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Events
Nigerian
Dredging Summit 2011.
Pictures of Past Dredging Summits
2010 Summit
2009
Summit
2007
Summit
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IN
THE NEWS...
Ten years since the start of seaport
reforms in Nigeria:
Is NPA workforce still bloated?
The 2001 seaport reform programme which
gave birth to port concessionaires as private terminal operators and
produced a leaner Nigerian Ports Authority shorn of the weight of terminal
and cargo operational schedules seems like an unfinished business in
various ways. Although NPA has been weaned from port operations and
made a landlord in charge of federal government’s port industry
facilities, the reform programme left some categories of the workforce
in limbo, like those in traffic department, whose previous assignment
was in cargo operations and others in the engineering departments. Now,
with cargo operations taken over by terminal operators, NPA staff in
these departments have not been effectively re-assigned. They still
report to work daily. They make all the essential motions of discharging
responsibilities attached to their designations. The question, however,
is what these responsibilities are now, aside from some allusion to
‘monitoring’ the concessionaires. This almost seems like
‘monitoring’ a football team engaged in a match. Impatient
onlookers would dismiss such monitors as either unserious or a calculated
distraction. But aside from those who are said to go down to the quays
daily to monitor concessionaire operations, there is the very high number
of midle-level managers and management officials which accumulated in
the incipient years and were not reduced during the port reforms via
lay-offs. This is an unresolved legacy issue.
DDH findings show that as a result of this aspect of the reform programme’s
unfinished business, the workforce is top heavy: over 22 general managers,
more than 50 assistant general managers and a complement of the lower
cadre staff. Analysts have compared this top-heavy managerial profile
against a large organization like NNPC which works with less than half
of the NPA figure. DDH was reliably informed that when NPA’s managing
director, Engr Suleiman Omar came into office last year, he was briefed
by higher authorities to do something to solve this conundrum. A few
months ago, he tried to do it. But the new staff roster he came up with
drew some flak from influential quarters and as at press time, the announced
reshuffle was put on hold sine die. Some of the personnel felt shunted
out of their right placement. Were they right? Could any wizardry have
produced a generally acceptable deployment of staff given the intricate
web of power jostling at the Authority in recent times? Was it true
that the sum of N1.2bn was marshaled by a powerful side in the NPA power
constellation to keep the board from being dissolved? And was it true
that there was a critical disharmony between the supervising federal
ministry of transport and the board before the latter was dissolved?
And for all this brouhaha, what chances has Engr Omar to implement his
vision of the new NPA, or any vision at all?
Industry watchers in October said different things to the various problems
of NPA as a strong and well-established albeit highly political parastatal.
Its current managing director, Omar, has the needed guts, training and
experience to get things done well at the place, period.
His challenges may be broadly categorized into internal and external
. Internally, members of the top-heavy managerial cadre pose a puzzle,
not least the executive directors and the board. And the third prong
is rationalizing the rank and file who get the job done, beginning from
the general managers to the lower cadres. With the board out of the
way, it’s one down, two to go. On the merit side, Omar’s
preference for robust human capacity development is gaining him high
ratings among staffers and many industry watchers. If he is able to
apply the same wand to issues of the 5-day week in such a way that he
affects the common touch, then he will be home and dry in that sector.
Externally also, the NPA helmsman has legacy issues to address with
the industry, ranging from rousing the NPA bureaucratic behemoth from
a mere spectator to an active performer. Hurdles and projects abound.
On the negative side, a dollar-earning parastatal like NPA, a landlord
port authority, which could live with problems like the lackadaisical
repair of the Tin Can Port inner roads, for example, or the unending
mismanagement of port traffic, is actually a geriatric case. This is
in an international industry that should be its oyster, being the gateway
into the globally-prized Nigerian market. That Abidjan and Lome, or
any other sub-regional ports, are making waves is because NPA is down,
either by itself or through collateral bondage from federal government
policy failures. But taking the Tin Can Island port road repair failures
as a pointed example, it is obvious that the agency abdicated its roles,
no matter what hurdles it may cite. The reason is that financial appropriation
was there all the time, and the semblance or reality of a contract award
was also present all along, but the executive push was lacking. That
is a legacy issue for Omar to solve. He has to change tactics to get
some of these things done.
On the positive side, his new thrust to develop deep sea ports is brainy.
Nigeria with its dominance of West African maritime trade should have
such a complement of deep sea ports to absorb the traffic without the
hateful recurrent decimal that port congestion has come to be. Furthermore,
there is a school of thought that brings up the hidden issue of pilotage
as an unfinished business. Imagine a ship finishing loading and unloading
in 12 hours and waiting for another 12 hours to be taken out to sea
for departure. Does this sound like a serious proposition? This is an
aspect of what has always kept the nation backward. The solution is
privatization. With a privatized pilotage regime, no ship will wait
for any pilot because the competitors will be only one phone call away.
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The
scorecard on Nigerian seaport reforms
It’s ten years since the Obasanjo’s presidency kick-started
the search for better fortunes for Nigeria’s port industry. Once
upon a time, the ports were a haven for wharf rats. No more. Ships then
spent weeks in port to load and discharge. Stevedores were unruly, practicing
the infamous “akube” system, where shipping lines paid for
16-men gangs but get 8 men instead. None could do anything about it
for many years. The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) was then
a glorified gang-up of port industry warlords. Former transport minister,
Chief Ojo Maduekwe, shocked the nation when he exposed bags of money
brought to him at night to soft-pedal the wheels of the reforms which
started rolling during his tenure.
Read more...
Other Articles &
Interviews:
Mr Pier Luigi Carrodano on his
work with Gen. T Y Danjuma's companies and the Chinese sea trade with
Nigeria...NEW
Engr Akin Olaniyan on need for NIMASA
to return to original mandate and harnessing cabotage trade...NEW
Dr. Wilson Odafe Omene on Niger
Delta politics, amnesty programme, Nigerian maritime and local govt,
etc....NEW
Capt
Adeyemo on River Niger Dredging...
Prof
P.C. Nwilo on his assessment of NIWA during sabbatical ...
Mr
Nseyeng Ebong on his 8-year tenure as rector of Maritime Academy
of Nigeria Oron...
Chief
Dumo Lulu Briggs as
chairman of Maritime Academy of Nigeria Oron, his vision...
Engr
Muyiwa Omasebi: The face-off Between NIWA, MMSD and Lagos State Govt.
Otunba
K Folarin: The Collapse
of Nig. shipping lines.
P.L.
Carrodano: How govt
can revive Nig. shipping lines.
Sam
Epia: The struggles
of Nig shipping lines with cargo reservation scheme.
Jeff
Gibb: Intricacies of
the equipment market in Nigeria.
Environmental
Quality Monitoring.
Environment: "How
many choppers has DPR got?" - Chief Ogunsiji.
Dredging the Niger Delta: Interview of Ben Efekarurhobo.
Role
of Surveying in the Dredging Industry
G.B Liman:
Of Myth, Reality and Resource Control
Dredging
Law: A judgment on the ownership of a sand dredging site by the
Court of Appeal.
Dredging
Law:
a.
Lagos State Attorney General Interpretes state law on sand dredging
and stockpile.
b.
NIWA public notice on Lagos State intervention in inland waterways regulation.
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TRAINING COURSES.
Efficient Dredge
Master Training
Train your dredge masters, engineers, electricians and deckhands in
relevant skills for efficiency, productivity, equipment safety and maintenance.
All trainees are time-tested with written and practical tests. Transcripts
and attendance certificates given.
Courses:
1. Dredge Appreciation / Refresher –
knowledge of safety procedures for equipment use:
PPE; Safety operation onboard dredge; Maintenance routine; Checks for
optimal production while pumping; working with boosters; splicing and
fixing cables, cleaning and painting; Etc. For Dredge crews mainly.
Class room lectures and Practical sessions onboard dredge.
2. Firefighting
and Protective Measures (including respiratory protection). For
Dredge crews, Field and Technical workers. Class room lectures and Practical
session at the Fire Bay.
3. Basic sea
survival techniques and the use of lifesaving equipment. Class
room lectures and Practical sessions at the standard swimming pool with
professional gear.
For details of availability, duration, registration, fees and teaching
logistics, please contact the organizers:
Dredge Skills and Marine Training Centre Ltd.
E187, Ikota Shopping Complex, VGC, Ajah. Lagos Nigeria
Tel.: +234 1 7928166 or 08033378735
Email: dredgeskills@gmail.com
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