By Steve Agbota
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has reiterated its commitment to partner Satellite Truck Park Owners Association (STPOA) in the interest of the economic advancement of Nigeria.
The Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko stated this during a dinner night organised by STPOA to celebrate the retirement of GM operations, MD office in and the chairman of the project implementation committee of e-call up system, Ayo Durowaye held in Lagos.
Bello-Koko who was represented by
Apapa Port Manager, Charles Okaga Port Manager Apapa assured that the Authority will continue to form synergy with truck owners to develop the nation’s maritime business and free the port corridor from traffic for economic development.
However, he commended the truck owners association for taking the initiative to recognised the tasked been done by the Ayo Durowaye and celebrated him.
“The initiative taking by this association is one that we will be indebted to as an Authority. Meaning that this gathering is an assembling of people who are an association of history. History in the sense that this association and its members are the first of its kind in the history of maritime business in Nigeria where automation is applied to traffic management.
“And this association’s participation in this event is a basement, the foundation and fulcrum upon, which the electronic call up system is rested because without the Satellite Truck Parks and Pre-gate from where the trucks are called into the port, Eto will not be in existence,” he added.
He therefore, thanked the the association for playing their roles in ensuring societal orderliness as well as improving productivity in port operations.
“To the man whom we are celebrating here, Ayo dele Durowaiye, he’s somebody that the Managing Director of NPA hold in very high esteem, not just this current managing director, even previous managing directors of the NPA. He’s somebody whose intellectualism, official commitment to service, whose faithfulness has always attracted to the people in high offices in the organisation.
“Ayodele is known to have performed a lot of tasks in NPA. And one of his first contributions is the establishment of the e-call up system. He was the driver of that system. He saw it from conceptualisation to stability and to sustenance.
“You will now agree that system is sustained now, because of the sustenance of that system, we are all struggling to ensure that the legacy he left behind does not collapse.The MD has asked and requested that I thank you for this historic initiative and as I said earlier, we are extremely grateful,” he said.
Meanwhile, the chairman of STPOA, Frank Okeke, commended the Ayo Durowaiye for his contribution to the establishment Eto before his retirement.
“The man we celebrated today, Durowaiye, he was the GM operations in NPA and the chairman of the project implementation committee of e-call up. He helped us. We are pioneers of the Eto project and he took us through this project and clearly, everybody can see the impact of the project for the past two years on Apapa axis.
“It is a very great improvement that is why we are celebrating him as he retired from NPA today to show our love and happy we are with all he put us through,” he said.
Conversely, he commended the NPA for encouraging them to form the association in order to speak in one voice, saying that the association will continue to support the Authority to ensure that the port corridor is free from traffic and also ensure the sustainability of e-call up system project.
