Today, July 11th 2017 make it exactly one year since Boss Mustapha assumed duty as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA).
According to NIWA, within that Bench Mark, so much has happened under Mustapha’s Administration “that seemed to move NIWA not only to new direction but also the right direction”.
One year ago, when he assumed duty at the headquarters of NIWA in Lokoja, he promised to unlock the potentials of the vast Nigeria’s Inland Waterways system in order to reposition it to contribute to the present Administration’s effort to revamp the Nigerian economy.
The M.D has since moved from promises to action. He started by visiting the Baro River Port where he promised that the port will be completed and reposition to justify the huge Government Investment on it. He also visited Lagos, Onitsha, Oguta, Warri and Yenagoa Area Offices where he promised to assist in solving some of the challenges been faced by most of the Area Officers, especially as it relates to funding, manpower and logistics like vehicles and office furniture.
Within the last one year, the M.D was also able to facilitate the passing of the NIWA Amendment Act in the Senate and is making considerable effort to achieve same in the House of Representatives. If the Bill is successfully passed into law, NIWA will become more self-sustaining both in terms of revenue profile and the enforcement of its laws. The conflict of interests between sister parastatals and other government agencies would have been put in checked based on the new provisions in the act.
Few months under his watch, he was able to use his contact to obtained the certificate of compliance from the Infrastructural Concessioning Regulatory Commission (ICRC) which has facilitated the process of the concessioning of the Onitsha River Port and other ports involved in the programme i.e Baro, Lokoja and Oguta.
It will be recalled that he not only visited Lokoja River Port, he ensured that Kogi State Governor, Alh. Yahaya Bello accompanied him to see things for himself so that the governor can assist in ensuring that the challenges facing the port is properly addressed.
The M.D has also started the computerisation of all the activities of NIWA and has brought life back to NIWA website which is now functioning properly and accessible to the whole world. He has promised to streamline training for all staff to meet their specific needs so that they can become more effective and productive. He has hired a consultant to help achieve this goal.
However, it appears the most significant achievement of Boss Mustapha thus far is his ability to put into productive use of NIWA Engineers that have been idling away by encouraging them to start the maintenance dredging programme on the Ajaokuta – Onitsha River Channel. This will save the Federal Government huge sum of money in place of contract being awarded, he also successfully exposed NIWA Engineers to be more professional in their activities.
He also ensured that staff promotion was as when due and he also approved a staff clinic with a qualified Nurse to attend to staff. He also approved for NIWA to host the 2nd International Conference and Exhibition (ICE 2017) before the end of the year in Lagos.
