Minister Of Marine/Blue Economy Tours Ports & Cargo Terminal

The newly-appointed Minister of Marine & Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, has embarked on an inspection tour of Ports & Cargo Handling Services Limited, operator of Terminal C, Tin Can Island and subsidiary of SIFAX Group.

He was received by the management of the terminal led by Capt. Ibraheem Olugbade, Executive Director, Administration.

Upon arrival at the terminal, he was taken on a tour of the facilities of the terminal.

While welcoming the Minister to the Terminal, Capt. Ibraheem Olugbade, said the Ports & Cargo Handling Services Limited is one of the indigenous terminal operators in the country.

He hinted that the terminal is waiting for the Federal Government to resolve the logjam around the concession renewal in order for the terminal to receive more investments that would boost the economy.

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy,  on Monday, declared that he was in a hurry to make impact in the ministry.

Oyetola who noted that he had no business in the ministry if he cannot make an impact, solicited the support of the management and staff of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and other critical stakeholders within the sector to realise President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in the sector.

He said this during his meeting with the management and staff of the NPA, shortly after his inspection of facilities at the Apapa and Tin Can ports in Lagos.

The former Osun governor said going by the decay in infrastructure he saw at the ports, there was an urgent need to commence infrastructure renewal of ports across the country so as to save them from imminent collapse. He also encouraged terminal operators to invest in the development of facilities at the ports.

The minister assured that enough scanners would be deployed to the ports to avoid unnecessary delays, noting that where the scanners already exist, he would interface with concerned government agencies to ensure their proper usage for efficiency at the ports.

Speaking further, Oyetola said: “As you are all aware, we all have a duty to reposition this sector for the welfare and wellbeing of Nigerians and to contribute to the economic growth of our nation. By doing this, we will be leaving a lasting legacy for generations to come. I, therefore, enjoin you to be good ambassadors of this newly created ministry by displaying the highest level of character at your respective duty posts. Your attitude to work must change. We must imbibe the ethos of hard work, discipline, decency, and selflessness as this is the only way we can deliver on Mr. President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

“Nigerians expect a lot from the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. We must not fail them. We must increase our contribution to the country’s GDP. We have identified some of the low hanging fruits that will make an immediate impact. We shall vigorously pursue them. I am in a hurry to make an impact. I have no business heading the Marine and Blue Economy Ministry if I can not make an impact. I want to make an impact. But I can not do it alone. I need your cooperation. I need your support. We have the potential to grow our economy and create more jobs through this novel ministry. We must put everything to work to deliver on the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President.

“We fully understand the crucial importance of our ports to the nation’s economic development and international trade. We shall, therefore, work towards improving the operations of our ports. Some of the access roads to our ports are in bad shape.

“We shall liaise with the Federal Ministry of Works to ensure some of these roads are fixed in no distant time to ease our operations at the ports. We shall very soon commence the infrastructure renewal of our ports, including pursuing the rail to port project as part of efforts to decongest our ports.”