NPA MD commissions newly built MWUN secretariat, pledges port infrastructure upgrade 

Speaking at the commissioning , Dantsoho emphasized the need for modern port infrastructure to enhance efficiency and drive cargo throughput at the nation’s ports.

He noted that Nigeria’s current port capacity is not reflective of its large population as according to him, the country’s ports only receive 2million containers annually, which is far below the number of containers received by neighboring countries such as Ghana and Cotonou.

His words, “Nigeria is a country of more than 200 million people in population. Now, our port capacity today, from our own records, is that we’re only bringing 2 million containers to Nigeria. It’s not a true reflection of our population.

“So we have to do what we can to ensure that we get more containers in a genuine way into Nigeria. We can’t say that they are getting more containers in Lome, Cotonue and Ghana but Nigeria is getting less. It doesn’t make sense at all.

“So, we have to do what we can to be able to generate more containers into Nigeria because that will mean that our people are more productive, our youth are more employed, and our country is more recognized internationally. This is a major challenge for us.”

To address this challenge, Dantsoho stressed the need for modern infrastructure, citing the Tin Can Island port, which was built in 1977, and the Apapa port, which was built in 1958 as examples of outdated facilities.

He assured that the government is committed to improving these ports and building new ones.

He said, “It’s not possible for us to grow and participate more in international trade by depending on very old ports. So we need new infrastructures.

“We need new ports. We are going to expand the Tin Can and Apapa the way it is. It’s going to be improved.

“That is the commitment of Mr. President and the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy. So in the not-so-distant future, you will see new events towards improving infrastructure in Apapa and Tin can.

“Nigeria cannot be behind Cotonou or Ghana and other countries. It’s a very important challenge for us, but it should not be just a challenge that the federal government will face. It’s something that we are all stakeholders must give our best to ensure that Nigeria takes her proper position globally. ”

Dantsoho also stressed the importance of deploying technology to improve transactions and businesses in the maritime sector.

He called on stakeholders to work together to achieve this goal noting that technology is key to enabling Nigeria compete favorably with other countries in the region.

Dantsoho commended the leadership of MWUN for transforming the Union and pledged NPA’s continued collaboration and support.

He also expressed the agency’s commitment to prioritizing staff and workers welfare, which in turn will boost productivity.

“I want to appreciate the leadership of my brother and we look forward to cooperating with you, because our objective, again, is to ensure that our own staff and officers, their welfare is number one, which will make them more productive. We are not going to play with that, because we have had experience of when you motivate workers, you make them happy, you give them what it requires of them to be productive, they will be productive. However, we need more revenue to meet these demands,” he said.

Earlier in his address, President General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, thanked the MD NPA for honoring the union with his presence.

He noted that Dantsoho is the first Managing Director of NPA to visit the union’s secretariat, demonstrating his worker-friendly disposition.

Adeyanju also highighted the transformation of the union from its past image to a professional organised labour union saying, “We are no longer regarded as tout. We have been transformed to a standard. That era of thuggery, era of banging table, era of shutting down the port operation have been stopped under my command, ” he said.