A total of 565 staffers of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) were honoured by management for long service, merit and bravery at a colourful ceremony held at the NPA sports ground, Bode Thomas, Surulere, Lagos, at the weekend.
Most of the awardees had served the organisation for 25 years and above; seven staffers received merit awards while special recognition went to fire officers, pilots and engineers.
In her address at the occasion, NPA Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman commended the workforce for their cooperation, understanding and sacrifices and for helping management attain her goals in 2017.
She noted that her open door policy in the organisation was deliberate and intended to enable her achieve the “important task of repositioning port operations in Nigeria for better efficiency”.
Madam Usman assured the workers that their welfare in 2018 would be her top priority and called for more hard work in order to improve on this year’s performance. ” In the coming year, we assure you that we will do our best to improve the condition of service of staff and raise the morale of our people”.
The managing director disclosed that it was her management’s desire to entrench accountability and efficiency at port locations across the country, improve the turnaround time of cargoes and improve on the Executive Orders which she began to implement in 2016.
Finally, she urged the workers, most of whom attended the event with their families, to remain faithful and committed to the maritime industry and Nigeria in order to leave a proud legacy for generations to come.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Engr. Mohammed Bello-Koko praised the workers for unrelenting commitment to duty and promised that management would continue to do more for them in the years ahead.
Goodwill messages were delivered by the unions and other groups who called for more synergy between NPA management and the associations to further create industrial harmony in the sector.
It was also disclosed that since NPA had surpassed its target in the first quarter of 2017 by raking in a record N118 billion, it was incumbent on the management to do more to boost the morale of the workers. Highlight of the event included a short safety talk by the Safety, Health and Environment Department, an innovation recently approved by management to create awareness about safety in the workplace.
The event was attended by all the Port Managers of Lagos Port Complex, Tin Can Island Port Complex, Port Harcourt, Onne, Warri and Calabar.
Some of the awardees went home with 12 KVA Inverters, Samsung Flat Screen, Chest Freezers and Freezes, Cookers and Washing Machines.