Despite coming from the financial sector, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko has not only demonstrated high level of intelligence and professionalism, his engagement with various stakeholders in the maritime industry is a testimony of the current efficiency in port operations and increased financial returns to government coffers.

By Godwin Oritse

TEN months after his appointment of Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko as Substantive Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Bello-Koko did not only hit the ground running, the reforms and turnaround in the maritime industry soeaks volume.

On assumption of office, Koko promised to turn the organization around and ensure Nigerian ports are the most efficient in Africa. He is doing that and more. For Koko, the first order of business on ascending the saddle was to initiate fresh initiatives targeting cost and value maximisation 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. Any staff of the multifaceted organization will tell gladly today that they have never had it this good. Bringing his private sector experience to bare, there has been 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 Limited, international oil companies (IOCs) and other partners. There have been malicious reports in a section of the media aimed at achieving certain goals and derail Koko.

However, Mohammed Bello Koko has demonstrated impeccable professionalism, discipline and persistence to shake up the old-fashioned narratives at the nation’s premier maritime agency. And this is hardly a picnic. In effect, he came prepared. The 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 contextualisation and appreciation of their scope and significance. The imperative of disambiguating the NPA MD’s trajectory, over his first ten months in office, then becomes necessary

Plugging of revenue leakages

Since appointment as substantive Managing Director/ CEO in February 2022, Mohammed Bello Koko has recorded several milestone achievements that has earned accolades and awards from several media organization. Nigeria today is battling revenue challenges due to unprecedented oil theft.

 The NPA under Koko has in the last ten months remitted billions of naira to the federation account, helping the federal government to mitigate the revenue challenge.

He did this by tightening the collection mechanisms and plugging of revenue leakages that resulted in the unprecedented generation of the sum of N286 billion and the remittance of N103 billion as at October 2022 to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the federation. Building decaying port infrastructure has always been Koko’s dream, and he has done so with the Provision and installation of 86 number Buoys for Warri and Calabar Pilotage Districts. Other stellar achievements include; survey and Installation of Buoys at Ijegun/Kirikiri water channel, licensing and Upgrading of Pilots across the four Pilotage District, acquisition of Harbour Crafts (Tugboats, Pilot Cutters, and Patrol Boats, licensing of additional four truck parks to increase capacity of truck parks servicing the Lagos Ports and licensing of 10 Export Processing Terminals to facilitate exports at Nigerian Sea Ports. Four of these terminals are already fully operational.

Truck turn-around

Anyone who has been to Apapa in recent years will testify to the menace of truckers and the resulting gridlock on port access roads. Today, there is significant reduction in truck turn-around time due to success ful monitoring of the E-Call Up System.  To minimize breakdown of trucks on port access roads, about 3,000 trucks have been inspected, certified and issued stickers to ensure safety