Author: Kenneth Jukpor

Having arrived Lagos for a week-long tour of key transport assets and crucial engagements with stakeholders and government agencies, the Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemisola Saraki draws the curtain on the adventure today with clearer understanding of the myraid of challenges in the sector; yet few solutions. The problems identified in the last one week include; dilapidated port infrastructure, absence of intermodal transport system for cargo evacuation from ports, long vessel turnaround time and long cargo dwell time at ports, varying degrees of corruption resulting from human interface, absence of single window, lack of an independent national regulator…

The Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemisola Saraki recently embarked on a tour of facilities and assets of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), even as she underscored the importance of inter-agency synergy. Some of assets inspected include; the NIMASA Command, Control and Computer Centre (C4i), NIMASA Modular Floating Dockyard, the agency’s E-library and Vessels undergoing dry docking at the Naval Dockyard, Victoria Island. According to the Minister, the equipment and assets of NIMASA underscore the importance the Federal Government attached to combating maritime crimes and ensuring zero tolerance for illegal activities on the nation’s territorial waters.…

Amid the volatile security situation in Nigeria, the Director Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Farouq Salim has stated that importers of substandard goods are using the proceeds to fund banditry and terrorism in the country. The SON boss was speaking yesterday during the destruction thousands of imported goods which included substandard electric cables, engine oil, LPG gas cylinders, stuffed new tyres, substandard and unapproved cigarettes and substandard low-grade roofing sheets. While lamenting that the economy of Nigeria is damaged daily due to the importation of substandard goods, he described the importers of these products as saboteurs who are sponsoring…

The acting President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr. Kayode Farinto has called on the Ministry of Finance to address the challenge of persistent breakdown in the operations of the National Vehicle Registry (VREG) at the seaports which averages 48 hours every week. Dr. Farinto made this call during a press briefing in Lagos yesterday, noting that the VREG delays hinders the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) Valuation system for cargo evacuation, leaving freight forwarders and their importers to suffer demurrage and additional storage charges as a result of the delays. “VREG and its technical partners should…

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) 100 percent Compliance Team has struck a partnership in order to win the war against drug abuse at Lagos ports. Both groups reached this agreement when the NDLEA Commander of Narcotics, Tin Can Island Port, Commander, Aminu Abubakar payed a courtesy visit to the NAGAFF 100 percent Compliance Team in Lagos, yesterday. At the event, the NDLEA boss warned all freight forwarders and their workers operating at the seaports to desist from the importation and spread of hard drugs in the country, stressing…

Amid celebrations to mark the annual International Hydrography Day, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Transportation, Hon. Gbemisola Saraki has called for more women participation in the profession. Saraki made this call during a keynote address at an event in Lagos yesterday to mark the annual hydrography celebration to publicise the work of hydrographers and the importance of hydrography. According to the Transport Minister, like other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, hydrography has traditionally seen low percentage of female participation. “It is my hope that in your pursuit of excellence, you will begin to promote and include women in…

Members of Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers’ Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) have attributed the current scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in Nigeria to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. DAPPMAN made this position known in a press statement obtained by TheNewsDiet today and signed by its Executive Secretary, Mr. Olufemi Adebayo Adewole. In the letter, DAPPMAN empathized with its customers and teeming Nigerian public on the current setback in the distribution and supply of PMS at the various stations dispensing. Part of the letter read; “Nigerians would please note that the on-going Russia-Ukraine War has adversely affected the world, including…

As part of efforts to encourage honesty and integrity among workers at the Lagos Ports Complex (LPC) of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), an adhoc staff, Mrs. Ruth Isaac has been awarded a plaque of honour for finding and disclosing a missing wallet. Ruth Isaac, who is one of the cleaners at the LPC, recently found a missing wallet containing N20,000 and other valuables and returned it to NPA security personnel despite being owed several months salaries at the time. While presenting the award of honour in her office yesterday, the Port Manager of Apapa Port, NPA, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Olotu described…

Following suits filled against the planned stoppage of voter’s registration at the end of this month, the Federal High Court in Abuja has stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from ending voter registration on June 30, 2022. Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon (Court 10) on Monday granted an order of interim injunction following the hearing of an argument on motion exparte by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP). SERAP and 185 concerned Nigerians had early this month filed the lawsuit against INEC asking the court to “declare unconstitutional, illegal, and incompatible with international standards the failure of the electoral body to…

The Coalition for Peter Obi has written the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) demanding an expansion of its voter registration and validation infrastructure to serve the teeming numbers of Nigerians willing to register. The group, made up of independent professionals and intellectuals, in a letter dated June 16, which was signed by its Chairman, Marcel Ngogbehei, observed that no matter the number of years of extension of the voters’ registration and validation, if the infrastructure is not expanded, it will amount to a total waste of the nation’s time and resources. In the letter circulated to journalists yesterday, Ngogbehei…