More than $15bn goods arrive Nigeria annually —NPA

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman has revealed that more than $15bn worth of goods come into the country through the seaports annually.

Speaking at the presentation of a book titled ‘Footprints of President Muhammadu Buhari in the Maritime Sector’ by the Shipping Correspondent Association of Nigeria (SCAN) recently, the NPA MD who was represented by the agency’s Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Dr. Sokonte Davies stated that over 85 per cent of all the goods and services coming into the country, come in through the seaports.

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“An undeniable corollary of the foregoing is that the maritime sector is a major contributor to the economy. This is more so when we consider that the oil and gas sector, which is the country’s economic mainstay is itself almost completely dependent on the maritime sector.

“So, one of the greatest things this administration has achieved is in the area of transparency. From the Nigerian Ports Authority where we decided to open our budget to the public with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with BUDGIT Open Budget System Platform, to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), which launched a massive rebranding strategy to rebuild confidence and the Nigerian Customs Service that has posted unprecedented revenue returns in the course of the past three and a half years. This administration has been deliberate about entrenching a culture of transparency and giving all stakeholders a sense of trust in the system which did not exist before 2015,” the NPA Managing Director stated.