Heads of maritime agencies including stakeholders and political leaders on Friday poured encomiums on the immediate past minister of transportation, Muazu Jaji Sambo and his Minister of State counterpart, Prince Ademola Adegoroye for the successes recorded during their tenure as transport ministers within a short space of about 10 months.
At an appreciation dinner organized by the League of Maritime Editors to honour both Transport ministers in Lagos, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Bashir Jamoh, Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Muhammed Bello-Koko and the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) Emmanuel Jime as well as Chairman, House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, Lynda Ikpeazu were among those who commended the sterling leadership qualities of Sambo and Adegoroye, which they said led to tremendous achievements in the industry.
Speaking, Sambo credited his successful tenure to the support from stakeholders and an efficient workforce within the ministry.
He said the successes recorded during his tenure as Minister of Transportation wouldn’t have been possible without the support of an efficient team of civil servants led by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Magdalene Ajani.
He said, “A civil servant will respect you as his boss but will still not do what you want him to do if he is not interested in it. So, all that we have achieved within the very short time that we spent in the ministry was to the glory of God but believe me the accolades should go the permanent secretary in the Ministry because the permanent secretaries by convention are the heads of bureaucracy and it is the bureaucracy that does the job.
“A nation can only be as good as the quality of the civil service it has. So, if you hand it over to a bunch of people who only think of themselves, you ‘ll get nothing. I didn’t expect less from the professionalism displayed by Magdalene because we come from the same background where there is an unwritten code to deliver excellence. Failure to us was not an option so we were lucky to have met her there. She gave me her fullest cooperation in everything I brought before her.”
Earlier, the immediate past Secretary to the Federal Government and Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Boss Mustapha described Sambo as an epitome of humility stating that he remains one of the country’s finest statesmen.
Mustapha, who was represented by the Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Senator Tolu Odebiyi noted that Sambo was able to commission a number of projects within his short stay in the ministry due to the harmonious working relationship he had with the presidency, legislature, heads of agencies and the transport industry stakeholders.
“We are celebrating one of our finest in Mu’azu Sambo and I mean that with all sense of responsibility. I worked closely with him and I found him to be a dedicated and focused gentleman. He worked very hard to ensure he gets the support of the Federal Government, senate and the national assembly to achieve numerous projects and there were lots of projects accomplished under Sambo. The trains, boats flagged off, among others are worthy of commendation. I pray and hope that your work will be recognized in the new administration and you’ll be rewarded accordingly,” he said.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Hon. Emmanuel Jime who recalled fond memories he had with the Minister said the NSC is the biggest beneficiary of Sambo’s leadership.
He stated that the approval for the reintroduction of the Cargo Tracking Notes (CTN) which was suspended about eight years ago was made possible by the Minister, a development he said the Council will never forget.
He said, “When Mu’azu Sambo came, the first thing he did as soon as he had interacted with me is that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council will be given the implementation of the Cargo Tracking Note.
“He went ahead, using everything within the political capital available to him to make sure that the Federal Executive Council approved the implementation of the Cargo Tracking Note. But not only did he ensure approval, he made certain that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council is given the right of implementing the Cargo Tracking Note.
“Sir, if you didn’t do anything else in the maritime space, that singular achievement that was recorded will follow you as a legacy and indeed, we at the Nigerian Shippers’ Council will never ever forget that there was a Minister Sambo Mu’azu.”
Also speaking, the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko said the realization of the Lekki Deep Seaport was NPA’s biggest win under Sambo, stating that he learnt perseverance from the minister.
“I learnt perseverance from Sambo and I learnt that when issues come up, we speak our mind and let it go. In the heat of the moment, the Minister of State is someone who always gives advice just as freely as he asks questions. At times, I go to him before going to see Sambo and he always inspires me,” Bello-Koko recalled.
Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, who insisted that the agency remains the greatest beneficiary of the Ministers’ transformational leadership qualities, said under their guidance, the agency was able to secure a permanent office accommodation at its Abuja liaison office and its regional office in Port Harcourt.
He added that securing the presidential approval for the disbursement of the CVFF and training of over 300 Nigerian youths under the NSDP programme, and acquisition of additional patrol platforms and staff ferries were among the achievements recorded by the agency under Sambo’s leadership.
In his welcome address, the President, League of Maritime Editors, Chief Timothy Okorocha said the honour given to the ministers was in recognition of their ‘peerless accomplishments through hard work and commitment to raise the bar, both in improved governance system, industry capacity building and growth.”
He also acknowledged the uncommon camaraderie that existed between Sambo and Prince Adegoroye as a measure of the collective gains recorded by their very eventful but short stint.
According to him, Sambo and Adegoroye came, saw and raised the standards, leaving the transport sector and the maritime domain especially, better than they met it.
“On behalf of The League, l wish to place it on record that Sambo and Adegoroye are the epitome of grace in leadership, which also inspires and promotes respect, chivalry and focus at work place, leading unswervingly to efficiency and productivity. We thank you sirs, you have set a pace and standard that will take many decades to beat.
“And that brings us to the effervescence with which the former Ministers attended to the task of driving transformational change in the industry; moving from mere talks of successive administrations to implementation and execution.
“Sambo is also on record as the first minister to publicly acknowledge the efforts of his predecessor, and declared he would work to execute whatever was pending, which he did by readily identifying the baskets of opportunities that can be harvested to raise capacity.
“One of such, was in the area of the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), which has stalled repeatedly close to two decades. Sambo said he was going to confront it frontally and ensure he secured the approval to disburse. He accomplished it in less than nine weeks record time; and barring any unforeseen circumstances, the process is already on.
“As media practitioners, it is our duty to have our eyes fixed on the activities and developments of the transport sector and its sub sectors, we hold Alhaji Sambo and his brother minister of state have been exceptional, we are thankful and quite elated to recognize the strategic efforts they deployed to moving the industry forward to its present pedestal,” he said.