amaechi, Koko was named as her successor in acting capacity.
He was subsequently confirmed as the substantive Managing Director of NPA by President Buhari on 15 February, 2022.
