Terminal operators lead govt agencies to town hall meeting on port digitilization

All is set for the town hall meeting being organized by the League of Maritime Editors and Publishers to discuss ways of digitilizing port industry operations in Nigeria.

The meeting scheduled to hold on Thursday November 25th, 2021 at the Rockview Hotel, Apapa, Lagos, according to the organisers will discuss concrete measures that could be put in place to reduce human contacts in the cargo traffic and help with port digitilization.

Public Relations Officer, LOMEP, Deacon Friday Odemena in a statement said effective digitalization of port operations became more imperative after the COVID-19 pandemic which kept industry operators indoors for weeks thus necessitating that anybody could work from anywhere without coming to the ports, so we need port digitilization.

Leading the stakeholders in the discussion will be the Seaports Terminal Operators of Nigeria (STOAN) led by their Chairperson, Princess Vicky Haastrup. She will be speaking on ‘The impact of automation in cargo handling operations’

Other speakers on the occasion include the Acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) who will speak on ‘Automation of Port operations in today’s Digital Age’ while Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council will speak on the topic, ‘Enhancing Automation at Ports: The perspective of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council’.

President of Maritime workers Union of Nigeria, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju will speak on the topic, “The impact of digitalization on maritime workers while Comptroller General of Customs, Hameed Ali will talk on, “Facilitating trade with Technology to boost Efficient Clearance of Goods at the ports”.

Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Bashir Jamoh, will treat the issue, ‘The impact of Digitalization on Shipping Development’

“Having critically followed the trends in the Nigerian Shipping industry for decades now, the senior maritime journalists believe that the time has come to digitalize the nation’s seaport operations.

“The world business environment has gone digital, a development that offers efficiency in all aspects of service. The Nigerian Shipping industry cannot be left out. In developed countries, all aspects of international trade, involving movement of cargoes from one port to another is automated and hence port digitilization.

“The communique, which will be issued at the end of the event will also be officially handed over to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, for further action,” the statement said.

As part of the programme, few stakeholders have been identified to be honoured with awards. They include Comrade Adeyanju, President of MWUN and former Controller of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’, Comptroller Usman Biri Yahaya (rtd).

The League of Maritime Editors and publishers is a foremost maritime journalists association and all her members are equally members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ).