Her appointment penultimate Tuesday had brought her into more limelight. Yes she was known as co-founder of Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG); the group that has been advocating for the release of the girls that were kidnapped from Chibok in Borno state about two years ago. But, beyond that, by her appointment, Ms Hadiza Balla-Usman is now a subject of discuss in the Nigerian maritime industry. This is an industry she previously didn’t know and an industry that didn’t know her prior to her appointment.
But, that was in the past, she effectively took charge last Monday from her predecessor; Malam Habib Abdualhi, whose tenure was an admixture.
Habib was removed from office by former President Goodluck Jonathan; he was later reinstated by President Muhammadu Buhari. By his appointment, reappointment and removal, Habib Abdulahi has made history as the only chief executive in the history of NPA (and we dare say in the Nigerian maritime industry to have been appointed and removed twice!
In like manner, his predecessor; Ms Hadiza Balla-Usman has made history by being the first female chief executive officer of NPA.
All sad, Ms Balla-Usman is coming into NPA at a very crucial period in its history. She is inheriting an NPA that is largely perceived as underperforming in all ramifications. It cannot match the pace of other players, while its return on investments to its principal (the Federal Government) is not commensurate. These, according to her employers, are the reasons Ms Bala-Usman was appointed.
She is inheriting a Nigerian Ports Authourity of several unfinished projects. Top among these are the various deep sea ports projects that are meant to attract bigger vessels into Nigeria. Ms Bala-Usman will probably have to decide how to tackle the never-ending scam called Calabar channel dredging.
Apart from the Lekki deepsea port project that is receiving some attention, others are like a mere political statement by the Governor of the host states of Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom, and even Lagos.
It will be good if Ms Hadiza Balla-Usman’s tenure can see at least one of these deepsea ports come to life.
The Calabar channel dredging has been on for more than two decades; the contract has been awarded and re-awarded many times over, yet the 84 nautical miles channel has been uncompleted, after Billion of Naira have been expended.
Because she reportedly has an impeccable credential of zero tolerance for corruption and because of the widely-acclaimed qualities of her god fathers, the new MD of NPA should also not have problems steering attention to the drain pipe called Calabar channel dredging.
The new team at the NPA must carry out a SWOT analysis of the agency in relation with other (public and private) stakeholders in the industry. Without being biased, we can state that NPA is weak in the performance of its responsibilities. It does not have effective control, neither does it have effective monitoring of the performances of its tenants; the terminal operators.
For example, it is shocking that, despite several warnings and memos, some shipping lines still engage in midstream discharge of cargoes, leading to loss of revenue to the NPA.
Those who have called for a review of the Port Concession activities, especially as they affect the responsibilities of NPA to its concessionaires are very correct. A ministerial committee had some time ago recommended that NPA should be more proactive in areas such as: maintenance of common-user facilities, access to utilities, maritime services, navigational facilities and quay wall and aprons. The committee also faulted NPA in the area of regular maintenance dredging of channels and approaches to harbours.
With a budget that is more than that of many states, there is no doubt that the new MD and her colleagues will need a more than passing understanding of corporate norms.
Coming into NPA at this period of unfriendly policies, requires a deeper knowledge of the system. Ship calls have dropped by more than 15%, cargo throughput have also dropped by about 50%. If on doubt, ask the terminal operators and the Nigeria Customs Service.
To start its assignment, we recommend that the new NPA management should carry out a thorough audit of the agency, as has been done with NIMASA.
To reposition NPA requires that the new management retool the staff of the agency, which she will rely on to boost revenue, block leakages. But, the employees lack adequate knowledge of corporate governance.
As much as we agree to an extent with the former MD; Habib Abdualhi when he said at the handing over that, NPA staff are one of the best in the country, we are strongly of the opinion that the new NPA that the new MD may envisage can not be achieved without injecting some new ideas, which may have to come from individuals with private sector discipline.
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