House of Representatives, on Friday, pledged its resolve towards the development of Maritime industry by adopting industry’s best practices as well as boosting non-oil revenue generation.
Chairman, Ports and Harbours, Hon. Nnaji Nnolim (PDP-Enugu) who gave the assurance while addressing members of the Committee, assured all the stakeholders on the Committee’s readiness to provide the necessary legislation and needed oversight to achieve this purpose.
While affirming that the Ports and Harbours is one of the revenue-generating industry for Government, he
He said: “Engaging industry’s best practices to expand the frontiers of government’s crusade on checking revenue leakages. Therefore, we must be committed to transparency, collaboration and open dialogue with all stakeholders, including Ministries, Agencies, Private sector and the general public.
“This Committee is very important and crucial because of the major roles the sector plays in our economy and our national life. It therefore presents all of us an ample time to effect changes that will reshape this unique and high-tech sector and position it to strategically compete in the global space.
“Ports and Harbours in the Maritime sector are very dynamic and we must constantly review the standards, facilities and operational guidelines to keep pace with its obtainable global best practices.
“I wish to reiterate the Committee’s commitment to ensure that the sector remains one of the best through appropriate legislation and oversight so that at the end of the day, we would have succeeded in bequeathing to Nigerians, a Ports and Harbours that is properly regulated and better managed for greater efficiency.
“We cannot overemphasize the importance of this sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product and revenue generation. We intend to collaborate with relevant agencies to ensure that appropriate avenues are created for its economic development and then make it to be a better non-oil revenue-generating sector as is witnessed in other advanced economies.
“It is imperative to note that the development of our Ports and Harbours is an added advantage to the growth of our economy. It is in this vein that the House of Representatives will continue to support total rehabilitation and upgrading of our Ports and Harbours and allied services.”
On his part, Hon. Akin Alabi (APC-Oyo) members who spoke on the need for proper oversight function of various agencies, noted that Nigeria needs enough funds to drive development and growth.
The lawmakers also harped on the need for the Committee to complement the Executive Arm to boost infrastructure in the sector.
The lawmakers also underscored the need to ensure turnaround of vessels, as well as dredging of existing seas, address challenges impeding navigation and security.
Some of the concerned lawmakers who expressed excitement on the report relating to the proposed N1.1 trillion into the port subsector called for deliberate actions toward addressing issues of access to ports vis-a-vis, multiple taxation as it affects exports, port congestion, pilotage, security, among others.
On his part, Hon. Sada Soli who noted that the issues relating to Security safety, regulatory compliance should be looked into as well as the need for rapid technological advancement, automation, robotic and digitalization of operations at the ports.
While responding to the issues raised by the lawmakers, Hon. Nnolim who noted that the Committee will to embark on overseas trip in the bid to effectively address the challenges, adding that there is need to interface with Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) for the purpose of establishing rail services at various ports.
To this end, he disclosed plans to interface with Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and other relevant agencies.
