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“Bello-Koko: Tinubu’s policies Attracted Global Applause, transformed the Maritime Industry, and improved revenue.
By prince Benson Davies
As part of President Tinubu ‘s Renewed Hope Agenda, Managing Director and CEO of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko, has said that the economic policies initiated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which have also attracted global applause, are responsible for the transformation of the maritime industry and massive improvements in revenue generation by the Authority.
In an unscheduled visit to the Lagos Ports access roads recently, whose decade-long gridlock was recently cleared by the NPA, Bello-Koko praised the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola’s, leadership and hands-on approach to driving the industry.
Speaking at the occasion, he said the sanity that has since returned to the port’s access roads will be sustained to promote ease of doing business and drive exports to enhance Nigeria’s balance of trade.
The NPA boss added that despite global economic headwinds that characterized the year 2023, the Nigerian Ports Authority succeeded in maintaining momentum to surpass its sterling performance of the year 2022, and the implementation of continuous performance improvement measures resulted in unprecedented revenue generation and remittances to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federation, with revenues steadily growing from N361 billion in 2022 to N501 billion as at December 2023 and remittances increasing from N93.4 billion in 2022 to N131.2 billion by year-end 2023.
Bello-Koko who was recently named by Mr. President on the implementation committee of the National Single Window Project, added that “taxes paid the Government of the Federation also grew at various times in the period under review up to $77.7 million and N17.6 billion, respectively.”
He concluded, “The foregoing addition to the strategic forecasts set to be actualized in 2024, such as the $1billion worth reconstruction of Tin Can Island Ports Complex and the comprehensive rehabilitation of Apapa, Rivers, Onne, Warri and Calabar Ports Complexes,. “With the new port developments, viz. Badagry Deep Seaport, Snake Island, Burutu and Ondo Deep Seaports, the Port Community System PCS and the National Single Window, amongst other initiatives for port competitiveness being aggressively implemented, it is evident that the Nigerian Ports Authority has been positioned not only to create but sustain superior performance necessary to maximise the comparative advantages that Nigeria’s maritime endowments confer.”
